Bandai Namco Shuts Down Unknown 9: Awakening Developer Reflector Entertainment

Bandai Namco has announced the closure of Reflector Entertainment, the Montreal studio behind 2024’s Unknown 9: Awakening.

Founded in 2015 and acquired by Bandai Namco in 2020, Reflector released just one game. Unknown 9: Awakening was unveiled at Gamescom 2020 before launching on October 17, 2024.

The third-person action game is part of the wider Unknown 9 franchise, which also encompasses a book trilogy, comics and a web series. It follows Haroona, a woman who can enter another dimension known as the Fold. Played by The Witcher actress Anya Chalotra, Haroona uses that ability and other supernatural powers to confront a hostile secret society in India and other locations around the world.

The game received a muted critical response, with a Metascore of 59 and “Mixed” user reviews on Steam. In November 2024, one month after its release, Reflector laid off 18 percent of its staff.

Further layoffs followed in January 2025, when the studio canceled an unannounced project and confirmed that Unknown 9: Awakening had fallen short of expectations.

Bandai Namco expects Reflector’s dissolution to result in an “extraordinary loss” of approximately €21 million in its third-quarter financial results for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2027.

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