Surgent Studios, founded by actor Abu Bakar Salim, one of the stars of Ridley Scott's Raised by Wolves series, created “Tales of Kenzera: ZAU” inspired by his own story after his father's death.
Setting aside the occasional contributions of Hollywood talent to performance capture sessions for video game needs, you'll find that very few actors have pushed their involvement in the world of video games even further, to the point of founding their own studio.
The most emblematic examples at this point are Vin Diesel, who co-founded Tejon Studios, or Elijah Wood, who launched SpectreVision in 2010, at the origin of an interactive virtual reality thriller in 2018, TransferDeveloped in conjunction with Ubisoft.
He was raised by wolves and video games
In December 2019, it was British actor Abu Bakar Saleem's turn to join the ranks, co-founding development studio Silver Rain Games alongside Melissa Phillips, former head of programs and events at BAFTA Games.
If the general public knows Abu Bakr Selim for his contributions to TV series, such as Black Mirror, Raised by Wolves, Fortitude or Jamestown: the Conquerors, the actor has made numerous voice contributions in video games, including the voice of Pike in Assassin's Creed Origins.
Ubisoft
Abu Bakr Salim
In his Silver Rain studio, Renamed Surgent Studios in April 2023He recruited Lou Rigoudy, a Hollywood visual effects artist who had notably worked on Godzilla II: King of the Monsters and Call of the Wild; As well as composer Nenita Desai, who wrote the soundtrack for the animated documentary Sub Sama. The studio doesn't just work on video game-related projects; It also has a mission to develop transmedia projects.
Blacksmith work to repair living
With this lineage, he revealed images of his first game yesterday. Kinzira Tales: ZAU. Developed in partnership with EA Originals, this Metroidvania-style action-adventure game features a character named Zau on his quest to defeat powerful spirits and return his father's spirit to the world of the living.
Gameplay footage in this trailer is narrated by Abu Bakr Salem, who was inspired by his own story after his father's death and their shared passion for creating video games. Kinzira Tales: ZAU.
The title will be available on April 23 on PlayStation5, Xbox Series
