Last night brought a first look at Tales of Kenzera: Zau, a personal project from Abubakar Salim – the voice of Bayek in Assassin’s Creed Origins and star of HBO’s Raised by Wolves.
A single-player side-scrolling platformer, Tales of Kenzera: Zau is the debut game from Salim’s Surgent Studios, and is being published by EA via its Originals label.
Salim appeared on stage at The Game Awards last night, visibly emotional, to share how the game had been inspired by the loss of his father – with whom he had shared a love of video games.
“For a long time, I’ve struggled to find a way of communicating my journey with grief,” Salim said. “To now be able to do that through Zau’s story of loss, growth and healing in Tales of Kenzera: Zau feels so right.
“Games, to me, are the most powerful medium to share stories. My late father introduced me to the medium, and what better way of honoring him, our relationship and love than through this experience?”
Inspired by the African Bantu tales, gameplay involves using cosmic powers from wearing masks to defeat spirits via rhythmic combat, displayed via hand-crafted animations.
Tales of Kenzera Zau is set to arrive on 23rd April 2024 for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch.
Salim previously announced his plans to enter game development in 2021, when the developer – then-titled Silver Rain Games – had just signed its EA publishing deal.
