Kinda Funny Gamescast: Video Game Podcast - You NEED To Play This New Horror Game - Kinda Funny Gamescast

Episode Date: August 7, 2025

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Yo, what's up? Welcome to the kind of funny games cast for Thursday, August 7th, 2025. I'm on your host, Blessing. Adioia Jr. joining me is Abu Salim, aka the founder and CEO of Surgent Studios. Abu, thank you so much for joining me once again on the show. Yeah, we've had you before on Game Showdown. And I forget if you've been on a Gamescast episode before, but I'm happy to have a conversation with you today. I mean, I can't, maybe, I don't know, bro, I just, I just rock up and show up and hope everything goes well. So I'm sure a bit about, no, I know, I definitely have done a lot with you guys. So thank you very much for having me here, man. Yeah.

Well, I mean, I'm super excited to talk to you. You know, we were talking about it a little bit before the show, but me and Barrett played dead take on stream on Friday. And it took up our entire afternoon. And I was very, one, me and Barrett had such a good time playing the game, right? but then I was very, not surprised, I guess, but like I saw so much response in the comments saying, oh, this is such a fun stream. Man, I would love to see these guys talk to the devs about the game.

And so it just happened to coincide perfectly where you hit up Tim and mentioned that, like, you were down to come on the show to talk about the game a bit. And so this is all a perfect storm. Excited to talk to you. But before we get into it, like, how you've been, man? And it's been a week since you released the game. Yeah, I mean, it's been kind of crazy.

I'd say, like, it's funny. I did the same thing with Zal, where I'm in the middle of filming House of the Dragon season three. So I'm sort of like, as it was releasing, I was like filming. And so it was sort of just very, very wild. And now I'm kind of having a bit of a breather. And it's been incredible, like seeing just the reception and the love for the game. And all the fan theories as well as to what the actual story is, it's been really great. Hell yeah.

Hell yeah. Well, I mean, for the audience that might not be familiar with you, of course, you mentioned that you're in a house of the dragon. I mean, we know you from various things. Of course, you mentioned Tales of Kanzara Zau. I think a lot of our audience would know you because you presented the game at the game awards about a year and a half ago where you announced it. And you had like a very heartfelt announcement talking about the connection between the game

and your connection with grief and your father and all these things. things, right? And so, I'm sure plenty of people know you from that as well. You played, I believe, Bayek in Assassin's Creed? Yeah, Assassin's Creed. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There you go. I did that. Um, yeah, yeah, yeah. Is that like, what more, did I mean, am I missing anything? Is there things that people should know you from? No, right. Well, I mean, raised by walls. I did, I was on Raised by Walls for like a while. Um, I did Napoleon. I mean, I've done bits here and there, man. I'm, I'm very fortunate to be like a working actor, I'd say. You're prolific. And I think, yeah, I'd say like, honestly, I feel very, very fortunate to be.

And now also making games and like telling stories is really, really cool. Hell yeah, man. Well, I got a lot. I want to ask you about Dead Take. But before I do, I want to remind the audience that this is the kind of funny games cast. Each and every weekday, we run you through the nerdy news you need to know about on the last show. On this show, each and every weekday, we get together and talk about the biggest reviews, and topics in video games live on YouTube, Twitch and on podcast services around the globe.

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For now, let's start with topic of the show. Dotts, dots, dots, dots, dots, dot, dot, uh, Abu, I mentioned it on KFD right before this that in my opinion i think that take is one of the best horror games of the year thus far right it was a yeah it was a surprise for me and barrett playing it we've not done a formal review i don't even know if we'll get to do a formal review but like you know coming off of finishing dead take on friday i think me and barrett both had the thing of like one it took us about four hours to get through we started the stream at like i want to say like one or one 30 and we hit 5 p.m which is the

end of the workday traditionally act kind of funny and usually by then it's like all right let's wrap up you know we got lives to go home to or whatever and me and barrett didn't say a word me and bear neither of us wanted to be the one to be like okay we got to cut this thing off because both of us wanted to see the ending of the game and so like we stayed there was a moment where I was like like how you feel blessed you're like I'm feeling good it's like all right we're going to keep going yeah like both just wanted to get to the ending of the game. Like for you, one,

for those who don't know what Dead Take is, how would you describe the game? And then also, what's the reception been like? Yeah, absolutely. So Dead Take is a, the best way I can describe it is it's a Hollywood horror game,

