Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/03/25/will-smiths-zombie-survival-game-undawn-is-a-flop.html
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Is this like one of those movies that only get made as a tax write-off?
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Will Smith in I am Rumor.
Aside from the Will Smith angle; I’d be curious if this is especially uncommon. My (layman’s) understanding is that, even more than the somewhat rough world of games you’ve heard of, mobile-first freemium stuff involves a great deal being thrown at the wall to see what sticks; albeit with some shockingly high takes and margins on some of the ones that do.
It would also be interesting to know what the planning process for this one was like. Tencent are…not exactly…naive and in over their head in this particular industry; so you’d think that they’d have a pretty solid handle on both the estimated saturation of zombie survival games(high, running the gamut from zombie-modes of high budget games that are largely re-using work they’ve already done for their core game, like the CoD zombie modes, tons of indie stuff, and plenty of lower budget mobile/freemium focused stuff) and the ability of slapping Will Smith on one to bring customers in (unknown to me; clearly someone thought it would work).
Obviously even major players misstep at times; but Tencent wouldn’t be at the top of my list for an epic failure to cynically grab the cash.
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The current state of the industry makes flops more painful for the publisher and devs. I think that Tencent has over expanded, and everything about this game seems bland to me so the failure is unsurprising. I would also question who thinks that Will Smith is a desirable name to attach to something these days 
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I’m less puzzled by the flop and more by the magnitude of the investment: at least if wikipedia’s extraction from the sources is to be believed it was designed a ‘key’ game; there were something like 300 devs involved(probably mostly not from the highest cost areas; but still) a $140 million budget and a celebrity endorsement.
I’d have been utterly unsurprised to hear that Tencent has a (or even an entire stable) of freemium, mobile focused, zombie survival games out there; but, given the rather saturated state of the market, I would have expected them to be relatively low risk, high-reward-if-we-catch-some-whales, jobs (more in line with that one that won’t leave me alone if I get served a youtube ad “state of survival”); rather than a AA to low AAA budget and a celebrity endorsement.
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My guess is that the title getting Smith attached to it might’ve caused them to throw money at the problem knowing it was a bad game but being unable to walk away. I had some friends that worked at a small studio years ago founded by a guy who had big success in some early RTS games and the guy’s ego resulted in similar situations playing out on games they had developed. But as you say, Tencent of all companies should’ve known better.
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I’ve been playing games a long time. I don’t think I’ve ever considered playing a games merely because a famous actor is involved. The game itself has to look interesting first. If it does not, then I don’t care who is in it.
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Undawn has seen only about a quarter of a million in revenue in its eight-month lifespawn
Should be “lifespan” but still…it’s been out 8 months and I follow gaming news and this is the first I’ve heard of it?
parent company Tencent
Ah, that explains it. They do a lot of investing in names over actual quality.
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Perfect double-valid usage of the verb slap there, very nice!
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Perhaps if they had a track record in games, maybe voice-acting, of delivering the goods. Has Will Smith been involved in any previous games?
There was a guy wearing a full gas mask. How does this guy was eating his victim?
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The dialogue says that the “neighbours suck”; so I’m guessing these are not, normal, compy zombies.
Um, the guy is 5 years younger than I am… 
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Judging by what I saw in the trailer, these zombies do really suck… Maybe the zombies are just annoying people who get their victims bored to death.
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slaps zombie
“Keep my wife out of your damn mouth.”
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And has been eligible for AARP membership since 2018.
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The thing about free-to-play games is that they live and die on the cost of player acquisition. This means buying targeted Facebook ads, advertising in other games, and other web and occasionally even TV ads. It’s pretty expensive, especially when you are in a saturated market. My guess is Tencent was expecting that a game fronted by Will Smith would sell itself, dramatically lowering the cost of player acquisition. Which is smart, but you have to back it up with a good game. Also possible we’re seeing audiences starting to turn away from F2P. A person can only play so many forever games, and it’s also possible that gamers are starting to tire of F2Ps one weird trick for draining their wallets.
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“lifespawn” is funny though, me like. Yeah, this is the first time I’ve ever heard of this title. Pretty surprising considering how much time I spent shopping for video games. I always aim to minimize the expense by watching for sales and price drops. I keep up with games in development, what’s out, what’s coming up. I read reviews. I know that some games that are poorly received are nonetheless pretty good games and worth purchasing at a reasonable price, so I pay attention to underperformers. Never heard one word about this title until just now.
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special thnx for this.
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“Veteran” doesn’t always mean “old.” There are countless military veterans in their mid-20s.
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