Surgent founder and CEO Abubakar Salim took to the stage to tell the games community just how much this project means to him.
Full transcript of his speech below.
Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is now available for pre-order.
Hello. I am Abubakar Salim.
I’m mainly known for my acting work on Raised by Wolves and Assassin’s Creed Origins.
But that is not why I’m here.
This is crazy man. I remember watching The Game Awards when I was younger, so being up here now is like…[laughs]
Look: I’ve loved games all my life. I mean, I’ve played them all my life - from Kingdom Hearts, Garry’s Mod, Golden Sun.
And it started with my dad. He got me into them. He understood that games are an art form.
It’s a great space to enjoy and escape the reality of the world.
He passed away a while back and I’ll tell you what: I’m still figuring it out.
But, four years ago, I decided that I needed to try to process my grief in a way that felt true to me and him. So I took the biggest risk of my life and threw everything I had at making a game. A piece of art that honoured him. An ode to the people we have loved and lost.
So the reason I am here tonight is because, with the love and support of a lot of people here, I’m gonna take another big risk and I’m going to show you what we’ve been building.
I’m gonna offer you this game - a game for my old man. I hope you like it.