Will Smith’s zombie game flops…but we’ve never heard of it

Will Smith’s zombie game flops…but we’ve never heard of it
Images via Lightspeed Studios

Written by 

Joseph Kime

Published 

22nd Mar 2024 11:15

Zombie games aren't having the best time right now, and that's probably because we've already seen enough of them to last a lifetime. The Day Before stacked it in a way that few games have stacked it, while The Walking Dead: Destinies proved that even a popular idea for a popular series can be a dud.

We've had some fun ones in recent memory, with The Last of Us Part II Remastered elevating the modern classic tale of revenge and Dying Light 2 giving us a fun time slashing through and hopping over undead beasts.

Now, another game has hit the deck, and shockingly, it featured one of the biggest names in Hollywood. Did any of you know Will Smith was starring in a zombie game? 

Will Smith's zombie game flopped. Oh, yeah - Will Smith had a zombie game

A player fires into a horde of incoming undead in Undawn.
Click to enlarge

Embarrassingly, this is news to many. A new report claims that Undawn, the zombie game fronted by Hollywood icon and rapper of some undeniable summertime classics, Will Smith, has flopped dramatically on the video game market.

The game features Smith as Trey Jones, a guide who welcomes players into a world that has been destitute for four years after its cataclysm. Much to the ignorance of would-be fans, the title launched in June 2023 and, according to Reuters, has "flopped spectacularly."

Undawn was developed by 300 team members with a 1 billion yuan budget, which works out at around $140 million. Sheesh. Appmagic reported to Reuters that the game has only brought in $287,000 of revenue last month, which is a huge loss when compared to the astronomical budget of the title.

Was Undawn any good?

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Steam player reviews are comfortably in the "Mixed" category, while critics weren't particularly warm to the game when offering middle-of-the-road scores. Players have called out a 'repetitive' Undawn with only one PvP mode. It didn't quite scratch the itch that you had going into it, but ultimately, it doesn't matter because of its huge financial failure.

Even if Undawn was complete rubbish, it's still sad to see a game fail in such a spectacular way, especially given how many developers put their all into bringing it to life. If even Will Smith can't rescue a game, what's the hope for the rest of us?

Joseph Kime
About the author
Joseph Kime
Joseph Kime is the Senior Trending News Journalist for GGRecon from Devon, UK. Before graduating from MarJon University with a degree in Journalism, he started writing music reviews for his own website before writing for the likes of FANDOM, Zavvi and The Digital Fix. He is host of the Big Screen Book Club podcast, and author of Building A Universe, a book that chronicles the history of superhero movies. His favourite games include DOOM (2016), Celeste and Pokemon Emerald.
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