which is basically like a reverse escape room. So it's a reverse escape room, Hollywood horror game, where you play as an actor called Chase Lowry, who's played by Neil Nealb. Nuban who is looking for his friend, Vinnie Monroe, who's played by Ben Starr. And it is a mix of, like, it's FMV, basically, it's FMV in gameplay. So I really wanted to ensure that we had like live action sequences and we saw the actors

who are, you know, like basically all of them are my mates, you know, kind of see them for, you know, for what they're incredibly good at, which is acting. and you essentially go through this mansion and you're finding these tapes of auditions, interviews, confessions, and splicing them together to kind of reveal deeper context all about the kind of corruption

of Hollywood as a whole. Yes. Now, coming off of Talescun Zara, Zal, right? That came out only last year. That was like spring last year that that came out. You turned around, I messaged you on Instagram after playing this game, of like, yo, great job. I love this game. And you mentioned that you only took about seven months

making this. What was that like? Like, when did you start? Like, what was the idea? When did you get the idea for this? It was intense. So, the idea kind of came about, so at the Game Awards, and I was talking to Bucky, who's like

the the publishing manager over a pocket pair. And he kind of let slip to me that they were going to be, do, they have a publishing arm and they're like, you know, they're looking to sort of publish, you know, new games and stuff, indie games. And already, you know, we were already kind of pitching a few ideas and thoughts out there. But when I mentioned essentially Uso, which was Project Uso, which was like the

Telzer Cancerra RPG game that we wanted to make, they were like, it's a bit big for us. We're kind of wanting, you know, we're starting out. We want to kind of start small and steady. And what ended up happening was I ended up essentially kind of coming up with this idea on the spot and being like, wouldn't it be cool if, you know, we were exploring a Hollywood mansion of this horrible executive producer and he has tapes of like really great actors, but instead of like the, you know, typical Hollywood actors that you see like on TV, you actually see it's actually the actors that you know the voices of. Like, wouldn't that be great? And we kind of just rift. And it was one of those moments, the best way I can describe it is like, it's like writing a script

sometimes it takes like months or years to sort of write a script. Sometimes you can literally wake up and you can do it in like a day or two or a week. And this was exactly that idea. We knew exactly what we wanted to do. We knew exactly how it was going to play out. We knew exactly the story that we wanted to kind of tell. And so I ended up pitching this to Bucky. I ended up saying like, yeah, I can get like Ben and Neil and Jane in it and Alana in it.

Obviously they had no idea about this. So then after Bucky was like, yeah, okay, we can do this. I was like, okay, now I've got to call Ben. I now got to get Ben Star and now got to convince them to do it. And essentially that's what ended up happening. But like a lot of the stories in this game are very much inspired by the stories that I've heard within, you know, working in this industry. Neil and Ben have been exposed to in this industry. Like it is, it's, it came so easy because we live it.

And that's the frightening bit of it all. I think this was just our chance of basically being like, well, let's shine a massive spotlight on the idiocies of this. And just kind of go balls to wall with it, you know? Yeah. So you got this idea at Game Awards. It took you guys seven months to put out this game to bring in some more impressions, right? Because you've heard mine, me and Bear both really enjoyed this game. But Inverse had an article saying, Steam just released the most unconventional horror game of the year.

there's another one from Vice that says Dead Take, and this is from their actual review, Dead Take is a great narrative experience. The puzzle elements leave a bit to be desired, but the story does the heavy lifting here, and that's where I began to understand what this game is about and why this story was necessary for them. This is a group of developers

who prioritize storytelling, and they do it well. And then GameSpot in their review says, overall, this is a great game, and I would have loved to chase down more USB drives and watch many more FMV recordings. These performances left me wrapped, and I was always eager to search out for more. So you have

great reviews, great impressions coming off of people getting their hands on the game. Like, what has that been like for you? It's been surreal, dude. And it's one of those funny experiences where you know, Zau took us like three and a half years to make and, you know, it was very beautiful

but it was a lot of work and a lot of like, you know, passion and raw energy put into it. And this game took like seven months and it was a hell of a lot of fun and it's like people are loving it. And you're kind of, you start And again, it kind of brings into the idea of the question of like, you know, why, as an industry as a whole, anyway, why we spend like 10 years building these huge, massive games when you can make these really cool, like, nice experiences. It was very, you know, the whole journey was like a film.

