During the ceremony of Game Awards 2023we discovered Tales of Kenzera: Zau, a platform and adventure game published by EA Originals and developed by Surgent Studios. A studio founded by Abubakar Salim, who was inspired by the death of his father to create this metroidvania in 2.5D.
Unfortunately, despite this touching story and the very good feedback from the specialist press and players at the launch of Tales of Kenzera: Zau last April, Surgent Studios Announcement of layoffs. In a press release published on X (ex-Twitter), the studio confirms thatA dozen employees are being laid off. Surgent Studios states:
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Unfortunately, Surgent has joined the growing number of game studios affected by layoffs this year, with just over a dozen people affected.
It's a challenging time in the video game 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.
Our goal now is to support those affected, continue our work on Zau and look to the future with our next creative projects.
Abubakar Salim, founder of Surgent Studios, add :
This hurts deeply. This is not the news I wanted to share today.
I am so proud of what the team has accomplished over these 4 years. When things got tough, each and every one of them was so strong it was inspiring.
So, breaking this news today really sucks. I know we're not alone here, but that doesn't make it any easier.
The goal now is to continue supporting those affected in any way I can. I will respond to this with links to messages from our affected team members.
If you have opportunities available or know of opportunities, please consider these incredibly talented people.
Abubakar Salim highlights accounts X Or LinkedIn dismissed employees, namely the senior animator Chris Tarrant, lead 3D artist Ty Jontz, producers Phil Smy and Luke Hines, 3D artist Joe Phillpot, senior level designer Pete Brisbourne, the technical artist Jordan Smee and VFX artist Chris Dunham. Hopefully everyone finds work in the video game industry soon.
If you had missed Tales of Kenzera: Zauyou can find it against €14.99 on Amazon.
 Clint008Editor – Tester |