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Bandai Namco Shuts Down Reflector Entertainment Two Years After Unknown 9 Flopped
studio closureBandai NamcoReflector EntertainmentUnknown 9 Awakening

Bandai Namco Shuts Down Reflector Entertainment Two Years After Unknown 9 Flopped

Nov 10, 20264 sources0 comments

Bandai Namco has announced the closure of Reflector Entertainment, the Montreal-based studio behind the 2024 action RPG Unknown 9: Awakening. The publisher confirmed the shutdown in a press release, liquidating the studio roughly two years after Unknown 9: Awakening launched to disappointing commercial results. The closure is the latest in a string of smaller studios being dissolved by their parent companies, and it follows multiple rounds of layoffs at Reflector since the game's troubled debut.

Bandai Namco also revealed it expects to post a €21 million loss in its Q3 financials as a direct result of the studio's liquidation. Reports indicate that Reflector had a new game in pre-production at the time of the closure, but Bandai Namco ultimately decided the project was not worth the investment to continue. Reflector was founded in Montreal and operated as a Bandai Namco subsidiary, making Unknown 9: Awakening its most prominent release before the studio's abrupt end.

Key Insights

  • 1Bandai Namco is liquidating Reflector Entertainment, the Montreal studio behind Unknown 9: Awakening, approximately two years after the game's commercially disappointing launch.
  • 2The closure will result in an estimated €21 million loss for Bandai Namco in Q3, underscoring the significant financial impact of winding down a studio.
  • 3Reflector had a new game in pre-production at the time of the shutdown, but Bandai Namco chose not to pursue it further.
  • 4The studio had already suffered multiple rounds of layoffs following Unknown 9: Awakening's poor reception before this final closure.
  • 5The shutdown is part of a broader industry trend of parent companies dissolving smaller subsidiary studios amid tightening budgets and commercial pressures.

Sources

2 years after Unknown 9: Awakening bombed, Bandai Namco is closing the studio that made it

PC Gamer · 23h ago

Bandai Namco Shuts Down Unknown 9: Awakening Developer Reflector Entertainment

Game Informer · 23h ago

Bandai Namco is liquidating Unknown 9: Awakening studio Reflector Entertainment, following multiple previous layoffs since the game's launch

Rock Paper Shotgun · 23h ago

Bandai Namco closes Reflector Entertainment, expects to post €21m loss in Q3 as a result

GamesIndustry · 23h ago

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