It was like making an indie film. And it really was, it's just been insane to see the love that we're getting for it because it just goes to show as well. like if you, you just got to keep doing the things that you love and that you enjoy. And it's, and the praise is almost like bonus. I mean, it's been so lovely, man. Like, it's been so great. And I'm so happy as well that people are also seeing the performances of Ben and Neil, like, in its raw form in the fact that, like, you know,

and even with Jane and Alana and everyone essentially, like, these guys are like performers through and through and to see that, like to see them kind of do. that thing. It's beautiful, man. Yeah. I mean, man, there's so much I want to ask you about and talk to you about in regards to this game because, yeah, I have like business things I want talk to you about, but then also like search and studios I want to talk about. And then also I want to talk about the game itself when I want to start there because I know there's a certain amount of people listening that still haven't played the game that are curious about it. Let's start

let's talk about the stars, right? You mentioned you got Ben Starr for it. You got Neil Newman. Laura Bailey is also in this game. A lot of Pierce is in this game. Sam Lake is in this game. Matt Mercer is in this game, right? Like, you know, obviously, I believe you're from that world. You're an actor. You've been in these different things. You have these relationships with these various people. But for you, working on this game and knowing you have access to such star talent and getting

to work directly with Ben and Neil in like those two main roles of the game, like, what was that like? Was this like a thing of like, man, I got the treasure trove right here. Like, I got this access. Like, man, I can't believe. I get to make a game starting those people? Like, what was that? It was just friends, man. Like, that's the thing. Like, it's just working with friends. I think, like, that was what's been so great about this whole process is that it's, it's just felt like I've, you know, I've called up mates and been like, hey, I've got this

really cool, interesting role for you. Would you be interested to, you know, to be in it? I'd say the only terrifying person, uh, to approach with this idea was Sam Lake. But at the same time, he was the most like, accepting of it. He was the most like, yeah, let's do it. because of course, you know, Sam Lake. Yeah. So yeah, it's, it was, it's just like, the good thing about working with these guys as well is like they know what they're doing. So there is very little like touch when it comes to direction. Like it's just, you know, I give them a script and they just run with it.

And we create an environment as well where they can improvise, where they can play, where they can do what they want. Like there's a whole tape or clip where Ben goes off, right? And that was all improvised. That wasn't part of the script. And he just went for it. And it's because he knew the character. And it's because he's a good actor. And he knows what he's doing.

So it's like having that kind of relationship with these people was great, man. Because it's just, again, as I say, it's like mates just having fun. One of the unique mechanics that you have in this game is this splice system where in game you're able to take these different FMV clips, like one of the ones he mentioned with Ben Starr of him going off. right like these are based off of these like clips from USB drives that you find in the game that you then put into a computer that connect into a theater room that you're able to watch but then also this splice software in game uses AI to like splice these clips to together um what was the thought process behind that mechanic and then also what was directing those fmv sequences like especially for characters that aren't interacting in the same room most of the time it was So it really was just a, it was a commentary on the way that the industry is kind of turning towards AI and trusting AI to deliver content and just being like, you know, well, okay, if you just gave AI the artistic license to edit a film, what would they do? And something that we were really keen on exploring was the idea of context and how when you remove the, like you can change and alter the context of a scene.

just by removing one party's dialogue and mixing it with another. So one of the things that I'm sure you may have noticed this, but like the two interviews between Ben and Jane on their individual selves, their interviews are totally, you know, the subject matter is totally different

compared to the actual, when you splice them together. So we had to write, you know, the dialogue of Ben, Ben's character, about himself and talking about himself, and about his love for Duke Kane. And then we had to write the dialogue for Jane and about her trying to succeed in this industry and, you know, kind of be, you know, be sort of recognized.

Now, when you mix those two together, it becomes this weird conversation about what it means to be a star and what it means to kind of make art and about Duke Kane. And we really wanted to play with that. This idea of AI cannot capture the nuance of context and the beauty of it. It just almost bastardizes it. And that was something that we really wanted to play with.

And the simplicity of literally just putting one thing together to another is as simple as putting like a prompted mid-jury. And it's like, it just comes out and you're like, oh, okay, this is the result that we get. And this is exactly what the industry is turning into, you know? People are trying to find shortcuts to arts. And it's kind of more of like a commentary on that and a horrific element on that. Yeah, it's amazing because, yeah, I think that was,

I know Barrett, that was probably. your moment of the game, right? Seeing that moment come together of those two interviews is Mike O'Don as one of my favorite moments of games of the year. Amazing. And like the question I wanted to ask was like,

what was it like, because I assume they filmed these scenes separately. Separately. And so what was it like directing that and thinking of the different context that you're going to have these conversations, be put in and then seeing that come together, like, what was that process like for you?

