Surgent Studios founder Abubakar Salim has detailed more on the studio’s next game, Dead Take, and its exploration of Hollywood, which stars Neil Newbon and Ben Starr as its two leads.
Newbon is perhaps best known as Astarion from Baldur’s Gate 3, among other roles, while Ben Starr starred as Clive in Final Fantasy 16 and, most recently, as Verso in the well-received Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
Salim, himself an actor known for playing Bayek in Assassin’s Creed Origins, described Dead Take to Eurogamer as “a reverse escape room” set in a Hollywood mansion. It’s a psychological horror game that blurs the boundaries between film and game as it explores the theme of success.
“How far will you go for success?” asked Salim. “What are you willing to give for that? Can you separate the art from the artist?”
The fresh teaser trailer, above, hints at what we can expect from both gameplay and the actors’ performances.
Salim explained players will be exploring the mansion to solve puzzles by finding live-action clips containing solutions that can be spliced together. It all sounds very Alan Wake meets Her Story to me, with Salim admitting both were influences.
Indeed, the use of live-action footage will reflect the game’s themes and the focus on the acting profession. “You’re going to be watching Ben and Neil do their work on screen as actors,” said Salim. “And the reason why is because I didn’t want them to hide behind animated characters, or 3D characters. I wanted to show you . That’s essentially something that I really wanted to hammer in as well, while using these guys, is because we’re so used to seeing them behind Astarion or Clive. What are they as actors when you see them in the flesh?”
As such, the game’s blurring of boundaries is a reflection of Salim’s own career, balancing game development with working as an actor himself, most recently in Game of Thrones spin-off House of the Dragon.
The studio’s previous game Tales of Kenzera: Zau was a personal project for Salim, influenced by his own experience of grief after the passing of his father. Dead Take, initially at least, is a highly contrasting follow-up, but it’s no less personal.
“Within Hollywood and acting, I’ve experienced and seen and heard a lot of stories of people who would do and give anything for stardom and are quite openly very comfortable with that,” he said. “It’s quite frightening.”
Salim explained how the game will explore abuse of power and the toxicity of fame, which he, Starr, and Newbon have all witnessed in their careers. “I grew up with these guys,” said Salim, who’s worked together with both actors in the past. “Now we’re in the games industry together, and yet the stories are always the same. That is essentially what I really wanted to depict and play with here, pulling from very raw and honest, truthful spaces.”