Blue Box Game Studios' boss, Hasan Kahraman, recently appeared on an episode of Al Hub, a podcast reportedly sponsored by Konami; this has once more fueled rumors that PlayStation 5 game Abandoned is actually a Silent Hill project. The Abandoned/Silent Hill conspiracy has continued for several months now, first cropping up following the PS5 title's announcement in April.
Speculation of a Konami connection died down after Blue Box clarified its status as a small indie team working on something fresh. However, the conspiracy spiraled out of control following the studio's cryptic Twitter post about Abandoned's real name beginning with an 'S' and ending with an 'L.' Silent Hill, naturally, became the fan-favorite guess, forcing Blue Box to once more deny any ties to Konami. But a few odd coincidences involving the studio head Hasan Kahraman and Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima won't allow the Abandoned developers to duck and dodge the rumors so easily this time. Unsurprisingly, Kahraman's recent appearance on a podcast only added more fuel to the unceasing fire.
The most fascinating mystery in gaming just got a bit more intriguing under the most peculiar of circumstances. As noted by Game Informer, Hasan Kahraman's promotion of Abandoned landed him a spot on the Arabic podcast Al Hub. Nothing fishy there, right? Once Al Hub announced the interview on their official Twitter account, internet sleuths quickly got to work on investigating any oddities. Lo and behold, GamingLeaksAndRumors members on Reddit noticed that Konami was listed as a sponsor of the Kahraman-featuring episode. Bloober Team (another Konami partner) quickly replaced the publisher as the listed sponsor, but the Silent Hill IP-holder appeared as a sponsor yet again when all was said and done. And, thus, the speculation persists.
Hasan Kahraman is having an interview tomorrow with an Arabic Podcast called AL-HUB and Konami is sponsorising the episode. from GamingLeaksAndRumours
Of course, this particular Konami connection could constitute yet another coincidence. But how many coincidences of this magnitude can occur in a row? That much should be made clear by summer's end.
As previously promised, the pre-load for Abandoned's Real-Time Trailers App hit PlayStation 5 on July 29. The app should begin functioning as intended sometime in August, though Blue Box Game Studios has yet to specify a date. And with the most recent Abandoned-related teaser featuring a blurry image of a eyepatch-wearing man, and sparking Metal Gear theories, the full reveal cannot arrive soon enough.
Abandoned is currently in development for PlayStation 5.
Source: Reddit via Game Informer