Kojima breaks the silence on the Abandoned controversy: "It's not Silent Hill and I'm not involved"

Many suspected that Hasan Kaharaman and his video game Abandoned were actually a campaign by Hideo Kojima to present his next game. Although rumors and comments circulated for a while, the reality came to light: Blue Box Game Studios has nothing to do with Kojima Productions. The Japanese developer had not spoken about it until now, but he has done so in front of the audience of his Spotify podcast, in a conversation with Geoff Keighley. He could not have been clearer, as he has assured that he has not worked on the project and that it is not a Silent Hill.

"Well, this one, I really didn’t understand at first. Users just kept sending me pictures of this Hassan. They still send me collages and deep fake images - like 20 a day. It’s really quite a nuisance. This has been going on for almost two years now. And Geoff, you remember when we did that Moby Dick thing? You were in on the whole thing, and that was pretty fun. But people should know that I wouldn’t do the same thing twice," Kojima said.

The creative added that maybe if they release the game, people will eventually understand it. "So, maybe he should just hurry up and release it," he has opined. "I’m not involved with it in any way. I don’t know who started this rumor, but ... I think this is fake news based off of users' wishes and hopes.”

Turning fake news into good news

"So, Mr. Hassan, I’m sure things weren’t easy and, as a creator, I think it’s ok to dismiss it completely. But now that there’s been a buzz and things have gone viral, you should take advantage of it. If you create something good and share it with everyone, they will learn the truth. I think maybe that’s what you should do."

Kojima stressed that "news is a bad thing." However, "now that we’ve both gained attention" of gamers, the best thing to do is "create something good". Once users try Abandoned they “will understand it’s not Silent Hill and I’m not involved." The father of Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding has finished off his argument by stating that fake news can be transformed into something positive. "I say this, but I’ve never met the guy."

Blue Box Game Studios has responded to Hideo Kojima's words in social media: "We want to thank Hideo Kojima for addressing the conspiracies openly. It has been a burden and not cool for both fans and developers. We hope everyone can close this for good. We are working hard on Abandoned and we would like to thank you all for your patience!"

Abandoned is planned for PS5 and PC, although so far it seemed rather abandoned. Hideo Kojima, meanwhile, keeps giving hints about his next work.

Source | IGN