Surgent Studios, the maker of Tales of Kenzera: Zau, is partnering with Pocketpair Publishing, the newly founded publishing wing of Pocketpair (Palworld, Craftopia) to create a horror game for release in 2025.
Surgent continues conversations with potential partners around Project Uso (revealed in October 2024) and other projects set in the Tales of Kenzera universe. But this game is something new for the studio, which was started by House of the Dragon actor Abubakar Salim.
This exciting new game, developed by Surgent Studios, will not be set in the Tales of Kenzera universe, the companies said.
Abubakar Salim, CEO of Surgent Studios, said in a statement, “Both Surgent and Pocketpair are well-versed in taking risks. We noticed a pattern in the entertainment industry, and Pocketpair has given us the opportunity to make a horror game about it. It will be short and weird, and we think players will be interested in what we have to say.”
He said the company is still in earnest conversation about further projects set in the Tales of Kenzera universe, but this will be a standalone piece, “a mile marker between where we’ve come from and where we’re going.”
John Buckley, Head of Pocketpair Publishing, said in a statement, “As the games industry continues to grow, more and more games find themselves struggling to get funded or greenlit. We think this is a real shame, because there are so many incredible creators and ideas out there that just need a little help to become incredible games.”
He said Pocketpair was “instantly fascinated by Abubakar’s creative vision for a horror game on a topic he’s uniquely qualified to explore. The ultimate goal of Pocketpair Publishing is to find creators with a genuine passion for games and enable them to create fun, new experiences for gamers all over the world.”
The game is planned for release later this year.