And like, did you, did you still get that chill moment when you got to see the vision come together? Yeah, it was, it was amazing. It was incredible because, you know, when you, when you're, you're obviously as an actor, you're reacting to whoever's reading the dialogue, right? So they are obviously reacting to the interview, interviewers. So they're not really reacting to one another. However, again, like, when it worked and when it made sense,

it was terrifying because it's there's a there's a really famous sort of like um saying or or or or or yeah but Stanley Kubrick um I think it's Stanley Kubrick where essentially he would get an image of a man smiling and uh then he would cut it straight to a baby in like a in a cot and obviously as the audience you're like oh that's really cute but then he would use that same image of a man smiling and then like a naked woman on a beach and it's kind of looks perverted. And it's again, that's the whole context aspect and element of it. They are react, they are two different separate elements, but we as the audience are engaging and actively filling in the gaps. And it was so lovely to see that happening with the interview and kind of how it worked. Even though

there were two different reads and there were very, you know, two different separate takes, because of the fact that the way it was cut and how the lines like lined up, it just made sense. It was really wild. It was such a great feeling to see. And something that I really want to do more of. You know, something I want to really explore more of. Yeah.

So one of the things you mentioned at the beginning of this was talking about seeing fans or seeing the players kind of form their own opinion about what's going on within the story. of the game. Do you have like a head cannon or does the studio have like a all right, this is what this is what really went down though kind of thing or is it meant to be a hey it's all it's all abstract

like take it how you want it. No man like I think there's definitely like a through line but I think the you know we the game itself is about how we use narratives to essentially

sort of deal with the madness and stuff that we deal with in life. So we will fill in the gaps, right? Actors who aren't auditioning much will essentially turn around and say, oh, it's because the industry is really difficult. Or like actors who are constantly working are being like, oh, yeah, you know,

there's just so much work out there. We build these narratives, essentially. And so, like, there is a through line. There is definitely a through line here. But we kind of wanted to, again, engage the audience and the players to essentially come up with the theories and thoughts of what happened and how it works. I've heard people say that like both Chase and Vinnie are dead. I've heard that essentially actually it was Vinnie who got the role and you know, Chase is in

purgatory. I've heard so many, I've heard that Duke is Chase and like I've heard all these different theories which is brilliant. I love that. It shows, it shows essentially the fact that people are like what is got like it's engaging them you know what i mean it's building these narratives so yeah but i yeah there's definitely like a through line which um which we worked with in order to to tell the story of what we wanted to tell yeah i love the way that that it's written i think to kind of have that like give the audience the ability to kind of pull those things themselves because yeah i remember having the moment i'm trying not to i'm not i'm not going to spoil anything right from like anything late in the game but there were a moment there was a moment where i was like oh this is what's happening right

And like, I don't think it was ever, I don't recall it ever being explicitly said that like, oh, this is what's happening. But it was like, there was something that Chase, the main character says where I'm like, oh, okay, this is what's going down. And I'm putting down the controller, right, like even talking to Barrett, you know, it was fun kind of like having our own takeaways. Like we weren't really talking that strongly about the themes and what's going on. I think we're so locked in on solving the puzzles and figuring out the next moment of the thing. But like, I remember putting down the controller being like, okay, like, this is what's, this is and Barrett having kind of his own take of like oh but also like I think it's kind of like about this kind of thing um I think you guys do such a smart job with it this what this footage we're showing

here is of a of a puzzle that I don't want to show the solution for but I remember this moment having us stopping and being like okay I think this is what the through line is of these kind of like three pivotal characters and how this puzzle is kind of representative of kind of what's going on at like at large here. Yeah. And it's really fun. And I love this. And I,

I love this. I think one of the things that I really like about the game, one of the names that they've given me when I say they, I mean, I gave my, I gave myself here kind of funny is puzzle poppy. Because I love puzzles. I love a puzzle game. Right. But then on the other hand, I also love, um, FMV games, right? And like, I also like a walking sim.

And so the, I love that dead take kind of gives me the best of like some of the worlds that everything, right? Yeah, I do like because I go in. I'm like, okay, I'm walking around a house. Like, I, I love Gone Home, and so you're kind of giving me a bit of that. But then you have the FMV portion starring these actors that I love, but then you have these puzzles that I'm also solving.

