Abandonedis a flashpoint in 2021 gaming news. Few games this year have received as much media attention, little of it to do with the game itself.Abandonedis the center of a massive internet conspiracy theory regarding Hideo Kojima and a make-believe ARG. But regardless of the conspiracies,Abandonedreally is a game and developer Blue Box does have other projects. In fact, Blue Box is even doing something special for those who pre-ordered its last game,The Haunting: Blood Water Curse, by giving pre-orderers a free copy ofAbandoned.
The history ofThe Hauntingis, ironically, just as complicated asAbandoned, just without the viral online community watching every second.The Hauntingwas described by Blue Box as a love letter to theFatal Framefranchise, with the player using a camera to hunt ghosts and solve puzzles. However, duringThe Haunting’s development Blue Box was very inexperienced and still learning. As such, it launchedThe Hauntinginto Early Access on Steam despite it still being in an alpha state – completely unfinished.
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Unsurprisingly,The Hauntingreceived a strikingly negative response from Steam users who bought it and expected a near-finished game. Blue Box thought Steam users would be fairer to anEarly Access game. Instead, Blue Box ultimately stopped working onThe Hauntingand handed off development to a group of friends at a studio named CREATEQ. Blue Box will now publishThe Haunting, releasing the game for free and taking on the cost of the project itself.
But Blue Box also wants to make sure those who purchasedThe Hauntingin Early Access are appropriately rewarded for supporting the game before it went free-to-play. As such, Blue Box will post a form online whichThe Hauntingbuyers can use to prove they purchased the game during Early Access. Those who complete the form will then be given a free “complete bundle” ofAbandonedonce the game releases.
This prompts another question that’s likely to stir up even more speculation, of course. Blue Box has yet to announce any plans forAbandonedto have post-launch content or DLC, so the idea of a complete bundle ofAbandonedis another promise that Blue Box appears to have announced too early. That seems to be inBlue Box’s natureat this point.
The Hauntingis unfortunately currently unavailable to purchase, though the game’s Steam profile is still available (along with its 11 negative reviews). Giving free copies ofAbandonedto buyers is certainly kind, though there’s likely only a handful of people who can or will be able to claim it. Regardless, it’s another chapter in the odd story of Blue Box and thedevelopment ofAbandoned.
Abandonedis currently in development for PC and PS5.
MORE:Whatever Abandoned Ends Up Being, It Will Be Worth a Play
