Surgent Studios create deeply personal games. After a wonderful debut with Metroidvania Tales of Kenzera: Zau, however, the studio is pivoting to quite a different genre in Dead Take.
Coming to PC on July 31st, Dead Take is described as “a first-person psychological horror” title, with an all-star cast featuring the likes of Neil Newbon, Jane Perry, Ben Star, and many others. We had a chance to drop some questions to Abubakar Salim, Creative Director of Dead Take, and got to ask about the personal stories, the pivot to psychological horror, working with such big actors, and much more. So let’s get to it…
How are the team and yourself doing after Tales of Kenzera: Zau?
We’re feeling very lucky! The games industry continues to be quite volatile, and we’re grateful to still be making games together.
A haunted mansion is quite a change from the personal tale that Zau showcased. What prompted that change?
I can’t make games that aren’t deeply personal. Dead Take comes from my own experience as an actor through a horror lens. Horror has been on my mind since ZAU, when we focused the second level entirely on fear and dread. It may seem like a big departure, but for us it had real continuity.
Abubakar Salim, Creative Director at Surgent Studios
Do you have any personal experience with haunted house stories, or supernatural situations? Do you believe in that type of thing yourself?
I’d say I’m mostly a sceptic. For me the scariest thing is something that’s real.
Obviously Dead Take is with a different publisher. Did you have to pitch the game around or was this a natural find between the studio and publisher?
This happened very organically between us and Pocketpair Publishing. We met, threw some ideas around, and landed on this one.
How did you end up choosing the announced actors for the roles?
We wrote this game with them in mind! There was not a lot of second guessing or getting lost in the weeds; we knew what we were going for pretty quickly.
It’d be interesting to know how Ben Starr and Neil Newbon took to the roles of competing actors. I bet it’s something they can have a lot of fun with, even in a horror game?
Absolutely – although I will say parts of this game hit very close to home for all of us actors since I was pulling from what it’s actually like to work as an actor.
Is the game currently planned for PC only? Would you like to bring it to more formats eventually?
Dead Take will release on PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store. We don’t currently have plans to port to console but we’d be open to it if the opportunity arose.
Is it stressful to be venturing into such a huge genre like this, how do you cope with that?
I’ve learned that there are always so many reasons to talk yourself out of doing something. Everything that’s gone well for us has been the result of giving it a try despite all the reasons not to. Horror is extremely popular, and it’s genuinely fun and exciting to throw our own contribution into the mix.
Do you think single player games are finally being recognised as what a large part of the audience wants these days? How are you finding the pressures of the industry these days?
Gamers aren’t a monolith, but I’d definitely say that taste and preference can come in waves. It’s certainly gratifying when the games that we want to make coincide with what people are playing. The industry is always a pressure cooker, but it feels like we’ve become more comfortable under pressure.
What are your hopes for the game, overall?
It’s a serious game on a serious topic, but there’s a levity in horror that I hope people can tap into as well. I hope that people who don’t usually dip their toes into horror can see that there’s something to enjoy in getting a little scared.
Thanks again to Abubakar Salim for his time. Dead Take launches on PC on July 31st.