For you guys working on the game, what was the challenge of making these different elements come together? Like, was there a confidence from you when you're making that pitch at Game Awards of, oh, yeah, we can, if we do some FMV here, some puzzles here, make it first person, like, we can make them. Or was it more of a process of making that stuff? stuff work. No, it was, I think that, again, as I say, there was a confidence to it, man. There was like a sense of like, like, just understanding of how this will play out.

And like the beat of it, the game loop of it, the idea of, you know, whenever you watch a tape or you watch something, you know, you watch it in one specific space. When you're doing the puzzles, it's all or you're exploring that in the house. And where, you know, where's the context or where's the solution? It's in the tapes. So then you use the tapes in order to kind of, you know, solve whatever and kind of figure out that. And it was like, it just was really clear into how it was going to play. And yeah, it just made sense. And this is why I always say like games really are an art form because there is no right

ingredients. You just kind of go with the flow and with the gut of it and hope, you know, kind of there's an element of hope, but also an element of knowing like it will work. And yeah, it just, it just made sense. sense, man. Like, and, you know, one thing that we were really, you know, telling ourselves a lot of was, look, we're not here to make a film. We're here to make a game. It's a game to be played and to be enjoyed. What do we all enjoy? Escape rooms. Okay, that's a great horror premise. You know what I mean? Like, that's a great horror setting. So yeah, it just, it just made sense, man. Yeah. What were some of the

inspirations behind this game, both in terms of video games, but also in terms of just art in general. Like, there's a lot of darkness here. There's a lot of like, you know, bloodiness. There's a lot of fucked up shit going on. Like, what did you pull from? So this, so what's funny is actually this time around, so in comparison to Zao, this is the beauty of making, being able to make more than one game. You learn from your old, you know, from the first game and you kind of build from there. So Zau took a lot of inspiration from a lot of games like, you know, like ori elements of that and also like, you know, kind of elements of Black Panther, that kind of we're pulling from a lot of different sources and stuff. Metroid as well. With this, we really kind of

set the tone of being like, you know, forget everything. What's the, what's the tone of this game that we want to capture? And it's Black Swan, the film Black Swan, because Black Swan is an incredible, incredible film about, you know, what someone will do or how far someone will go in order to achieve greatness in a way or be the best. And so we kind of built that. And what we ended up naturally finding as we were building this world and kind of focusing on that tone, people would say, oh, there's a bit of Resident Evil here. And they were like, oh, that's nice. Okay, cool. Let's like lean into that. And like, you know, people and then people would be like, oh, remember that game? What's that game? PT? Oh, PT was great. Oh, yeah. P.T. was really,

really cool. Watch a clip of PT. Oh, that's a really cool vibe. And so you end up essentially like finding the inspirations or things that are really cool after the fact. Once you kind of, when you zero in and focus on one thing, it kind of blossoms like a tree. And so yeah, this time round we really just like, look, inspiration, Black Swan, move on that. That's the tone of that. And let's just build from there. And then everything started to come by, you know, the fact that we enjoyed escape rooms, puzzles, did that. Do we want to guide the player too much? No. Oh, very resident evil. Cool. Let's look at that. Let's play for from that. And that's essentially how we ended up building this game.

Hell yeah. I got a lot more questions to ask. But before I do, when I tell the audience about patreon.com slash kind of funny and YouTube.com slash kind of funny games where you can go and get the kind of funny membership, which allows you to get shows ad free. Speaking of ads, let us tell you about our sponsors. This episode's brought to you by our own show, Kind of Funny in Review. It is our movie review show and it is the best place to get all of our thoughts on all the latest in entertainment, Greg, and how has it been this year? It's been awesome because I came back. Alien versus Predator in review.

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I mean, we stole it. It's, you know, I think Siskel and Iber's line. And we're back. Of course, you can write in with Superchats. We want to get your questions read on the show. However, I'm pulling from the regular chat because I want to steal a question here from Demon Hacker. who says, how was it working with voice actors but doing live action?

Was there any growing pains for the actors? And the reason I find this question interesting is because yesterday on KFGD, we had a conversation about the casting director who did Baldersgate 3, saying that they're surprised they don't see more Hollywood studios casting voice actors and more movie and TV roles because there's like a lot of talent there. For you, working with Ben Starr, Neil Nubin, right, people that we, I think a lot of our audience knows from video games, doing live action, like, what was that like?

