It's been over a year since Abandoned was first announced on the PlayStation Blog, and by now you may have heard about the controversial game in one of several very different contexts. Shortly after its reveal, some fans began speculating that the game was a secret Hideo Kojima project, perhaps even his return to the Silent Hill franchise after releasing P.T. eight years ago. Seeking to counter their claims, others pointed to Blue Box Game Studios' well-documented and lackluster development history, arguing that Abandoned is just another in a long line of games announced by the studio that will never see a release.

The lead developer on the project, Hasan Kahraman, has said Abandoned is exactly what he always said it was: an indie survival-horror about a lone survivor stuck in the woods with a cult. However, in the past year, onlookers have also seen it become a game about a rampant superintelligent AI. More recently, it was said to be a game about vampires. As it stands, there is no meaningful evidence that Abandoned exists in any real way--though there is a long trail of dubious business deals, uninspiring leaks, and a chatroom full of fans, including at least one child, where the game's lead developer has misled a captive audience for months.

Despite once being planned to release on PS5 in the fall of 2021, several people close to Kahraman tell GameSpot that there is no game--at least not one that is actively being worked on. The reason for that isn't as fun as it being part of some long-con Kojima ARG like fans once suspected. In reality, those close to Kahraman tell GameSpot, despite Kahraman's public claims that the game's development is coming along, he has privately admitted Abandoned is on hold and he first needs to fund its development with a playable prologue, which our sources indicate he doesn't seem to be in a hurry to create.