17.06.2021

“First letter S, last letter L”: fans link Abandoned to new Silent Hill from Hideo Kojima in 2021’s most elaborate conspiracy theory

Mysterious indie studio Blue Box continues to generate fan theories around its upcoming PS5 horror game code-named Abandoned. The latest messages from the developers prompted fans to speculate that the game might be a new Silent Hill installment.

What do we know about Blue Box?

  • The Dutch studio’s name made headlines in April when Sony shared the first teaser of Abandoned. However, a lot of people thought that Blue Box wasn’t a real company, and the game was much more than just an indie horror title.
  • Fans started speculating online that the upcoming game is a new mysterious project from Hideo Kojima, and Blue Box is just a fake company to distract people.
  • The developers later denied the rumors and said that they “have no association with Hideo Kojima.”
  • Prior to Abandoned, Blue Box only released mobile horror game The Whisperer, whose logo was very similar to handprints from Death Stranding. The studio also worked on horror Rewind: Voices Of The Past, which was presented in Steam Greenlight but never came out.
  • Rami Ismail even checked with the Dutch chamber of commerce and found out that Blue Box has really existed since 2015. However, even this official confirmation couldn’t convince some fans that their conspiracy theory was a mistake.
  • Although Blue Box is an indie studio, it is now working with seven third-party teams and has professional actors involved in the PlayStation 5 exclusive. Not too shabby for an indie team, right?

Fans’ theories surrounding Abandoned

  • Blue Box once again made headlines earlier this week. While the studio didn’t disclose the official name of the game, the devs have left some oh-so-subtle hints. “Abandoned = (First letter S, Last letter L,” the message reads.

  • Sure enough, people immediately concluded it was a direct reference to Silent Hill. The studio, however, set things straight and claimed that it has no relationship with Konami.
  • Blue Box went on to say that it hasn’t really shown the game yet, and the “teaser back in April was just an announcement of the development.” Abandoned will be officially revealed on June 22, with people getting a chance to see the trailer and first gameplay through a special app for PS5. In response to that, outlet PlayStation LifeStyle recalled that P.T., a playable teaser from Hideo Kojima, was also presented as a standalone app.

  • According to theories, another evidence of Blue Box being a “fake” studio is that its logo is similar to the logo of PlayStation Studios. Plus, all physical copies of games for PS4 and PS5 come in… wait for it!… blue boxes.

  • Blue Box founder Hasan Kahraman is also surrounded by mystery. There is not much known about him, and some fans even think that his initials being similar to Hideo Kojima’s (H.K.) is yet another sign of Abandoned and Silent Hill being connected. Seemingly validating this theory, other people found out that “Hideo” becomes “Kahraman” if you translate the name from Japanese to Turkish.
  • On top of that, the banner image of Blue Box’s official YouTube channel features foggy hills and mountains. So, they look pretty silent.

  • Other fans also spotted that Blue Box usually posts messages on Twitter late at night. It’s strange considering that the studio is officially registered in the Netherlands. It is, however, an early morning if converted to Japanese time.
  • Kahraman’s PSN account links to a YouTube channel called TwentySeven27. The thing is that Hideo Kojima’s Silent Hills was officially canceled on April 27, 2015. Some people also believe that the code-name of Blue Box’s game might be a reference to P.T and Silent Hills being “abandoned” by Konami.
  • Twitter’s finest detectives also discovered that the list of Kahraman’s recently played PlayStation games includes a title that’s not really on the PS Store. The title is called Demon Blood and features an image that could be a nod to Sony’s Team Siren.

  • Lastly, Geoff Keighley’s involvement in Blue Box’s announcement seems to suggest that Abandoned is bigger than just another indie title.

The only thing that can be said for sure if that hype for Abandoned is real. It could easily be just fans fantasizing about a new Silent Hill game, which is cleverly utilized by the marketing folks at Blue Box. Then again, it could be a genius scheme that has been set up by Sony and Kojima. The Blue Box enigma seems to have become a game in its own right and it’s fun to watch it unfold. Whatever the case, people will probably get their answers on June 22.

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