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[Draugoth]

Bandai Namco has just released a brand new game, but if you had no idea, I wouldn’t blame you. That would be Unknown 9: Awakening, shown off through an Xbox Partner Preview seven months ago, and out today. While Bandai Namco is enjoying the success of Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero, the Japanese publisher also has a big flop on its hands. With only 285 simultaneous players on Steam, Unknown 9: Awakening will go on the list of 2024 failures.

There has been much industry talk about the death of AA games, which you could classify Unknown 9 as, but it is certainly not exactly making a strong case for a change in perception.
​

 

[Comandr]

This game has a lot of factors working against it- one of which being that it's just part of a "narrative universe" and feels like its supposed to rope you into a bunch of extended media to get the whole story - including comic books, novels, and a fucking podcast of all things. So it's really hard to get invested in the story of this game when I know for a fact I would never engage in any of the other content. That results in a hard pass. And if you're only in it for the gameplay- other games have already been there and done it better.

 

[SJRB]

Where are those modern audiences at

 

[MagusMajul]

batman arkham asylum from 2009 looks better than this

 

[tommib]

Why do we care about another non-descript generic slop? Don’t give it oxygen.

 

[Shubh_C63]

We should also document games number that seems bad and were not made by SBI too, for comparison.

Maybe these kinds of games always gets 200 players.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

And even funnier. AMD had a one month promo where gamers get a free copy of Space Marines 2 and Unknown 9 if they buy certain cpus or gpus through participating retailers.

You'd think just that natural boost would lead to some decent numbers alone. But it's still bad. Take away free copies (Steam user reviews have tons of users saying it was free), and this game might naturally be under 100.

AMD Launches New Ryzen & Radeon Gaming Bundle: Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 and Unknown 9: Awakening

www.anandtech.com

 

[Digital-Aftertaste]

to the people that said sub 1000 on the recent poll, including me

 

[Unknown Soldier]

It's not like Unknowns 1-8 sold that great, why are they still making these games

9 of them, seriously??

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Unknown 9 is very similar to that SBI influenced game ZAU which also topped out around 280-ish.

And the studio who made ZAU is basically done unless they can find an angel investor for their next game.

Tales of Kenzera: Zau dev Surgent Studios puts entire games team on hiatus due to lack of funding

Surgent Studios has put its entire games division on hiatus as it struggles to secure funding, placing an unknown numbe…

www.gamesindustry.biz

 

[lh032]

i believed these games were funded by certain organization or political parties.

 

[ap_puff]

And even funnier. AMD had a one month promo where gamers get a free copy of Space Marines 2 and Unknown 9 if they buy certain cpus or gpus through participating retailers.

You'd think just that natural boost would lead to some decent numbers alone. But it's still bad. Take away free copies (Steam user reviews have tons of users saying it was free), and this game might naturally be under 100.

AMD Launches New Ryzen & Radeon Gaming Bundle: Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 and Unknown 9: Awakening

www.anandtech.com

I got dead island 2 free with my gpu, didnt even bother to redeem it as it's not my type of game

 

[jason10mm]

Unknown 9 is very similar to that SBI influenced game ZAU which also topped out around 280-ish.

And the studio who made ZAU is basically done unless they can find an angel investor for their next game.

Tales of Kenzera: Zau dev Surgent Studios puts entire games team on hiatus due to lack of funding

Surgent Studios has put its entire games division on hiatus as it struggles to secure funding, placing an unknown numbe…

www.gamesindustry.biz

I wonder if these "devs" are basically just sucking up tax rebates and incentive programs from misguided government programs so they have 100% financial security and are essentially zero risk so long as they smash that DEI/ESG button. So they don't really care if their product sells, so long as it ships.

Basically, the Ewe Boll for gaming, making films funded by the germans and when that milk teat dried up, so did he.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

And even funnier. AMD had a one month promo where gamers get a free copy of Space Marines 2 and Unknown 9 if they buy certain cpus or gpus through participating retailers.

You'd think just that natural boost would lead to some decent numbers alone. But it's still bad. Take away free copies (Steam user reviews have tons of users saying it was free), and this game might naturally be under 100.

AMD Launches New Ryzen & Radeon Gaming Bundle: Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 and Unknown 9: Awakening

www.anandtech.com

You’re probably looking at Dustborn-like sales after you take away the bundled ones.

