A screenshot from Unknown 9: Awakening (2024), Reflector Entertainment

Developer Reflector Entertainment and publisher Bandai Namco appear to have a massive financial disaster on their hands with the Sweet Baby Inc. infected Unknown 9: Awakening.

A screenshot from Unknown 9: Awakening (2024), Reflector Entertainment

The game which goes on sale in about a month on October 17, 2024, was added to KabrutusRambo’s Sweet Baby Inc. Detected Steam curator list back in March after it was revealed on The Shorty Awards website that Sweet Baby Inc. co-founders David Bédard and Kim Belair were listed in the game’s credits section.

Bédard is credited as the Brand Content Manager at Reflector Entertainment Ltd. while Belair is credited as Story Architect at Sweet Baby Inc.

Screenshot from The Shorty Awards website

Bédard’s LinkedIn page also confirmed he worked for Reflector Entertainment Ltd. as a Brand Content Manager from April 2018 to March 2019.

David Bédard’s LinkedIn

YouTuber Doctor Disaster shared that his retail source, who manages nine stores, has not had a single pre-order for the game.

He stated, “This person runs nine retail stores in a highly populated area. And I’m being told that in all nine stores combined there hasn’t been a single pre-order for Unknown 9: Awakening.”

“And I was recently contacted by someone else who works in the retail industry, who claims to run 14 stores. I am still vetting this person, but I will disclose this. I’m being told from this person that in those 14 stories they also have no seen a single pre-order for Unknown 9: Awakening.”

On top of this information SteamDB reports that the game is currently in the 390th position for Most Wishlisted Steam Games and it is in the 3092nd spot on the Top Sellers list.

A screenshot of SteamDB’s Most Wishlisted Upcoming Steam Games Chart showing Unknown 9: Awakening’s position

This is not surprising given Sweet Baby Inc.’s infection. But on top of that it was reported back in March that either Reflector or Bandai Namco were nuking their Steam forums and mass banning gamers who mentioned Sweet Baby Inc. or described their game as woke.

X user Disascho reported, “In the Steam forums for this new upcomming game they startet mass-banning everyone, who mentioned Sweet Baby, or said negative things about games being woke, it was a total Purge, they wiped around 99% of the Forum.”

Along with these reports of Reflector nuking their own Steam discussions, the game was also being criticized by former World of Warcraft Team Lead Mark Kern for making the game’s lead character Haroona ugly. The company revealed the character is based off of The Witcher actress Anya Chalotra back on March 14th.

Unknown 9L Awakening on X

Kern reacted to the character models based on Chalotra writing, “Anya Chalotra is so pretty in real life. Why did Sweet Baby and Reflector do this to her? Why does this keep happening?”

 

What do you make of this rumor from Doctor Disaster and the game’s poor Wishlist and sales ranking?