Tales of Kenzera: ZAU Studio Lays Off Entire Staff

Abubakar Salim’s Tales of Kenzera: ZAU Flopped So Badly That The Studio Has Now Put Their Entire Games Division on Hiatus...

Surgent Studios, the developer behind Tales of Kenzera: ZAU, has announced that its entire games division is being put on hiatus after previously claiming the game’s sales were “fine.” His source? Trust Me, Bro...

In reality though, the writing was on the wall as the studio struggled with poor sales, a weak reception from gamers, and now, the layoff of the entire development team. Despite Abubakar Salim’s attempts at gaslighting the entire gaming community by framing criticism of the game as “harassment,” the facts paint a much different picture—Tales of Kenzera: ZAU just wasn’t a game that anyone wanted to play.

Sure, it was fine, and average as far as reviews went, but simply creating a product doesn't imply it requires sales.

Salim, the CEO of Surgent Studios and the lead developer of Tales of Kenzera: ZAU, tried to shield the game’s initial poor performance by releasing videos and statements on his twitter, complaining about so-called “harassment campaigns” against his studio:

However, when you look at the cold hard facts, his 'narrative' here quickly falls apart. Gamers weren’t launching harassment campaigns; they just didn’t like the game or care to take part in playing it. And now, with the entire games division on ice, Salim’s claims about the game’s sales being fine couldn’t be more laughable... The gaslighting is real:

From what I've witnessed from afar, Abubaker Salim strikes me as someone who constantly falls back on his skin color, oppression, and blames of community harassment instead of proactively taking accountability for his own game just frankly... not being what gamers want to play. Pair that with how he went to school for drama classes and is even an actor in House of Dragon, his constant pleas for sympathy on camera strike me as quite... disingenuous. I do not trust him and what he says... He constantly tugs at your heartstrings in effort for you to feel bad for him, as if sympathy alone sells his games.

From the 14HQ interview of Salim:

"It was only when I started doing drama at secondary school that I started making cool friends, and all the girls I fancied were doing drama.”

...pair that with his speech introducing the game at The Game Awards:

It started with my dad. He got me into them. He understood that games are an art form, a great space to enjoy and escape from the reality of the world. He passed away a while back, and I'll tell you what, I'm still figuring it out. But four years ago, I decided that I needed to try and process my grief in a way that felt true to me and him. So, I took the biggest risks of my life and threw everything that I had into making a game, a piece of art that honored him.

Of course, pointing out the obvious here makes me sound cold and harsh, but I'm not here to pretend everything is rainbows and butterflies in the game industry. Its a business. A business that many grifting DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) companies are quickly learning, does not support them on 'kindness' alone...

Sweet Baby Inc.’s Involvement Raises Eyebrows

Speaking of DEI - It didn’t help that Surgent Studios was in bed with Sweet Baby Inc., the controversial consultancy group known for pushing its divisive DEI agenda. Salim himself was originally listed on the board of a variation of Sweet Baby Inc. overseas - called Bebe Sucre LTD - Translated literally to "Sweet Baby, LTD", raising some real questions about the priorities behind the game’s development.

Sweet Baby Inc.’s involvement only added fuel to the fire, as the company has been notorious for inserting ideological narratives into the games they touch, much to the dismay of the gaming community.

Sweet Baby Inc.’s presence was obvious in Tales of Kenzera: ZAU—the game’s development was praised by the company back in January, with Sweet Baby calling it “a poignant story heavily inspired by Bantu mythology.” Thank you to John Trent and ThatParkPlace for the following image that is long gone from the Sweet Baby Inc website these days...

Their association may have been the final nail in the coffin for the game, as it quickly found itself on the Sweet Baby Inc.-detected Steam curator list—a major red flag for anyone who actively avoids titles influenced by the company’s DEI ideologies.

Reality Sets In: Sales Were Never “Fine”

Despite Salim’s insistence that the game’s sales were strong, the numbers told a far different story.

According to SteamDB, the game peaked with only 287 concurrent players at its launch in April—a dismal figure for any modern title.

By the time Surgent Studios announced its layoffs and the hiatus of its entire games division, it's pretty clear that the game had been a commercial failure all along...

In a post to X, Surgent Studios attempted to sugarcoat the bad news, stating,

“We’ve decided to put the work of the Surgent games division on hiatus while we secure funding for our next project. In the meantime, we’ve unfortunately had to put our team on notice for redundancy.”

The post goes on to claim passion and dedication of the team, but none of that could save a game that clearly couldn’t find an audience. Salim’s previous comments on Reddit, where he doubled down on the game’s sales, now seem even more absurd in light of the studio’s collapse.

On it, he had claimed:

“It was a busy time! We did good though :) It helps being on multiple platforms. It’s all about longevity and continuing forward.”

That optimism has since evaporated though... as the studio faces the harsh reality of a failed game and a dissolved team. This coming on top of already having a layoff at their studio in July of 2024 as well:

What’s Next for Salim and Surgent?

What happens next remains to be seen. Surgent Studios is hinting at a new project in development—a supposedly “darker, edgier” game—but after Tales of Kenzera: ZAU crashed and burned, it’s hard to imagine any investor or publisher lining up to fund another project from this team. With Sweet Baby Inc. connections and the clear mismanagement that led to ZAU’s failure, Salim and Surgent Studios' fate is all but decided.

“Our team has created a prototype for a bold new project. It’s darker, edgier, and more visceral than our first game, but it retains all ZAU’s high-octane combat and cultural depth. And we’re looking for a partner. Help us bring our vision to life.”

The debacle surrounding Tales of Kenzera: ZAU serves as yet another reminder of the pitfalls of focusing too much on ideological narratives instead of making a game that resonates with players. The game industry has no shortage of games that succeed because they’re fun, engaging, and well-crafted—none of which Tales of Kenzera: ZAU managed to deliver. How many times do we need to teach you this lesson, old man?

Gaslighting Can’t Hide the Truth

Abubakar Salim’s attempts to deflect blame onto so-called “harassment campaigns” might have worked temporarily, but as always, the numbers don’t lie. Tales of Kenzera: ZAU was a commercial flop, and no amount of gaslighting can change that. With the entire games division at Surgent Studios now on hiatus, it’s clear that focusing on ideological talking points rather than quality gameplay is a recipe for disaster. Gamers weren’t buying the game because it simply wasn’t good, and Salim’s narrative of victimhood has crumbled along with his studio’s ambitions.

~Smash