Ever scratched your head and wondered, “What’s up with celebrities diving into the video game world?” Well, grab your popcorn, folks, because we’ve got a tale that might just make you spit it out in disbelief.
Remember when Will Smith, yes, THE WILL SMITH, seemingly parachuted out of Hollywood and into the land of pixels and zombies? No?
Well, you’re not alone.
Let’s dive into the mysterious case of Will Smith’s zombie video game and unravel why this potentially epic game flew under the radar only to crash and burn upon arrival.
Imagine a game so promising on paper that it managed to rope in an Oscar-winning actor for its lead role. Now, imagine that same game barely causing a ripple in the vast ocean of the gaming world. “Undawn,” ladies and gentlemen, is that game—a zombie survival RPG that promised thrills but instead delivered the biggest shoulder shrug of 2023.
What happened? Why did a game with star power and zombies—a seemingly unbeatable combo—end up as a footnote in gaming history?
“Undawn” is an open-world zombie survival shooter that was launched in June 2023, featuring Will Smith in a prominent role. The game was developed by Tencent with a budget of nearly $140 million but only managed to earn back around $287,000. With over two million pre-registrations, the game failed primarily due to insufficient marketing and its inability to stand out in a crowded market of zombie-themed games, resulting in low player engagement and awareness.
Will Smith’s Undawn: The Anatomy of a Flop
So, where did things go sideways for “Undawn”?
For starters, despite a blitz of pre-launch hype complete with Will Smith’s charm, the game seemed to vanish into thin air post-launch. “I promoted ‘Undawn’ in a trailer that was too good to be true,” Will Smith might have said if he were to candidly reflect on the game’s promotion.
Yet, after its release, the game gathered more dust than players, pulling in a meager $287,000 against a colossal $140 million budget.
The game’s title, “Undawn,” might have been its first stumble—too close for comfort to other zombie titles and not quite catchy enough to stick.
But a name alone doesn’t explain the eerie silence that followed its launch. It’s as if the game, along with its zombies, decided to bury itself. Even with more than 300 developers on deck and a Hollywood heavyweight leading the charge, “Undawn” couldn’t escape its fate.
But wait, there’s more. According to Reuters, the aftermath of “Undawn’s” tumble had Tencent, the Chinese tech giant behind the game, rethinking its strategy.
James Mitchell, Tencent’s chief strategy officer, revealed a shift towards focusing on “fewer bigger budget games,” perhaps a direct nod to the “Undawn” debacle. This pivot suggests a broader industry takeaway: Throwing money at a project doesn’t guarantee success, especially in the fickle world of gaming.
Then there’s the Will Smith factor. The actor’s involvement was supposed to be a game-changer, yet it barely moved the needle.
Despite Smith portraying Trey Jones, a survivor guiding players through a post-apocalyptic world, his star power couldn’t translate into a thriving player base. It seems not even Hollywood’s charm can save a game destined to underperform.
Here’s the trailer of Undawn:
From what can be pieced together, “Undawn’s” journey from inception to its quiet demise was anything but smooth. The game’s development evidently faced significant challenges, with each test seemingly reaffirming the inevitability of its failure.
The decision to halt marketing efforts and release the game in its unpolished state speaks volumes about the desperation and diminishing hope surrounding its launch.
This wasn’t a case of minor glitches or superficial bugs, it was a systemic failure, with core aspects of the game, from placeholder models to the coherence of its art style, left wanting.
While initially seen as a major coup, Will Smith’s involvement ultimately did little to salvage the game’s fortunes. His character, offering only a smattering of quests and partially voiced lines, highlights a missed opportunity to leverage his star power effectively.
The game’s narrative and dialogue did no favors either. Will Smith’s cringe-worthy opening lines seemed disconnected from the gravitas and immersion players expect from a post-apocalyptic setting. This disconnect further alienated potential players, making it hard to take the game’s storyline and universe seriously.
Comparing the investment in “Undawn” to the successful funding of high-quality titles like “Baldur’s Gate 3” underscores the mismanagement and misplaced priorities that plagued its development.
If you are up to it, the game is now available to play on iOS, Android, and PC.
The game “Undawn” leaves us with more questions than answers. Could a better marketing strategy have saved the game from obscurity? Was the gaming community simply not ready for what “Undawn” had to offer, or was it the other way around?
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