Surgent Studios lays off team and suspends operations after weak Tales of Kenzera: Zau release

Just six months after the release of Tales of Kenzera: Zau, Surgent Studios, founded by actor Abubakar Salim (House of the Dragon, Assassin’s Creed: Origins), is facing financial difficulties that have led to the suspension of operations and the layoffs of its team. 

Sales for Tales of Kenzera: Zau didn't meet expectations, despite the involvement of consultants Sweet Baby Inc.

In a recent post on X, Surgent Studios announced that it has been forced to reduce its staff while seeking funding for its next project.

“In the meantime, we’ve unfortunately had to put our team on notice for redundancy.” the studio stated. “Everyone at Surgent worked incredibly hard to create Tales of Kenzera: Zau- a game that truly comes from the heart”. It also specified that, “There are still a couple of exciting updates coming down the pipeline for Zau.”

Founded by Salim, known for his roles in Assassin’s Creed Origins and House of the Dragon, Surgent Studios released Tales of Kenzera: Zau, a metroidvania game with a personal story, "inspired by Salim’s loss of his father." Slow sales hit the studio hard, even after having already laid off over a dozen employees in July.

In the same post, Surgent Studios announced that it is working on a new project described as, “darker, edgier, and more visceral than our first game”, and is seeking a partner to help bring it to completion.