 

[digital_ghost]

Dev:

Guys today our game has made $1,500. Im so proud of our team. Even more proud is bandai namco. Who is helping us find new jobs after sinking $100 million in our game.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I wonder if these "devs" are basically just sucking up tax rebates and incentive programs from misguided government programs so they have 100% financial security and are essentially zero risk so long as they smash that DEI/ESG button. So they don't really care if their product sells, so long as it ships.

Basically, the Ewe Boll for gaming, making films funded by the germans and when that milk teat dried up, so did he.

I was thinking this too. Give any company credit for scoping out any kind of free money to keep an idea alive. Considering how lousy some of these products are with low chance of success, I dont think studios making games like this have any serious notion for a successful long term company. Just stay alive for a bunch of years, collect some wages, and move on to the next pet project with hopes of finding more free money.

 

[Mister Wolf]

If you refuse to cater to the primary audience(men) then this is what you get.

 

[Kuranghi]

Do we think Abubakar Salim was duped into making some heartfelt reference to his relationship with his father and he genuinely thought it would be tied into a good passionately made game or his involvement was literally a paycheck and he linked his own dad story into the games plot they had briefed him on to create context for himself?

 

[tommib]

Do we think Abubakar Salim was duped into making some heartfelt reference to his relationship with his father and he genuinely thought it would be tied into a good passionately made game or his involvement was literally a paycheck and he linked his own dad story into the games plot they had briefed him on to create context for himself?

I played the demo. Anyone can try it for 30 minutes. It seems like a genuine product just with the Kenyan background of a Kenyan dev. I might be wrong but targeting this particular game as “forced” seems counterproductive. This guy and his game are not your enemy. People should pick their fights better.

 

[Tangerine]

There was a promo for this on UK well known online physical games store. They offer £10 back in store credit if you buy the £41 game.

It wouldn't surprise me if this will be a £5 game fairly soon just to get rid of excess stock.

They even sent a mass email to all shoppers subscribed to newsletter:

UNKNOWN 9: AWAKENING

Delve into the mysterious world of the Unknown 9, and uncover mysteries hidden in plain sight.You are Haroona, a Quaestor born with the ability to venture into a mysterious dimension that overlaps our own, known only as the Fold. On her quest for powerful hidden knowledge, Haroona will learn to master her unique connection to the Fold, which allows her to channel its powers into our world... But such power does not go unnoticed and Haroona quickly becomes the target of a splinter faction calling themselves the Ascendants, who want to use the Fold to alter the course of human history.

----------

Yeah... doesn't seem to be working. I wonder how much they spent on advertising world wide?

 

[SJRB]

It is as funny as it is baffling that they had this whole universe planned with TV shows, comics, games. Where was this confidence coming from? Who is bankrolling this?

 

[Esparadrapo]

It is as funny as it is baffling that they had this whole universe planned with TV shows, comics, games. Where was this confidence coming from? Who is bankrolling this?

Toxic Positivity Inc. as always.

 

[samoilaaa]

Where are those modern audiences at

exactly , it was made for modern audience and yet blames us for the lack of sales , where is the logic in that ?

 

[Cakeboxer]

It is as funny as it is baffling that they had this whole universe planned with TV shows, comics, games. Where was this confidence coming from? Who is bankrolling this?

SBI: Give us 7 million dollars and you will get tv shows and comics.

 

[Goalus]

Is anyone else here a non-buynary person?

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

So what happened with this franchise? I thought Unknown 1 through 8 were pretty decent, especially the first ones back on SNES.

 

[Hrk69]

 

[Complistic]

"Mostly Negative (35% of 39) All Time"

Woopsie

 

[BennyBlanco]

 

[DeltaPolarBear]

It is as funny as it is baffling that they had this whole universe planned with TV shows, comics, games. Where was this confidence coming from? Who is bankrolling this?

That kind of confidence always existed with failed projects. it's just that they usually don't get the money to burn.

Many times peo0ple don't realize they can't PLAN to be popular; that popularity is EARNED, after keeping up with expectations and repeatedly delivering on promises. You can't just ASSUME what you are making will be a smash hit. Frankly not even famous director and producers can promise that. So it is a type of Don Kruger effect, they are too ignorant to know how incompetent they are.

 

[tusharngf]

I think the overall game is bad.

 

[Duchess]

And the studio who made ZAU is basically done unless they can find an angel investor for their next game.

A shame, since that game looks decent in the gameplay videos.

Based on some reviews I've seen, it's a somewhat "serviceable" title, in that it's a good game, but doesn't do anything new. Seemingly, it's also not too challenging.

