Salim’s first game, Tales of Kenzera: Zau, picked up the Game Beyond Entertainment Award at the BAFTAs. While the 2D Metroidvania centres on the theme of grief, and is steeped in African mythology, his second game features a huge mechanical and tonal shift.
Called Dead Take, it’s a first-person horror set in Hollywood, starring Neil Newbon and Ben Starr (as well as many more familiar faces).
Was it always the plan to follow Zau with something so totally different?
As Salim recalls it, “I think the reason as to why we kind of went for something so different was, I mean… I’ve always seen games as an art form, and I think you’ve got to react to what your gut’s telling you.
“And look, I remember we were pitching almost like a sequel within the [Zau] universe of it as a whole. And, you know, pitching that and seeing how that was going. And it was all right, like, it was fine.
“But it was after talking with Pocketpair and being like, ‘hey, I know you guys have just started your own publishing arm, and you’ve had your massive success [with Palworld], we’ve had our success. Like, is there maybe a collab here?’
“The idea of Dead Take kind of came into life there at the moment. And I think that’s the beauty of art, right? You can come up with these ideas, these crazy ideas, these stories, and act on it.”
With the idea greenlit, how did Salim go about assembling such a who’s who of the gaming world to act in the game?
“A lot of favours,” he tells us. “Literally calling them up and being like, ‘Hey, you want to be in my game?’
“I remember calling Ben Starr, being like, ‘Hey, buddy, do you want to be in my next game?’ And he was like, ‘Sure, great.’ And I was like, ‘You’re playing an actor who is really, really douchey at times,” Salim laughs.
“And even with Neil [Newbon], I was like, ‘Hey, Neil, I’ve got this new game idea. Do you want to be in it?’ And he’s like, ‘Yeah, sure, sign me up.’ And I’m like, ‘Great. You’re playing someone really desperate. Really needs work’,” he adds.
“That’s essentially how it all kind of came to fruition. It was just me calling these guys, explaining to them the concept, that it was this horrific take, or an angle on Hollywood that I wanted to not really hold back on.
“And they were totally game for it, because they could see the art in it. I think that’s the thing. They believed in the vision, and they trusted it. Again, I feel really fortunate to have friends who do that.”
Salim continues: “So yeah, it was a lot of calls and favour-calling, man. And it’s so funny, again, when I pitched this to Pocketpair. Keep in mind, none of [the actors] had attached themselves to the game.
“But I was like, ‘Yeah, and then I’ll get Ben Starr in it, Alanah Pearce in it. Yeah, they’ll all say yes’. And I’m thinking to myself, ‘I really hope they’re not busy.’”
Once the project was approved, Salim remembers, “We had seven months to make this game.”
“And not only that, you know, the way that we filmed it, we needed, literally… we could only do it in like a day or two. We couldn’t elongate it any more, so we had to do, like, one location, all actors at once, do it. Bash, bash, bash, get it all out the way.
“And again, testament to their skill, you know, there was a lot of dialog to learn, right? A lot of scenes to learn. But they did it. They completely smashed it out of the park, and did all the lines without a teleprompter or anything. They just committed, which is brilliant.
“And I know that they are literally the busiest actors within the video game space to date. They are always, constantly doing something, so I feel incredibly fortunate that they even gave me the time to do that.”
And where did the idea come from to have the actors appear in live-action cut scenes, but for their characters never to be seen in the gameplay segments?
“Budget,” Salim says with a laugh, before offering a more cerebral answer.
“It was really trying to keep the player immersed as much as possible. I think, as soon as you see a 3D character, you begin thinking that you’re in a game.
“You already think you’re in a game, you’re doing all these puzzles and all this sort of stuff in the environments. But like, as soon as you see an actual character, you are kind of taken out, and you’re reminded, ‘Oh, this is like an animation. It’s like a game.’
“Whereas, I really didn’t want that, I wanted to almost make you feel like this is real life. This is you, in this mansion, real life, dealing with this stuff, which is why, you know, even when it comes to the mannequins I told the team, they are basic, but the only thing that is different is each one has a different headshot of the actor, which is a real headshot,” he explains.
He ends by adding: “So, it still keeps you in the world of, ‘Oh, wow. This is real. This is, like, a real thing.’ It’s true. A lot of the stories that the game was inspired by are real stories. They are either stories or rumours that you hear in Hollywood. And I think it was important to depict that.”
Dead Take is out now on Steam and Epic.
You can hear the full audio from this interview on the Radio Times Gaming podcast feed.
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