Abandoned: Kahraman is scared, and maybe we should be too

Abandoned

The Abandoned case is certainly one of the most mysterious and unpredictable that the history of the video game remembers. The whole communication path of the Blue Box Game Studios experience was able to first intrigue us with teasers and official statements, and then annoy us with a series of incomprehensible communications. Between postponements, apologies, reassurances, denials and some exit that sounded like a real joke, even today none of us know for sure what lies behind the project that should see the light on PS5 and PC.



After a communication break, these days the guys from Blue Box Game Studios are back with great fanfare to update us with a series of tweets, polls and communications. In addition to this, the IGN USA editorial team wanted to chat with Hasan Kahraman, the face behind the Abandoned project. The interview touched on various points, revealing, among other things, how the team intends to release the prologue as a real paid stand-alone game, and with the earnings reinvest everything in what will be the main game .


We are only at the beginning and Kahraman's recent statements are already creaking and conflicting with what we thought we knew about the project according to past statements. First of all, if people kept saying that the Prologue was a demo it is because it was presented by the team, but even in this there has always been little clarity. Today the prologue of Abandoned is a real stand-alone game that will have to be paid for, but yesterday it was a mix between a demo and an app defined by the 'Realtime Experience "team with the aim of revealing the inside. project. Now, however, apparently, the Prologue and the app will be two separate things.

Kahraman also stresses several times during the interview how, not being the head of an AAA study, the goal of the team is to put as much budget into your pocket as possible to develop the real Abandoned. The project is ambitious, or at least it seems to be, but precisely this desire to "break" with a disruptive debut title risks backfiring if the final result does not live up to what has been anticipated in recent months.


Finally, there is a last passage of the interview that might make us think, and it is the following: "the reason why people haven't seen anything in the game yet is because I'm simply scared. I'm not going to lie, I'm afraid because it's a personal job. Not everyone could understand the progress of development because players don't understand what "in development" means.

Kahraman confides in us that he is scared of the reactions of the fans. It is understandable, especially when in the past Blue Box has suffered a series of attacks absolutely to be condemned by an angry community. My thought, however, is that he missed the point, or rather, he hit a wrong target. The first criticisms of Abandoned were not leveled because of what was shown in the game, but because of a series of declarations defined as lying by the fans, who felt cheated on several occasions.


Perhaps, however, more than Kahraman, those who should be afraid of Abandoned must be us passionate. Not for the horror inclinations that the title should have, but for how it is being presented to us by its creators.

If you have managed to buy a PlayStation 5, you can buy the recent exclusives on Amazon at these addresses: Gran Turismo 7 and Horizon Forbidden West.

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Abandoned's director speaks out following cancellation rumours

Following confusion over the project's future, the director of upcoming PS5 game Abandoned has spoken out about why developer Blue Box deleted various tweets about the game, the status of the game's prologue and his own 'heartbreak' about the situation now surrounding the game's release.

Speaking to IGN, Hasan Kahraman of Blue Box Game Studios said the developer had removed older tweets about the game in a bid to keep information surrounding Abandoned up to date. 'Basically, the tweets were deleted because some of the concept has changed, and I figured maybe just deleting the tweet and then tweeting more relevant information would be a better idea - which was actually not a good idea,' Kahraman said.

'I have learned now just to keep them. Even if the information or concept changed, just keep the older information because people eventually will see for themselves what the difference is and then see what's more actual.'

Many fans saw the removal of tweets as bad news - leading some to question the game's existence, and deduce it was either cancelled or all just an elaborate scam. In response to this outcry, Blue Box released a statement addressing the rumours, assuring people it was still coming. Addressing it again now, Kahraman said it was 'heartbreaking'.

Kahraman went on to discuss Abandoned's prologue, and emphasised that despite widespread assumption, it would not be a demo. Rather, it would its own 'standalone game' with a price tag (although according to Kahraman this will be at the low end of the pricing scale, as the prologue will only have a couple of hours of gameplay) and its own set of trophies.

'The revenue collected from the Prologue will actually be used to fund the development for Abandoned, right? So, we're actually self-funding the game,' Kahraman explained. 'So, that's why we want to release the Prologue first.'

Kahraman also said more content would come to Abandoned’s Realtime Experience app throughout 2022, although no specifics were given.

'The reason why people haven't seen anything of the game yet, any development of the game yet, is because simply, and to describe it in one word, is that I'm scared. I'm not going to lie,' Kahraman said. 'I'm not working for Ubisoft. I'm not working for a AAA publisher who tells me what to do, who basically tells me what game I should make.

'And the development progress, not everyone might get it because gamers don't see, don't understand what 'in development' means. Gamers don't care about that.

'The gamers only care about what they're seeing at that moment. And I'm between these two choices where I either... decide to actually show some development [now], the progress, to share with the world the development progress of Abandoned – and between the choice of whether I should wait just to do a proper reveal.'

On his own Twitter feed, Kahraman has written heartfelt pleas to the community to 'give [him] a break'.

Following an earlier interview, Kahraman shared he 'did NOT do a good job doing the interview. But c'mon guys... This is my first on-going interview. It was a mess, I had no overview what I wanted to say.'

Finally, Kahraman stated once again that he was a genuine person, and not an actor hired to talk about Abandoned - despite earlier suggestion this was a repeat of a Hideo Kojima-style marketing move.

'I am who I say I am. There is no other truth than this.'

Elsewhere, the vocalist who had previously revealed they had been left in the dark by Blue Box following their work recording music for Abandoned has said the situation was now resolved. The band, The Eyes Inside, released a statement saying they chatted with Kahraman, and 'everything is okay'.

In addition to this, they shared a video for the game’s upcoming music entitled 'Exitus', which can be listened to below.