People Think a Hideo Kojima's New Silent Hill Game Is Hiding in Plain Sight

People online are convinced they’ve discovered Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding creator Hideo Kojima’s next video game hiding in plain sight. The game is called Abandoned and it’s from a studio called Blue Box Games Studios. The studio released a trailer in April  and promised to reveal more about gameplay later this Summer. There’s scant information about the game or the studio developing it, and in the absence of hard information fans online have decided that Abandoned is, secretly, Kojima’s next big game.

The speculation started in earnest on June 15 when Blue Box Game Studios tweeted a cryptic hint about its game. “Guess the name,” it said. “Abandoned = (First letter S, Last letter L). Reveal closing in... #PS5 #Exclusive.”

The trailer for Abandoned doesn't show much. Someone is moving through the woods in a first person perspective while mysterious voice over plays, hinting at the story. At the end they pull out a handgun. It feels very Resident Evil Village. On Reddit, fans have set up a subreddit to talk exclusively of the conspiracy theory that Abandoned is a Kojima game. The evidence is compelling.

Blue Box Game Studios is a video game company that few have heard of. It hasn't made much other than a few early access games that they’ve conspicuously …abandoned. It also released and then delisted an Android game in 2019 called The Whisperer where players explore a spooky location in first person while audio logs play. It’s very similar in tone and feel to Kojima's P.T, as is the early access game. It should be noted that this is not proof of anything either. Many developers made P.T.-like games and prototypes after the game was canceled. 

The studio’s Game Director is Hasan Kahraman. If you plug that last name into Google translate it becomes Hideo in Japanese. Hasan had a YouTube channel called “Twentyseven27” and Silent HIlls was cancelled on April 27, 2015 T. Geoff Keighley follows the studio on Twitter.

The biggest evidence that this could be a Kojima viral marketing stunt is that he’s done this kind of thing repeatedly in the past. P.T., the demo for the cancelled Silent Hills game, was the subject of online speculation for weeks before someone beat the thing and revealed it was a secret sequel to a long dead franchise. Kojima also used a fake studio to tease information about Metal Gear Solid V before its reveal.

Then there’s Geoff Keighley, a personal friend of Kojima who appeared in Death Stranding, and who often interviews and reveals news about Kojima's games. In a Q and A session on Twitter, someone asked Keighley what, exactly, was happening with all this. Keighley put on a shit-eating grin and said that Hasan had sent him a DM asking his help in premiering the game this Summer. “Stay tuned, I think there will be more to share soon.”

There’s more, a lot more, but much of it can’t be substantiated. One of the top comments on the Abandoned YouTube trailer is from someone using Hideo Kojima’s name and face. “What a nice looking game, wonder who did it, definitively not me,” the comment said. The account was created in 2014, has produced no content, and follows a random assortment of channels. There is no indication that this is actually Kojima’s account.

Then there’s the strong denial from Blue Box Games Studios itself. “We wanted to set things straight,” it said on Twitter. “Silent Hill is owned by Konami. We do not have any relations with Hideo Kojima. It was never our intention to tease the name as Silent Hill. We sincerely apologize for this.” 

It could all still be a tease, but over at VentureBeat, Jeff Grubb made a compelling case for why it isn’t. There’s a big Kojima Productions statue on a shelf in Xbox chief Phil Spencer’s office. “Kojima is in talks with Microsoft about publishing his next game, according to a source familiar with the matter,” Grubb said. “And yes, that statue on Phil Spencer’s shelf was referencing a potential deal with the legendary developer. I cannot confirm if Xbox closed the deal yet, but my understanding is that Kojima is the focus of a Microsoft plan to tap into Japanese talent.”

Kojima Productions, Geoff Keighly, and Blue Box Games Studios did not return Waypoint’s request for comment.