I recently had the pleasure to speak with Abubakar Salim, founder of Surgent Studios and creative director of Tales of Kenzera: Zau, about founding his gaming studio and how his childhood, grief, and becoming a father were essential building blocks in the development of Tales of Kenzera: Zau coming to PS5 April 23. Listen to the full interview below.
PlayStation Blog: We’ve been curious about your game ever since you announced it on stage at The Game Awards. How do you feel now that all of it is out there in the open?
Abubakar Salim: Terrified, absolutely terrified. It’s one of those things where we’ve been building it behind the scenes for so long, and you reveal it to people, and everyone’s like, ‘Oh, wow, you’ve been building this. It looks so great.’ And you’re like, yes, so much blood, sweat, and tears went into this, but I’m super happy that it’s being received so well.
Tales of Kenzera: Zau is your first game. You’re originally more of a gamer, so what was the journey there?
I got into video games from my father. Essentially, he introduced me to them, and he would play a lot. Well, he would watch me play a lot, and he would dive in now and then. It’s always been my medium of taking in stories. I didn’t know you could have a career or work in games. It was this thing that you put a CD in a PlayStation, and gremlins work their magic inside.
It was one of those where it didn’t cross my mind that you could do it as a career. So I went into acting because I’ve always loved telling stories. Then, I started working in games, and Assassin’s Creed Origins was the first game that I did. I was a massive fan of the Assassin’s Creed franchise. So then, to be in it was mind-blowing. And that gave me the behind-the-scenes of, oh, wow, there are actual people making this stuff.
You’ve said the game’s gated exploration is well-suited to discussing grief. Can you explain that?
The beauty of these Castlevania or Metroid-like games is you throw the player into a map that they have no idea about, that they’re lost. They’re trying to gauge an idea of what it is, and the longer they spend in it, the more comfortable they feel, but at the same time, it’s still dangerous. And I think that is, to me, the perfect explanation or personification of grief.
You learn to live with it, and it’s not a bad thing. You then find your boundaries, and you play with them. I’ve accepted that, yeah, I will sometimes feel sad, and sometimes I feel angry. But sometimes, I’ll feel an element of relief and freedom, and that’s okay. At first, it’s a bit alien, but after a while, it’s like, Alright, cool. Let’s play.
The game is inspired by Bantu mythology. Can you tell us more about that mythology and why you chose it?&nbs