Will Smith has emerged for the promotion of a new upcoming free-to-play open world survival video game, Undawn.
The trailer comes with this caption:
“On June 15th, join Will Smith, as Legendary Survivor “Trey Jones”, as he prepares you for your journey to survive in the shattered world of Undawn.
Explore, adapt, and survive in Undawn, a free-to-play open-world survival RPG for mobile and PC developed by LIGHTSPEED STUDIOS and published by Level Infinite. Embark on an adventure with other survivors in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by the infected. Survive your way by forming alliances, building bases, and fighting both infected and the living.”
The trailer shows Will Smith showing some newly learned heroic bloodshed and gun fu skills, fighting off a zombie, as well as a larger, eyeless monster reminiscent of a Resident Evil Licker. It must be said that Lightspeed Studios clearly evoked Will Smith’s appearance in I Am Legend.
That 2007 film, based on the novel of the same name by Richard Matheson, places Smith in a post apocalyptic New York. That novel is about a sole survivor in a world overrun with pseudo vampire zombies. While the film takes the material in a different direction, it unmistakably takes on the aesthetic of zombie and post apocalyptic media. It’s quite fitting for Undawn, albeit under a completely different context now.
As reported by Insider Gaming, Tencent revealed this game all the way back in 2021, and it was supposed to also release later that year. While we don’t know the full details of the delay, it’s more than likely that the pandemic and its subsequent consequences were a factor in that delay.
Undawn promises to have these features at launch:
- Base construction and survival mechanics
- An expansive open-world
- Vehicular combat
- Customisation elements
- PvPvE platform
That would seem to tick all the boxes for what players would want to see in an open world survival zombie game, after the influences of PUBG, Dayz, and perhaps a bit of Dying Light as well.
The big selling point will probably be the promise of PvPvE. That’s a mode that’s been popularized by Korean game company Krafton and their game, PUBG. It is obviously no coincidence that Undawn, like PUBG, is targeting a casual audience with its mobile ports and mainstream celebrity endorsement.
Undawn will be released on June 15, 2023, on mobile and Windows via Steam. You can watch the trailer below.
