10 Upcoming Video Games That Are Already Controversial

5. Abandoned

Unrecord Game
Blue Box Game Studios

Survival horror game Abandoned was first announced in April 2021, with a frankly astonishingly photoreal teaser trailer which also touted a Q4 2021 release date.

The trailer's style and tone immediately drew comparisons to both Silent Hill and Metal Gear Solid, and convinced large quarters of the Internet that it was a secret project from Hideo Kojima.

Though Kojima's involvement was disputed by developer Blue Box Game Studios, eventually Kojima himself had to pipe up, declaring he had no involvement with Abandoned and, per his frustration at being repeatedly linked to it, hoped the team would "hurry up and release it."

Evidently the planned release window was missed, while a companion app launched that summer amounted to nothing more than a five-second gameplay render, and a planned trailer drop at Gamescom never materialised.

The studio nevertheless announced that a playable prologue would release before the main game, only to delay it in March 2022, before Hasan Kahraman revealed that Abandoned's concept had changed mid-development.

Leaks have since suggested the game has been reworked into more of a political thriller, and last June, Gamespot published a damning report citing a toxic development culture, Kahraman intentionally misleading players, and suggested the game has made little progress.

Word has been suspiciously quiet on Abandoned ever since, and as gorgeous as that first trailer was, don't expect it to ever actually transpire into anything playable - and definitely not anything good.

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Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.