Were there any growing pains? Or was it a thing of like, oh, these guys just don't know what they're doing. Yeah. I mean, like, this is the thing, like, they know what they're doing. They're actors. I went to school with Ben Stars. So we studied under the same sort of, you know, under the same like, same like house, man. So like, I know what he was, I knew.

I knew these guys could deliver, like, whether it's, you know, on camera, whether it's theater, whether it's for games. So it was, it was pretty easy, you know, it's, again, that's the tool and the skill of an actor is to be able to understand, like, what's the context that you're playing in and how you're doing it. So there wasn't really any growing pains at at all. Hell yeah. I want to talk about Surgeon Studios, because you guys have had a journey in the last year and a half for you guys, right, like going from Tales of Gonzara's out to now dead take wildly different games. Like, I don't think you can get more different. than these two games.

What was that journey like from that first one to now putting out a dead take? Like has this changed the studio at all? It is definitely, it put a lot to the test in regards to seeing, you know, just how much we learned about game development. I think, and I always say this. I say, you know, game, when it, when it came to making Zau, the three and a half years, probably two of those years were essentially spent trying to figure out how we work with one another, like what's the short hand. And so then now putting that into practice was what dead take was, but making something in a short frame of time and just testing ourselves with something completely different.

And I think like it definitely has made us realize that we can do anything. Like we're genuinely, if we feel like we're having fun with it and we can play with it, like that's, that's how you make art. And I think that's the one thing that I feel sometimes can be forgotten. It's like, you know, the traditional way is to make like a Zau too and learn from that and then build from there. And it's like, well, actually, no, we still have lessons that we've learned from Zau. And if we were to do another two, yeah, sure, we can do that again. But like, we want to be inspired by the stuff that we make.

We want to be led by what moves us, what gets us thinking. And at the time, Dead Take was that, man. And I think like that's what really got us going, the fact that like, yeah, okay, let's make this game and let's do it. And like, you know what? Let's set the timer to seven months. Let's do something like that. Let's surprise ourselves, you know? And even with the marketing campaign, like we only announced it like a month before we released,

knowing full world that we were going to be releasing it, you know, in a month's time because we were like trying something different. We're just having fun, man. And I think like that's the thing with the studio. I think we have now become a studio where like we've been through the ringer. Like, you know it, like the industry knows it. Like the whole industry itself is being through a lot. Right. So I think ultimately what we can do is and all we can do right now is have fun and have fun with like players and like, you know, kind of give them something new, give them something fresh, shock them, surprise them.

Like there's a, there's so much fun in that, you know. I want to bring in a super chat asking about a bit of the future. This is from CJ Splitson who says, Abu, any game genres you want to tackle. I think I heard something of a sci-fi game development. Yeah, man. So I really, I really want to do RPGs. I really want to do like, um, like, we announced, uh, that we were kind of like shopping and looking around for like this action RPG, which essentially bleeds like the Batman Arkham sort of fight style with, um,

like dice rolling with like D&D. And we thought that that could be really, really fun to play with and really fun to do like and set it in like, an Afro-Gothic sort of setting, which plays into horror as well and kind of, but it plays into like sort of Bantu sort of horror myths. So yeah, I mean, like, there is, and there is a hundred or what ideas that I got in my mind that I want to play with. So I think, like, definitely want to do RPG, definitely want to tackle that. C.A. set, you know, may almost like bring Plainscape torment back, but, like, kind of boogey it up. So that's kind of where I want to go. So, yeah. Hell yeah. Well, with what you guys did with that take

right, you talk about seven months when we're also talking about an industry that's been through a lot in the last few years. Is there something with that shortened development time that you think works for Surgeon Studio? Like is this sort of the time work, the framework that you want to continue to work in in the future? Yeah, I think there is, I think we're in a, it's a bit of, it's a bit of a mix in play, right? I think we're of the, we're of the mentality of like, we'll find the right time to make something. going to spend ages trying to make, you know, just one thing, I think. I think we like the quick, kind of slick way of doing it. And big inspiration was Zalavir, Zalovir Nelson Jr.

