In game development, iteration is everything. Developers learn how to make games by actually making them. Surgent is no different. With their first game they built a team and found their voice. Now, they want to make a follow-up worthy of Zau.
“We want to emulate that sense of building with a community of people, with gamers in mind and with the players in mind,” Salim says. The team has made a Metroidvania already. RPGs are where they want to fire next. “What if Planescape: Torment had a baby with Batman: Arkham and that kind of combat, that kineticism,” he says of the game’s inspirations.
As for being Afro-gothic, Salim says the idea is to blend African culture with the sensibilities of Mary Shelley. Like its predecessor, the game draws from elements of African folklore and spiritual beliefs. Salim also opted to set Uso in the same universe as Zau, he says, to reflect “the different shades of life and world as the world as a whole.”
For Zau, Surgent Studios partnered with EA Originals, Electronic Arts’ initiative to fund small, independent projects—a model Salim says traditionally means everything is kept under wraps until the game is nearly finished. This time, the studio wants to involve its would-be players in the planning process by showing their hand while it’s still a prototype.
Game studios often use early access or involvement to better shape their games; Supergiant is currently gathering player feedback for its highly anticipated sequel to Hades. Salim hopes that by involving Surgent’s audience early, they can also help players better understand game development and how the industry works.
That’s a literacy direly needed in online game communities, where conspiracies about the impact of consultancy companies, “wokeism,” and “forced DEI” have wormed their way into conversations with and about devs at game studios. Developers seek third-party guidance for a variety of reasons: sensitivity reads, additional writing resources, to ensure accuracy, and more. Firaxis, for example, worked with Shawnee tribes on its upcoming strategy game Sid Meier’s Civilization VII to make sure they were properly representing the culture.
Surgent is no different. Salim sought help from many people when working on his first game. Content creators have honed in on its involvement with consultancy Sweet Baby Inc., which has been the target of an ongoing harassment campaign for advising studios on the representations of minority groups in their games. Across message boards and YouTube, they claim Surgent’s attempts to bring diversity to games is the reason for the studio’s financial troubles.
