Bandai Namco Holdings has officially decided to shut down Reflector Entertainment, the Montreal-based developer behind Unknown 9: Awakening. The company’s board of directors approved the dissolution and liquidation of the studio on November 10, 2026, nearly two years after its first major game launched to disappointing commercial results.
The decision was confirmed in an official investor notice published alongside Bandai Namco’s latest financial results. The publisher explained that it had reviewed Reflector’s future development plans, the additional investment required to sustain its operations, and its prospects for long-term profitability before deciding to discontinue the business.
Bandai Namco also expects to record an extraordinary loss of approximately €21 million, equivalent to roughly ¥3.5 billion, associated with the closure. The estimated charge will appear in its consolidated financial results from the third quarter of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2027, onward.
The company cautioned that the final loss and its accounting date remain subject to change depending on liquidation procedures and tax considerations.
Reflector Entertainment was established in December 2015 and acquired by Bandai Namco in September 2020. The Canadian developer became best known for Unknown 9: Awakening, a supernatural action-adventure game starring Anya Chalotra, who portrays Yennefer in Netflix’s The Witcher series.
Released on October 18, 2024, for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC through Steam, Unknown 9: Awakening followed Haroona, a protagonist capable of accessing a mysterious alternate dimension called the Fold.
Despite an ambitious multimedia strategy involving the wider Unknown 9 universe, the game struggled commercially and received a mixed critical reception.
Reflector began reducing its workforce shortly after launch, laying off approximately 18% of its employees in November 2024. Further layoffs followed in January 2025 when the studio cancelled another project.
At the time, Reflector CEO Hervé Hoerdt acknowledged that Unknown 9: Awakening had fallen significantly short of the company’s expectations. The studio subsequently shifted toward developing a project based on an existing Bandai Namco intellectual property rather than continuing its original franchise strategy.
However, that change was not enough to secure the developer’s future.
In a separate statement on LinkedIn, Reflector Entertainment explained that Bandai Namco had reviewed the progress of its latest project in pre-production, its future development requirements, and prevailing market conditions. The publisher ultimately concluded that several additional years of investment could not be justified.
The November 10 announcement makes the studio’s closure definitive, rather than another round of restructuring or a cancellation affecting an individual game.
Bandai Namco’s financial disclosure also provides additional context for the decision. Reflector reported net sales of approximately CAD 14.7 million for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026, down from CAD 47.8 million in the preceding year. Its net assets remained negative at approximately CAD 89.5 million.
These figures reflect the studio’s wider financial position rather than sales figures specifically attributable to Unknown 9: Awakening.
Reflector Entertainment is wholly owned by Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, and its liquidation will proceed under applicable Canadian laws. Bandai Namco has not announced a definitive date for completing the process.
The company has also not provided a confirmed number of employees affected by the final closure or announced any plans to transfer Reflector’s unfinished project to another development team.
The shutdown marks the end of the studio responsible for Unknown 9: Awakening and its subsequent development efforts, following nearly six years under Bandai Namco ownership.
