Indie Game Dev Cancels Vibe-Coded Zombie Shooter After San Francisco Officials Condemn 'Dehumanizing' Game

The developer of a zombie game set in San Francisco has taken down the title and issued a public apology after city officials condemned it for depicting its citizens as ‘zombies.’ The game, called Tenderloin Night Shift, was a vibe-coded, first-person shooter created by independent developer Pierre-Louis Biojout over the course of a weekend using OpenAI’s Codex. Set in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood—an area infamous for high crime rates and unhoused populations—the game depicts players using guns to rid the area of ‘zombies.’ These undead enemies are shown wearing various outfits, including construction uniforms or food delivery backpacks, while others are depicted doing the ‘fentanyl fold,’ a position associated with fentanyl users. Biojout stated that he “monetized” the Tenderloin in the game by selling digital ad space for $100 per week. However, San Francisco city officials quickly took notice. Mayor Daniel Lurie condemned the title, stating, “There’s no accounting for taste or people’s terrible ideas. This is a bad one, and we reject it.” Furthermore, Supervisor Bilal Mahmood called the game “deeply disturbing and unacceptable,” arguing that “Turning violence against real people, including unhoused people, into entertainment is dehumanizing and should never be normalized.” Initially boasting about the backlash on social media, Biojout later removed the game from his online platform and issued a public apology. He clarified that the game was not intended to provoke or depict shooting real people, stating that its characters drew on a broad cross-section of San Francisco life. Additionally, Biojout revealed that he refunded all advertisers who promoted his game and donated the game’s total revenue to the Delancey Street Foundation, a nonprofit organization providing rehabilitation services in San Francisco. He wrote that while the setting and promotion showed poor judgment, targeting people struggling with addiction or homelessness was never his intention.