New AI Zombie Shooter Game Set In SF Neighborhood Sparks Backlash: Report

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — A recently released AI-generated zombie shooter game set in San Francisco's Tenderloin has sparked backlash for its depiction of the embattled region.

The free-to-play browser game, "Tenderloin: Night Shift," has already been played by a few thousand people and ignited debate over its representation of the Tenderloin, an impacted community in San Francisco suffering from public health crises and socioeconomic disparities, including a drug epidemic and homelessness.

Critics say the game, created by developer Pierre-Louis Biojout, resembles homeless residents in the area and people with addiction, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Biojout told the San Francisco Chronicle the game was meant to make San Francisco into a zombie map like Call of Duty did with Alcatraz.

"The game was not intended to provoke or to depict shooting real people," Biojout, who says he walks through the area daily on the way to his office, told the Chronicle. "Its characters draw on a broad cross-section of San Francisco, across different backgrounds and walks of life, including people who work in tech."

But city leaders disagree, including Supervisor and Tenderloin representative Bilal Mahmood, who called the game "deeply disturbing and unacceptable."

Former Tenderloin Supervisor Dean Preston described the game as "vigilantism involving killing poor people" and called it "gross," according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

"Tenderloin: Midnight Shift" allows players to compete solo or with friends to take on what appear to be zombies in the Tenderloin neighborhood. Players start on Jones and Eddy streets, with Ellis, Turk, Leavenworth and Taylor streets serving as borders.

Reminiscent to Call of Duty's zombies, a mystery box is available in game. But unlike the popular shooter franchise, in this game can charge at players with a scooter resembling the colors of the popular Lime scooters seen around the peninsula.

Trailer of the game shows players shooting at zombie-like figures, including one called "The Folded," a pose that appears represent what is often referred to as the "fentanyl fold."

"San Francisco couldn't fix the Tenderloin," Biojout said in a post on X on Tuesday that has since been viewed over half a million times. "So I monetized it."

Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.