San Francisco officials condemn zombie shooter game set in Tenderloin

Independent developer Pierre-Louis Biojout has removed his game, ‘Tenderloin Night Shift,’ and issued a public apology following condemnation from San Francisco city officials. The first-person shooter, created using OpenAI’s Codex, was set in the city’s Tenderloin neighborhood, an area known for high crime rates and a large unhoused population.

City leaders criticized the game for its depiction of residents as zombies. The game featured enemies in construction uniforms, food delivery backpacks, or performing the ‘fentanyl fold,’ a posture associated with drug use. Mayor Daniel Lurie stated that the game ‘doesn’t speak for San Francisco values,’ while Supervisor Bilal Mahmood described the title as ‘deeply disturbing and unacceptable,’ noting that it turned violence against real people into entertainment.