Surgent Studios, the developer of Tales of Kenzera: ZAU, who worked with Sweet Baby Inc. announced it is putting its entire games division on hiatus.
Screenshot from Tales of Kenzera: ZAU (2024), Surgent Studios
In a post to X, Surgent Studios shared, “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 unfortnately had to put our team on notice for redundancy.”
It added, “Everyone at Surgent worked incredibly hard to create Tales of Kenzera: ZAU – a game that truly comes from the heart. Their passion, creativity, and dedication are nothing short of extraordinary. There are still a couple of exciting updates coming down the pipeline for ZAU.”
The company then concluded, “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.”
Surgent Studios on X
This announcement comes just over three months after Surgent Studios announced it was laying off over a dozen people.
The company noted at the time, “Unfortunately, Surgent has joined the growing number of games studios impacted by layoffs this year with just over a dozen people affected. It’s a difficult time in the games industry, but we remain incredibly proud of our entire team’s work on ZAU and the praise it has received from critics and players alike.”
The company concluded, “Our focus is now on supporting those affected, continuing our work on ZAU, and looking to the future with our next creative projects.”
Surgent Studios on X
It also comes less than six months after Surgent Studios Founder and CEO Abubakar Salim claimed that the game’s sales were fine despite announcing that he was discounting the game.
A needed message. pic.twitter.com/oJaJEeZd61
— Abubakar Salim (@Abzybabzy) May 31, 2024
READ: ‘Tales of Kenzera: ZAU’ Director Abubakar Salim Discounts Game After Boycott
He specifically addressed the game’s sales as part of a thread clarifying his comments made in the video. He specifically addressed claims that the game was not selling well claiming it was false.
He wrote, “‘The game isn’t selling well.’ Also false. I’ve addressed this on an AMA Reddit. The numbers some are circulating are a fraction of our actual playership, and they’re being shared in bad faith by people who are wanting to provide “proof” that their harassment campaign has been successful in punishing us for daring to take up space.”
Abubakar Salim on X
As for his comments on Reddit, he stated, “It was a busy time! We did good though :) It helps being on multiple platforms. It’s all about longevity and continuing forward. The more people share and talk about the game, the more it snowballs. So yeah, we hope to continue building!”
If it’s false show sales numbers. This is not addressing it. pic.twitter.com/qZQTjjci3H
— Rosary Warrior John F Trent🇻🇦 (@jftrent) June 3, 2024
Obviously, the game’s sales were not fine or the company would not have had to layoff its entire staff and put its entire games division on hiatus. Furthermore, it was apparent that the sales were not good given SteamDB reported that that the game had almost no players playing it.
In fact, the game’s peak concurrent players peaked in April when the game was released with just 287 players.
Tales of Kenzera: ZAU SteamDB peak concurrent player charts
This poor performance was not unsurprising given Surgent Studios hired Sweet Baby Inc. to work on the game and it was subsequently added to the Sweet Baby Inc. detected Steam curator list that effectively serves as a boycott list for gamers who do not want to play games worked on by Sweet Baby Inc. given the company’s stated goals.
The game was added to the curator list after Sweet Baby Inc. announced in January that it had worked on the game. The company wrote, “Our friends at Surgent Studios dropped the trailer for their upcoming action-adventure platformer, Tales of Kenzera: ZAU. We had the utmost pleasure of working with Abubakar Salim and the Surgent team on this poignant story, which has been heavily inspired and influenced by Bantu mythology. We know you’re gonna love it as much as we do.”
“In Tales of Kenzera: ZAU, join Zau as he journeys through the world of Kenzera to get his Baba back, joined by an unlikely companion: the God of Death,” the company added.
A screenshot from Sweet Baby Inc.’s Substack
READ: Sweet Baby Inc. Employee Admits Goal Is “Burning The Games Industry To The Ground”
Furthermore, Salim was a partner with the founders of Sweet Baby Inc. David Bedard and Kim Belair alongside Sweet Baby Inc. employee and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League writer Amy-Leigh Shaw in a company named Bebe Sucre LTD or Sweet Baby LTD.
Bebe Sucre LTD’s Certificate of Incorporation
Salim resigned from his role as Director of the company on March 12, 2024 after being appointed on April 27, 2023.
A screenshot of Bebe Sucre LTD’s filing history
What do you make of Surgent Studios laying off its entire stuff and putting its game division on hiatus?
