High ambitions, hard landing – Unknown 9: Awakening might be this year's biggest gaming disappointment

Unknown 9: Awakening is an anticipated action-adventure game developed by Reflector Entertainment and published by Bandai Namco on October 17. Players take on the role of the magically gifted Haroona, who has the ability to enter a parallel dimension called "the Fold". There she learns to use her supernatural powers while being hunted by "The Ascendants".

It seems that the developers behind Unknown 9: Awakening have failed to deliver. While there was a lot of hype beforehand, the title proved to be a bitter disappointment shortly after its launch - possibly even worse than Sony's recently failed title Concord. According to SteamDB, the game has only reached a negligible peak of 285 players since its release. In comparison: Concord managed to reach around 700 simultaneous players.

The ratings are equally dismal, with Unknown 9: Awakening earning a disappointing Metascore of 62 and a catastrophic user score of 1.5. On Steam, the situation looks similarly bleak: Only 42 percent positive opinions from around 280 reviews.

Outdated graphics, technical problems and "woke" implementation

Under the hood of Unknown 9: Awakening, there are many problems that players and critics alike criticize. One of the main points of criticism is the outdated graphics. The game was developed in Unreal Engine 4 and looks outdated compared to current AAA titles such as Black Myth: Wukong or Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2. Technical issues are another major concern, with many players reporting stuttering and low frame rates, even on high-end systems.

Users on Reddit accuse the game of depicting socio-political issues in a clichéd and exaggerated way. In particular, the depiction of white men and the appearance of the female main character caused heated discussions in which the term "woke" was frequently used.

Reflector Entertainment, the Canadian studio behind Unknown 9: Awakening, had very ambitious plans for the game. The story was to be told not only in video games, but also in novels, comics and films. However, it is questionable whether these plans will continue after this disastrous start.