PlayStation Delays Abandoned Reveal App Indefinitely
If you were hoping to know a little more about Blue Box Game Studios' Abandoned, we've "abandoned" hope that we'll get to understand what's really going on behind the scenes. With so little to go off - and plenty of rumours - the so-called "Realtime Experience" app patch was supposed to roll out on August 10, but days later, and we're still in the dark.
As Microsoft powers ahead with a crop of Xbox exclusives that now includes Bethesda's Starfield, Sony has promises there are more PlayStation exclusives on the way. Aside from the delayed God of War: Ragnarok and Horzion Forbidden West, Abandoned looks to be something different - thanks to a move into survival horror and coming from the unknown Blue Box Games Studio.
What's going on with the Abandoned app delay?
Giving us some serious Cloverfield vibes in terms of viral marketing, Blue Box was supposed to reveal Abandoned via its app. Several updates on the August 10 delay not only confirm that the app's planned release didn't go to plan, but we've got no idea when it will go ahead.
Promising to give an "opening teaser as an introduction", players are supposed to "get a glimpse to [sic] 'what you see is what you play', along with some announcements to look out for". With the realtime experience app set to finally lift the veil on Abandoned, we're more than a little gutted it hasn't played out this way.
On August 10, Blue Box blamed technical gremlins and vowed it was "working to get this live ASAP". This was followed by an equally disappointing update on 11, which explained how the team was still working on getting the app live, however, it was "taking longer than expected". Another update came today (August 12), with Blue Box seemingly admitting defeat for now and adding, "[We] won't be delaying the patch to a specific date, but [will] release it as soon as we have resolved it".
Basically, the Abandoned app will eventually come out, we just can't tell you when. The positive is that it sounds like Blue Box will keep beavering away on the app until it's fixed.
Is the Abandoned app delay really a marketing ploy?
Sceptics have guessed that this is all part of Blue Box (or a secret developer's) malevolent marketing campaign, but personally, we don't see why you'd want to drum up negative press and grumpy players before you've even revealed what you're working on. In all likelihood, whatever the project is, it could be much bigger than we first thought.
The best rumour we've heard so far is that Abandoned was just a placeholder for "abandoned" Konami franchises. It's no secret that critics have claimed the once-lauded developer has fallen on hard times, and if Abandoned was going to resurrect the classics, it would mean new titles for Silent Hill, Metal Gear, and Castlevania could all be on the way.
Dominating the charts of the '90s and '00s, these three were once juggernauts of the gaming world that have since slipped into the shadows. When Abandoned was first revealed, there was also hype it could be a secret Silent Hill game from Hideo Kojima - or maybe the long-hoped-for return of Silent Hills after THAT P.T. drama.
Although Blue Box firmly distanced itself from the idea it's anything other than a next-gen survival horror for the PS5, it threw a spanner in the works with a Metal Gear-inspired poster. Whether Blue Box is the master of manipulation or Abandoned is just another of the many games struck by delays, consider us psyched for whatever this nightmarish title really is.