I remember seeing it previewed a while back, but then plain forgot about it.

 

[Fortress of Regrets]

How did these people convince Bamco to buy them in the first place? I wish I could legally scam giant corps out of millions of dollars this good, but I have a malfunction of imagination preventing me from ever getting there.

 

[Saber]

The only thing surprising is the lack of accountabilty. Probably the blame gonna shift on gamers, once the fuck again.

If you guys have doubt how crazy those people are, they are saying people are review bombing this on steam. So people are buying this game for the sole purpose of giving a negative review? Right...

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Never broke 300 this weekend, unless lots of gamers log on now or after dinner.

https://steamdb.info/app/1477940/charts/

 

[Windom Earle]

SBI tax doing work

 

[StueyDuck]

I have it on good sweet baby fiddler authority that all 27 kajillion-floppityfillion modern audience consumers just accidentally spent their paycheck this month so they couldn't buy it.

But SBI promise they'll buy the game next month, that's just how good and talented SBI are.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

There's probably more people shopping in a single Costco store at any time this weekend, than Unknown 9 gamers playing together globally.

 

[Hookshot]

Nothing about something called "Unknown 9" makes me want to be interested or get excited, I'm certainly not going to go look for comics or shows to accompany a game that has a lame title.

 

[Dr. Samuel Hayden]

Woke game with literally no marketing bombs, shocking news

 

[YeulEmeralda]

This game has a lot of factors working against it- one of which being that it's just part of a "narrative universe" and feels like its supposed to rope you into a bunch of extended media to get the whole story - including comic books, novels, and a fucking podcast of all things. So it's really hard to get invested in the story of this game when I know for a fact I would never engage in any of the other content. That results in a hard pass. And if you're only in it for the gameplay- other games have already been there and done it better.

I hate it when games do this. The non Bungie Halo games did this as well- developers need to understand that not everyone is a hardcore fan.

 

[Plague Doctor]

Are we going to get another case of Schrodinger Cope?

Do the chuds have that much influence or do they not?

 

[BigBeauford]

I played the demo. Anyone can try it for 30 minutes. It seems like a genuine product just with the Kenyan background of a Kenyan dev. I might be wrong but targeting this particular game as “forced” seems counterproductive. This guy and his game are not your enemy. People should pick their fights better.

Why did this get a free pass for no diversity while Wukong got dinged for it?

 

[delfrickintree]

I hate it when games do this. The non Bungie Halo games did this as well- developers need to understand that not everyone is a hardcore fan.

I was skeptical about this at first too, until I found out theres a fucking podcast about it. Ive been dying for new podcast material to fill the void on my commute to work, and this sounds perfect for when I finally get a job someday.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

This game has a lot of factors working against it- one of which being that it's just part of a "narrative universe" and feels like its supposed to rope you into a bunch of extended media to get the whole story - including comic books, novels, and a fucking podcast of all things. So it's really hard to get invested in the story of this game when I know for a fact I would never engage in any of the other content. That results in a hard pass. And if you're only in it for the gameplay- other games have already been there and done it better.

Sounds like a franchise biting off more than they can chew. Unless someone is really into it, I doubt most many people even knows what Unknown 9 is. So trying to get them to take it all in to max out coverage and customer interest across media is a hail mary attempt. On their website they even have more "coming soon" media.

The right thing to do is smart small. If it works, you expend. Namco is trying to expand first and think about success later.

 

[Ridicululzz]

Is this series really popular or something? Am I out of touch for never hearing about it?

 

[jason10mm]

I was skeptical about this at first too, until I found out theres a fucking podcast about it. Ive been dying for new podcast material to fill the void on my commute to work, and this sounds perfect for when I finally get a job someday.

Not for nothing but if you are unemployed then I think you are NOT the target demo of ANY game. Save your money for food, rent, and job hunting!

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Is this series really popular or something? Am I out of touch for never hearing about it?

It's not popular. Bu they are trying to build a franchise around it.

Checking Namco's website at the media, the franchise (if you can even call it that) looks like it was started out as two books from 2020 and 2021. You can tell it's not popular because there's hardly any Amazon ratings. Then to add on to that it looks like they recently made the game, and an online comic and podcast to round it all out.

 

[Deerock71]

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Down to a 57 gamer low on a late Sunday night. It'll drop further during the weekdays. The highs this launch weekend couldnt even pass 300.

So this coming week, it'll probably drop down to a high of 150, and late night drop to 30 or 40.