Surgent Studios, builders of this yr’s fetching Afrofuturist platformer Tales of Kenzera: Zau, have laid off greater than a dozen employees. The cuts come simply over two months on from the discharge of the debut online game launch from the multimedia studio based by Murderer’s Creed Origins star Abubakar Salim.
Earlier than Tales of Kenzera: Zau, Surgent contributed to quite a lot of movies beginning with 2021’s The Whale, by to this yr’s Wild Goat Surf. The studio invoice themselves as specializing in storytelling throughout a wide range of media, from video games and movie to podcasts, with Zau being their first online game venture.
Information of layoffs first broke through posts from former staff on LinkedIn (thanks, Sport Developer), together with a degree designer and technical artist. Surgent subsequently confirmed the cuts by stating that “simply over a dozen individuals” had been affected, with Salim itemizing producers, artists and animators as amongst these laid off.
“It’s a tough time within the video games trade, however we stay extremely happy with our total crew’s work on Zau and of the reward it has acquired from critics and gamers alike,” they continued, earlier than including that the studio’s focus could be on “supporting these affected, persevering with our work on Zau, and seeking to the long run with our subsequent inventive tasks”.
Zau was revealed on the finish of final yr as a transferring metroidvania impressed each by African Bantu cultures and Salim’s personal experiences of grief. In our overview round its launch on April twenty third, Alice Bee (RPS in Peace) praised its sensitively-told story and exquisite design, whereas discovering its platforming and fight to be a little bit imprecise at instances.
Surgent are but to announce their subsequent venture or future plans for Zau. Better of luck to these affected by the layoffs.