“At the time of the trailer in 2023, we were just 2 bedroom programmers with no experience in the industry,” wrote the studio in its social media post. “The game was just 6 months old and exceeded all our expectations. With limited finances, we started from scratch, working sleepless nights and handling everything from business to creation. Two years later, we are 10 developers and we are still hiring.”

“Today, we’re proud to announce that we finally have the budget to make Unrecord and build the best game possible. Many thanks to our investors, who enjoyed playing the game and placed their trust in us.”

Thanks to this investment, the studio has noted that it is now fully focused on production and will start sharing more updates about how development is going throughout 2026. These updates, said DRAMA, will “reflect our true final vision.”

The investment comes from Tencent, which has also bought a minority stake in DRAMA. Celebrating this deal, studio CEO and founder Theo Hiribarne spoke about having found “a team genuinely passionate about our game and vision,” as well as how the developers have been working hard “to build a game that meets the expectations of our community.”

“Since the surge of attention after our initial trailer, we’ve worked relentlessly to build a game that meets the expectations of our community,” he said, according to GamesIndustry.biz.

“In Tencent, we found not just a world-class partner, but a team genuinely passionate about our game and vision. Despite its scale, Tencent has approached this partnership with humility, respect, and a real appreciation for our creative identity. It believed in Unrecord early and has supported us at every stage of our growth. We’re confident this collaboration will help us reach our full potential.”

Mark Maslowicz, the VP of partnerships at Tencent Games Europe, also provided his own statement, noting that the company wants to invest in creative talent, as well as how impressed it has been with the development progress that has been made on Unrecord since it was first unveiled back in 2023.

“Tencent believes deeply in creative talent,” he said. “We’ve been consistently impressed by the drive and dynamism of Drama Studios, and the remarkable progress it has made on Unrecord, especially with such a small team and limited resources. This investment will help the studio unlock their full potential and deliver the first of many outstanding games. We’re excited to be part of Drama Studios journey.”

The first trailer for Unrecord from 2023 had become incredibly popular owing to the title’s focus on visual fidelity. This focus also came with some controversy, however, with some alleging that DRAMA has been faking the trailer by using real-world footage. The studio had released its own statement in response, with co-director Alexandre Spindler showing off the trailer being worked on in Unreal Engine 5.

Unrecord doesn’t yet have a release date. However, since it is now fully funded, we will likely start seeing more details about the title soon.

Unrecord’s realism is further sold by its believably ramshackle warehouses and dynamic lighting. Undoubtably benefiting from Unreal Engine 5’s powerful graphical prowess, Unrecord’s surface textures look especially gritty. UE5’s capability to import film quality art sources via photogrammetry scans that can then be rendered efficiently for sure contributes to Unrecord’s authentic rapid-fire gunplay. Impressive too is the game’s lighting, with the body camera adjusting realistically to changes in lightness and dark; outside light from windows is frequently over-exposed, a typical characteristic for footage of this type, where a camera’s ability to focus on shadow detail is more important than brightness.

From DRAMA’s Steam FAQ though: “realistic effects do not solely rely on textures and polygon count”, which they demonstrate here in Unrecord’s jerky camera movement and piercing sound design. The looseness of a camera tied to a police officer’s uniform gives Unrecord’s gameplay a quality that’s almost indistinguishable from real life. Plus, reverberating gunshots punctuating through derelict spaces provides an unavoidably tacit brutality. Unrecord is a feast for the senses, its graphically impressiveness resulting in an experience which many are doubting as untrustworthy.

Again, from DRAMA’s Steam FAQ published after the gameplay trailer’s reveal: “There have been many doubts raised about the authenticity of the gameplay” they say in direct response to those questioning the legitimacy of the gameplay footage. “We do not use any real videos or external rendering to Unreal Engine for the creation of Unrecord.” Whilst the studio acknowledges the flattering nature of gameplay being strongly compared to real life, they stress first and foremost that the game focuses on gameplay within a believable universe, and that were this game a scam it’d be a scam at blockbuster proportion. Therefore, most logically, it seems creating a game to be scam would take more effort than say, you know, actually creating the game properly.

To further solidify this point, DRAMA’s Lead Programmer and Co-Director of Unrecord Alexandre Spindler – whom first shared glimpses of the game last October – has published clips of gameplay being manipulated in Unreal Engine 5 to his Twitter page. Spindler appears to be taking viewer’s apparent widespread disbelief in the credibility of his gameplay in good grace and humour, but there lies deeper concern across the internet that can’t be addressed by a cheeky peek behind the developmental curtain.

Ignoring whether the gameplay footage is real or fake, many viewers have expressed negative opinions as to the connotations associated with a such a realistic first-person shooter. Most widespread of this criticism is that a highly realistic portrayal of violence could condition players to lose a sense of empathy for real-life tragedy. Furthermore, there are those who believe such realism has potential to incite the wrong type of person to conduct violent acts themselves.

Now, video games contributing to societal violence isn’t a new claim. Decades long has this debate raged, with parents and politicians alike claiming violence in video games can be directly tied to violent behaviour in real life, from the emergence in the early 1990s of Mortal Kombat’s marquee fatalities and their unrestrained spurting blood and gore, to claims that Grand Theft Auto’s satirical snapshot of society effectively punches down on the marginalised, the violent nature of certain video games often features in the crosshairs of conversation following real-life tragedy, aiming to point the finger of blame. Whilst some associations believes violent video games have potential to increase aggression in players, empirical research, and reports which analysed the results of several independent studies – concluded there is no irrefutable evidence and thus no direct correlation between playing violent video games and real-life violent behaviour.

