Almost two years ago, Tencent’s Lightspeed & Quantum announced Undawn, a UE4 post-apoc multiplayer open-world survival game, which promised everything from PvE and PvP to crafting and trading… the usual survival shooter vibes. It was meant to launch back in 2021 after a Chinese beta, though obviously it didn’t, and we couldn’t find anything on the official site’s very blank news feed or social media explaining what happened. Either way, Tencent’s various corporate fronts have announced the game will soon begin global closed beta testing – and signups are live now.
“Level Infinite, a gaming brand dedicated to delivering high-quality games to a global audience, and LightSpeed Studios, one of the most successful and innovative game developers in the world, announced that the post-apocalyptic open-world survival RPG, Undawn, will start a closed beta test in the United States and Canada on April 3, 2023. The Closed Beta will have a limited number of available spots and will be open to iOS, Android and PC players.”
This is a real closed beta, note, so nothing from this stage will carry over to the game’s real global launch when it happens “later this year.” Here’s the game pitch:
“In Undawn, players will explore a shattered world set four years after a global disaster. The game combines PvP and PvE experiences as players fend off dual threats of the infected hordes and opposing humans in a fight to survive in this bleak wasteland. […] Built using the Unreal Engine, Undawn transports players to a huge world filled with distinct terrains such as plains, mines, deserts, swamps, and abandoned cities, each with diverse ecosystems and dangers. Players must brave rain, heat, snow, and storms while tracking their character’s survival indicators to stay alive against overwhelming odds. Using a robust base building system with more than 1,000 types and styles of furniture and structures, survivors will need to work together to rebuild their homesteads and establish a new civilization.”
We note here that nowhere in the press release for this game is Tencent mentioned; the company is using its globally oriented Level Infinite publishing branch, which it created in 2021, for this title. It’s also apparently swapped the name of Lightspeed & Quantum to just LightSpeed Studios at some point in the last year since that earlier press release. But we gotta be clear that all of these brands, labels, and teams are owned by Tencent, and Tencent has been downplaying its ownership here (and of other games) through its Level Infinite marketing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuyESeiw7V4
