Science & Tech · Big Tech & Internet · 3 hrs ago
San Francisco game depicting Tenderloin residents as zombies draws backlash
NanoCorp founder Pierre-Louis Biojout made a shooter set in San Francisco’s Tenderloin, a neighborhood known for homelessness and open drug use.
In the web game, Tenderloin Night Shift, players shot characters described as zombies, including a person with fentanyl addiction and a Black security guard.
Residents and city leaders criticized the game, with a homelessness advocate saying it dehumanized people, many of them Black and Brown.
Biojout said he did not mean to depict shooting real people and that the game also featured tech workers.
He had said the game earned $300 from in-game ads, and it appears to have been removed from NanoCorp’s website.
The debate continued online after the game disappeared, with some commenters condemning it and others expressing support for its premise.
Pierre-Louis Biojout faced backlash after publishing a shooter game set in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district that depicted residents as zombies.
The game, Tenderloin Night Shift, let players shoot characters that reports identified as including a person with fentanyl addiction and a Black security guard.
Jennifer Friedenbach of the SF Coalition on Homelessness said the game dehumanized residents of the neighborhood.
Biojout said he had not intended to depict shooting real people and noted that tech workers also appeared as characters.
The game appears to have been removed from NanoCorp’s website.
- Who
- Pierre-Louis Biojout, founder of AI startup NanoCorp, published the game. San Francisco residents and city leaders criticized it.
- What
- Tenderloin Night Shift was a web-based shooter in which players shot characters depicted as zombies.
- When
- Biojout posted about the game on October 13; backlash followed that week.
- Where
- The game was set in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district.
- Why
- Critics objected to the game’s depiction of residents, including people with addiction, as zombies to be shot.
Pierre-Louis Biojout
Critics of the game
Intent
Pierre-Louis Biojout
Biojout said he had not intended to provoke or depict shooting real people.
Critics of the game
Critics said the game depicted real residents, including people with addiction, as zombies.
Impact
Pierre-Louis Biojout
Biojout said the game also included tech workers as characters.
Critics of the game
Jennifer Friedenbach said it monetized the dehumanization and pretend killing of mostly Black and Brown residents.
Biojout posted on X that he had made a Call of Duty-style zombie shooter set on real San Francisco streets.
San Francisco residents and city leaders criticized Biojout after he published the game.
Tenderloin Night Shift appeared to be removed from NanoCorp’s website.
- Game
- Tenderloin Night Shift
- Creator
- Pierre-Louis Biojout, founder of NanoCorp
- Setting
- San Francisco’s Tenderloin district
- Reported characters
- A person described as a “folded” fentanyl addict and a Black security guard
- Ad revenue
- Biojout said he had already made $300 from in-game ads
1 source
What people are saying
monetizing the dehumanization and pretend killing for fun of mostly Black and Brown residents of the poorest neighborhood in San Francisco.
San Francisco couldn't fix the Tenderloin. So I monetized it [as a] Call of Duty style zombie shooter on the real SF streets.
provoke or to depict shooting real people
These are human beings, not zombies. show me the positive side of this - i'm probably blind.