To address these concerns, DRAMA appear to be framing Unrecord as apolitical, with their Steam FAQ answering the question as to whether the game is pro-Police or anti-Police with the following: “As a French studio addressing a global audience, the game does not engage in any foreign policy and is not inspired by any real-life events” and that “if the game presents political messages, they will be made consciously or in your interpretation.” They summarise by saying that if the game is subversive in certain countries, then they will assume the label, which can be interpreted that they do acknowledge the disruptive nature of the game’s violence but that, in their words, “art cannot fight against interpretation.” It’s clear DRAMA respect and understand there’ll be certain people who’ll feel triggered by the game’s realistic portrayal of ultra-violence but that as a studio they are avoiding undesirable topics and are free from political bias.

In presenting the game’s violence as unfiltered and without distinctive art style, DRAMA is essentially passing interpretation of the game’s meaning – certainly at this stage – onto the player. Whether their response addresses widespread concerns or usurps responsibility is down to individual opinion. Sharing any more detail as to the game’s story and motives, they say, will land them in spoiler territory, although the game’s title Unrecord might hint at corrupt cover-ups, conspiracy, or mistrust in enforcement.

Above all else, the release of Unrecord’s gameplay footage has been a resounding success. Not just for the studio, as they’re now accelerating development to capitalise on the game’s momentum, but in generating conversation. Can video games be held as touchstones for intelligent conversation surrounding political interpretations in the same way movies, TV, and books can? DRAMA certainly believes public trust surrounding other mediums can be replicated for video games, and undeniably they reckon their game can be at the forefront of this conversation.

For all the legitimate concerns and comments from detractors, there are plenty who’ve positive things to say around the game, most of which centre on its potential to be a new milestone in ever-growing immersiveness and realism in video games. The craftsmanship behind the game’s authenticity is arguably amongst the best seen so far. Without knowing the ins and outs of the allegedly complex narrative behind Unrecord, one laced with branching dialogue and moral dilemma, we cannot really decide as to whether the game is a worthy contribution to conversations surrounding serious subject matter. After all, nuance is a tricky thing to pull off with a game so heavily focused on killing.

Currently, Unrecord is still in pre-production without even the vaguest of release windows announced. The developers are small-time and self-funded, although the unexpected notoriety of its gameplay trailer may generate lucrative investment in the studio.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

And as you’d expect, it’s not off the table. In the FAQ section of the game’s official Discord server (spotted by Exputer), DRAMA has said that though it currently remains fully focused on Unrecord’s PC version, it is also “considering” putting the game on additional platforms down the line.

“Unrecord will be released on PC, and we are considering other platforms,” the developer wrote. “We want to reach as many players as possible while providing a high-quality experience. Platform availability will be updated.”

Of course, currently, a release date hasn’t been announced for the PC version yet either, so one way or another, it’s going to be a while before we get word on console versions.

Recently, DRAMA also responded to the somewhat controversial response to Unrecord’s reveal, owing to its premise and visual style. Read more on that through here.

After seeing a number of complaints about the game looking fake and presenting themes that might make a fair number of people quite uncomfortable considering the political climate in several parts of the world these days, the studio has released a statement, responding to several of these questions on a point-by-point basis.

When it comes to whether the game is real or if it’s just a scam that makes use of real-world footage, Spindler even took to Twitter to show off a level from the game’s trailer being worked on in Unreal Engine 5. Spindler is able to show off the game being played by shooting randomly, and even being able to pause and reset the levels, and traveling through the levels in developer mode.

As for the game making some people feel uncomfortable, the studio has noted that it is based in France, and as such doesn’t want to engage in foreign policy, nor will Unrecord be based on any real-life events. The studio hopes to get the same leeway and trust that movies, shows and books based on detective, gangster, or police stories tend to get.

“If the game presents political messages, they will be made consciously or in your interpretation,” says the studio. “If the game aims to be subversive in certain countries, we will assume the label.”

When it comes to other aspects of development, like release date, optimisation, and porting the game to other platform, DRAMA has stated that it is still working on the game, and there is no current release date. The studio has opted to show off the game early through the trailer and the Steam page. As for optimisation, the studio isn’t making any promises for perfect optimisation, but is hoping that modern PCs should be able to play the game well enough.

As for the potential for a console release, the studio has stated that it doesn’t see any issues with porting the game to consoles since it currently plays well on both keyboard and mouse, as well as on controllers. It has, however, stated that Unrecord is not a VR game.

https://twitter.com/esankiy/status/1649104852704690178

Post-reveal: Response to questions and concerns from players.https://t.co/n6hF9aiGiW pic.twitter.com/Kg0NMFaUCT

— Unrecord (@unrecordgame) April 20, 2023

As a result of this perspective, combat feels more gritty and tactical. While there is some debate over the legitimacy of the visuals, the idea is unique. Along with shooting baddies, players can also engage in conversation with characters, as seen with dialogue choices at the end of the gameplay. Its Steam page indicates “tough moral dilemmas” as players investigate different cases and interact with a “diverse cast of characters.”

Interestingly, it has a “free-aiming” system with “authentic ADS” and no restriction on hand movements. How deep the narrative will be, especially when it’s inspired by “the best crime and thriller stories,” remains to be seen. Unrecord is currently in development for PC and has no release date. Stay tuned for more details and updates in the coming months.