Yeah. I spoke with him when I was in Oz and just trying to understand, like, how the hell he makes games. And it was really inspiring to hear him just kind of express just the way in which he just conjures this stuff. And it was like, yeah, that's kind of how. films are made. Like that's kind of how like indie, indie films are done. And so if we have the ability to do that, then yeah, let's do it. So yeah, like I think this is the way forward,

definitely. Yeah. You know, it's funny you mentioning Zalibir because we just interviewed Zalibir a couple weeks ago. Oh, no way. Yeah, yeah. And we talked about that exact thing, right? We talked about the way he makes video games and all this. And I, hearing you talk, talk about talking with him, right? And like, kind of getting that idea. It's so fun and awesome. because I look at both y'all. I look at last year I played his game, I Am Your Beast, and that was probably one of my favorites, like in my top

15 games that I played last year. Like it was such a good action game. But then, yeah, earlier this week, we did a stream playing co-op, Kaiju, horror cooking. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And we did a stream of that. And like, it's so fun because I know he's,

like, that studio, there's a studio to spits out games left and right, right? They just cook, man. They just cook. And it's amazing, amazing what they're able to kind of conjuring and create. And it's brilliant. It's it keeps people excited. It keeps people going. Yeah. And I think a lot of people hear that and might get scared of like well can you put out like like is that sustainable? Can you actually do that? But between all the stuff that

we got from Surgeon Studios, there's also the TMNT games and like up click holding, which I think we played on stream. We play a lot of them as Oliverian Nelson games and now talking with you, right? And dead take being a game that, um, me and bear love so much. And I'm sure like we're going to have more people played in the studio and probably enjoy it as well. That's something that I'd like to see more. Is that something that you think we can see more? Do you think more people are going to adopt that method of? I think so.

I really do. I feel like it's, I think there is a, there is a real change in the air in regards to the way games are produced and made. And I think it's, it's, it's a lot more sustainable to make experiences that are focused. You know,

I think like that is the key. So yeah, I feel like it's going to be changing. Hell yeah. A question for you specifically. How do you balance it all? You got a lot going on, man. I don't, bro.

Listen, I don't know how I do it, man. I've got just good people around me, man. Like, really good people around me. I think, like, my, you know, my team are incredible. My family is great. Like, I genuinely, they understand that I just need to create and build and want to be creative. And, yeah, I really, I don't know. I just keep cooking.

Yeah. What's your, what's the, what was your exact role on Dead Take? Like, are you game director? Yeah, creative director. Crave director. And Duke Kane as well. God damn. And you're, okay, and you're Duke Kane.

That was fun because like, yeah, when we first started the game, as soon as Duquesne started talking, like, me and Bear were like, who is this? And very quickly, it was like, oh, this is not. Now, this is my other question with that, right? You have, we have you. We have Ben Starr, Neil Newbin, right? A bunch of British actors in this game. all doing American accents.

I know, man. I know. I'm sorry. Is that like, is that tough? Like, was there ever a consideration of like, oh,

we'll just put this in the UK. Like, what's that like? No, because I think like, I think it really just had to be, it had to be American cheesy. Do you know what I mean?

And like it had to be like, unfortunately I know what you mean. Filled into that. Yeah. And we just had to do it. And so I think. And because of the time frame, I definitely,

like what's so great was, again, using American actors like Laura and, and Travis in there as well. man. But what was so funny, it's like, yeah, basically Ben and Neil were like, I told them, and it's set in America and they were like, great, okay, we'll do it. Like, we'll do it tomorrow. And so, yeah, they all did it, man. That's amazing. I want to bring in another super chat here from Ty Wilkins' VO, who writes in and says, Abu, in the sea of good to great auditions when you're

casting your games, what stands out? What do you look for to push it, to push it over the hill to being cast, especially when you're working with the people you do? To be free and basically just play. I'm looking for, like, use the script as a guidance as a tool, not necessarily as a Bible or the be all and end all. Like, I'd say, I'm looking for someone who isn't afraid to be a bit raw and a bit vulnerable and a bit like kind of, you know, just make mistakes. Because if I know that you can push it to like the nth degree and kind of go for gold,

I can always kind of bring it down or play with that, right? It's easier to sort of bring down than it is to bring up. And I find like as long as you have, I'm looking for bravery, man. I'm looking for a sense of like in the enjoyment of making yourself look like a fool. And I think like that's, that to me is what kind of, you know, sings. Like people who are able to kind of use the script as, as I say, like a tool as like a, as like a as like a sort of as a guide in a way rather than necessarily as like going strictly by the script that's a win for me because I know like I can have fun with you then

hell yeah uh there was a chat earlier uh that I want to shout out that was asking um what are your favorite games of all time oh my favorite games of all time oh you know I've I said it at the game awards um you know kingdom hearts golden sun like those are the ones that always stick with me, man. So I'd say like those, you know, especially Kingdom Hearts. Kingdom Hearts was one of the first games that made me just realize the power

of game storytelling and like, and be and move me. I still have no idea what the hell happened in Kingdom Hearts back then. Like if I was to play it probably today, I still have no idea. That's so funny because there's a chat from Demon Hacker that says does he understand the Kingdom Hearts timeline? I have no idea. I have no idea.

