After a series of marketing missteps exacerbated dramatically by a community convinced by conspiracy theories, Abandoned creator Hasan Kahraman has called the "trailer app" released for the game last week a "really big disaster."
In an interview with NME, Kahraman reflects on the app, which was intended to allow viewers to watch game trailer in-engine on the PS5. However, a string of delays followed by a debut with nothing new to show caused a new surge of frustration from an audience curious about what the game "really" is — many convinced erroneously it's a front for a new Silent Hill, or a Kojima-led project.
Kahraman says the many delays and eventual release with little more than a trailer that had already been shown earlier in the week was well-intended.
“Basically, we had to cut out some footage from the opening teaser and I knew that it wasn’t a good idea to use the same footage that we had on Twitter and put in there, because it’s literally just four seconds of footage and it doesn’t give much. But we needed to do this because people wanted to have a patch, right? That was our first priority – just get the patch out there because we will be adding more content later.”
He adds that engine issues caused a patch delay, and then things "really got out of hand" from there.
“The launch didn’t go well. But definitely in due time, we’ll add more content to it and people will get to see that.”
Kahraman says that a cinematic trailer is coming "like, really soon" and that the team wanted to show it at Gamescom, but isn't making promises after so many prior delays. He wants to avoid further upsets, given how often Abandoned's marketing has backfired.
For example, a teaser image featuring a blurred figure wearing an eyepatch set theorists down a train after Metal Gear — NME has confirmed the image is not of any character from those games, nor is a stock image as others believed. It is Abandoned's villain, and an original character.
NME similarly reports it has been given a lengthy breakdown of the plot of Abandoned, and confirmed it has no ties to Silent Hill, Metal Gear, or Kojima — a fact that has been reported numerous times now, though many enthusiasts remain undeterred. It's also not a horror game according to its creator, which may be surprising given its reveal's surreal and unsettling vibes.
What Abandoned actually is still remains under wraps, though NME reports it is a linear story with survival elements, such as the main character's aim being thrown off by being out of breath from sprinting or being nervous.
More about Abandoned will be revealed when the game is ready, but for now, Kahraman says members of the studio are actively being hurt by the flurry of negative attention and conspiracy around the game.
"Team members of Blue Box, and also freelancers we work with, they don’t feel comfortable to show their faces right now,” he says. "It’s not fun being labeled as a scammer, right? So, yeah, that’s the reason why people don’t feel comfortable right now showing their faces or even publicly announcing that they’re involved with Abandoned."
"I’m really depressed right now. I can’t sleep, I can’t eat. The biggest thing that’s bugging me is just that people are labelling us as scammers. That is the big thing that really, really hurts me. Because that is not my intention at all, you know?"
Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.
