Abandoned is 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. Abandoned is the center of a massive internet conspiracy theory regarding Hideo Kojima and a make-believe ARG. But regardless of the conspiracies, Abandoned really 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 of Abandoned.
The history of The Haunting is, ironically, just as complicated as Abandoned, just without the viral online community watching every second. The Haunting was described by Blue Box as a love letter to the Fatal Frame franchise, with the player using a camera to hunt ghosts and solve puzzles. However, during The Haunting's development Blue Box was very inexperienced and still learning. As such, it launched The Haunting into Early Access on Steam despite it still being in an alpha state -- completely unfinished.
Unsurprisingly, The Haunting received 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 an Early Access game. Instead, Blue Box ultimately stopped working on The Haunting and handed off development to a group of friends at a studio named CREATEQ. Blue Box will now publish The 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 purchased The Haunting in Early Access are appropriately rewarded for supporting the game before it went free-to-play. As such, Blue Box will post a form online which The Haunting buyers can use to prove they purchased the game during Early Access. Those who complete the form will then be given a free "complete bundle" of Abandoned once 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 for Abandoned to have post-launch content or DLC, so the idea of a complete bundle of Abandoned is another promise that Blue Box appears to have announced too early. That seems to be in Blue Box's nature at this point.
The Haunting is unfortunately currently unavailable to purchase, though the game's Steam profile is still available (along with its 11 negative reviews). Giving free copies of Abandoned to 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 the development of Abandoned.
Abandoned is currently in development for PC and PS5.
Source: IGN