Like, I have no idea. I have no idea. But for some reason, at the time when I played it, it just resonated with me. And it really stuck with me. And there was a magic to it. And so, yeah, I love Kingdom Hearts, man. And Golden Sun was one of those ones. Again, I think that's where my love for RPGs kind of came through.

See it like those kind of turn-based games. Like, Golden Sun, I played that to death as a kid. And, you know, the music still was stuck in my head. And it just really kind of had an impact on me. Yeah, man. as a whole. I love that. Um, I'm kind of rounding down. I'm, you know, I don't have many questions left. I guess one question. It's a big, broad question for you. But like, of course, you've done stuff in Hollywood. You're a great actor. You've done now you're in video games, right? And like,

you've just put out your second release under Surgeon Studios. Is there a legacy that you want to leave behind in video games? Like, when it's all set and done for what you're doing here in this space, is there like an overarching goal or mentality that you have as far as this is what I want to leave on the table when I'm done here? I think it's just the fact that like I just had fun while doing it, you know? Yeah. I kind of, I just like there isn't a sense of, yeah, there isn't like a legacy or anything. I think it's more of a sense of just being like I had fun making games and I want to inspire

other people who are like me who never thought that they could make a game, but love them. that they're able to do it. Like, I think, like, that's true. There is something that I, I, I, it's so funny, though, there is an element of me that, like, looks at someone like Kajima, for example, and is like, you know, he's, like, weird and wacky. And there's a part of me that's always like, I can be weirder. Yeah.

So, like, maybe, like, maybe the guy who was weird than Kajima. I don't know. Yeah. But, like, I think, like, I think, like, I think, yeah, Trudy, man, like, I'm sort of, it is honestly, and I cannot express. like the the sort of the reality of like being here today and having released a second game in the climate in which we're in is almost like it is it is truly a miracle and you know there we always say this with the studio there is a part of us it's almost like saying like we shouldn't even be here

man like it is it is absolutely brutal out there it still is and you know i still find like there's still a lot of idiots out there man but the first that we were able to kind of, there's still good people out there who are, you know, who are championing games and championing indie games as an art form. And I think like, just being able to just keep conjuring and keep building is, is already, as I said, like a miracle in itself and a blessing. Hell yeah. Well, my final question for you, for those who are watching and listening that might have not checked out Dead Take yet, why should they play Dead Take? Why should somebody check out the game?

if you want to see Ben and Neil at their like you know prime and and and raw selves this is the game to play if you want to see a true

kind of take at Hollywood and the weird CD underbelly of what that is in the entertainment industry this is the game if you just like fucking escape rooms man yeah play this game 1,000%

I agree with all of that and especially live action Ben Star, you know like we don't get to see that as often like, of course he makes his appearances but I love seeing him and Neil Dubin like in these main roles and like getting them to be wacky

getting to see them be wacky American people is very entertaining for me. I know, it's great. Thank you so much for joining me here. This has been a fantastic conversation. Again, I really enjoy the game. Me and Barrett loved it during our playthrough. If you watched this

and want to check out our playthrough, it's up on the channel. go under the live tab. It's a four-hour playthrough. Oh, what's this, Barrett? This is a post from... Oh, yeah. Oh, this is the clown thing.

He'll never be able to escape it, you know? Oh, man, and you know what? So crazy, we had... And I'm not even kidding. This was generally accidental. We did this, and originally it was supposed to be Neal's face that was supposed to be on that thing, right? But we, you know, we were like,

actually, you know, it makes kind of more sense because you're tracing and you're looking for Vinny. Like, let's put Vinny's face on it. That happened. And then someone... pointed out the fact that like, guys, this is, this is the Bellatro, the clown. And we were like, oh, my God, we're going to get sued like pocket pair with Nintendo, bro. That's so funny.

It's crazy. So, yeah, it was crazy, man. That's amazing. Thank you so much once again. Go check out Dead Take if you have and if you're listening. Of course, this has been the kind of funny games cast. Each and every weekday, we get together and talk about the biggest reviews, previews, and topics in video games live on YouTube, Twitch and on podcast services around the globe.

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