Xbox Partner Preview – Unlock the Powers of the Fold in Unknown 9: Awakening’s New Trailer

It’s been three-and-a-half years since Reflector Entertainment and Bandai Namco Europe unveiled Unknown 9: Awakening with a teaser trailer at gamescom 2020. Well, we’re back and ready to share the fruits of our labor with the world! 

Today, we are thrilled to unveil Unknown 9: Awakening’s Announcement Trailer, which reveals our tough-as-nails protagonist Haroona, a first look at the gameplay, and a Summer 2024 release.  

We’d love to get you up to speed on the game, share what we’ve been up to behind the scenes, and explain why you should join the quest to uncover humanity’s best-kept secrets, so let’s dive in! 

Your Unknown 9: Awakening Refresher 

The third-person action-adventure title centers on Haroona, a truth seeker with a troubled past whose connection to a shadowy dimension known as the Fold has blessed her with powerful abilities.  

The last time the world caught a glimpse of the game’s heroine, she was just a child left to fend for herself on the streets of Chamiri, India, unsure of what to make of her unearthly gifts. Fast-forward to today, and Haroona is all grown up. She’s embraced her unique talents and continues to learn the ways of the Fold.  

You’ll step into Haroona’s shoes following a life-changing loss. At first, revenge is all you’re after, but the Unknown 9 universe has other plans. Before you know it, in addition to seeking vengeance, you find yourself on a globetrotting journey, uncovering powerful hidden knowledge. This puts you on a collision course with the Ascendants, a breakaway faction of a secret society known as the Leap Year Society. Founded by the brilliant and ruthless Vincent Lichter, Unknown 9: Awakening’s main antagonist, this dangerous splinter group intends to use the Fold in ways that could jeopardize the future of humankind.  

The question is, can you shut down this elusive organization’s master plan before it’s too late?  

Building a Narrative Universe

From Reflector’s induction into the Bandai Namco Group to the trials and tribulations of creating a brand-new IP, all while finding our footing in a pandemic and then a post-pandemic workplace landscape, it’s safe to say it’s been quite the ride!  

However, the last few years haven’t just been about making process and workflow adjustments. We ideated, fine-tuned our storytelling approach, and explored different mechanics and combinations to build distinctive gameplay experiences.  

When it was all said and done, we didn’t just develop a video game. We built an elaborate story-driven universe for you to immerse yourself in!  

The Unknown 9: Awakening video game is a gateway to the larger narrative world of Unknown 9, a universe encompassing a set of interconnected stories told across different media formats. The game’s lore seeps into every tale set within this world.  

To ensure you flow seamlessly from one story to the next, our development and narrative teams dedicated much time to ironing out specific details and features to get the overarching story and its resulting experience just right.  

While we’re excited to reveal the entirety of this experience to you, we’re easing you into the world of Unknown 9 one step at a time, starting with our first video game. 

Harness the Powers of the Fold 

Your quest begins this summer. The moment you take on the role of Haroona, you have carte blanche to tap into her impressive talents by channeling the Fold’s energy into the world.  

Haroona, portrayed by actress Anya Chalotra, is fierce, quick-witted, and wields powerful skills—what those in the Unknown 9 universe call Umbric abilities. By harnessing the Fold’s potent energy, Haroona manipulates people, objects, and weapons from any distance. At the flick of a wrist, she obliterates whatever stands in her path, and her capacity to shield oncoming fire is nothing short of impressive. But what makes her a uniquely formidable force is that she can step into any of her foes, leveraging their size, skill, and weaponry to defeat whoever she’s up against.   

Our design and development teams zeroed in on this unique combination of skills, devising a set of gameplay mechanics that give you complete control of your combat strategy. The resulting experience lets you choose how you take down your enemies. Whether this means sticking to stealth mode, engaging in full combat, channelling the Fold’s energy to wield Umbric abilities, or using a combination of them all is up to you to decide.  

Truthfully, we’ve only just begun to scratch the surface of Haroona’s true potential, the power of the Fold, and the secrets this dimension harbors. Stay tuned for additional revelations about the mysterious world of Unknown 9: Awakening, which comes out on Xbox X|S and Xbox One in the summer of 2024.