Palworld’s developer is entering publishing, and it’s first game is from Tales of Kenzera team Surgent
A new horror game from Abubakar Salim’s team is coming this year
Tales of Kenzera developer Surgent Studios has announced it will partner with Palworld publisher Pocketpair for its next project, which will be a “short horror” game.
The project won’t be set in the Tales of Kenzera universe, and won’t be related to Project Uso, the in-development title that studio boss Abubakar Salim showed off to VGC last year.
The new horror game is set to be released later this year. The game will be the first title published by Pocketpair publishing, a new label from the Palworld developers.
“Both Surgent and Pocketpair are well-versed in taking risks,” said Abubakar Salim, CEO of Surgent Studios.
“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.
“We’re 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, “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.
“We were 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 studio’s first game, Tales of Kenzera: ZAU, was released last year. Published as an EA Original title, the game received generally positive reviews at release, with a Metacritic score of 76.
VGC’s Tales of Kenzera review called it a “challenging, poignant Metroidvania.”
