Tales of Kenzera: ZAU Cutscenes Were 'Staged In Garry’s Mod,' Reveals Abubakar Salim

Surgent Studios’ debut title Tales of Kenzera: ZAU connects with its audience on a human level, opening up discussions around grief and how we understand it. Since launching back in April, the game has been praised for its visuals, mechanics, and hard-hitting story. But, Tales of Kenzera: ZAU has some surprisingly humble beginnings.

In an exclusive interview with GINX.TV as part of the latest episode of The Games That Made Me, creative director Abubakar Salim revealed just how some early elements of Tales of Kenzera: ZAU were actually crafted. “Here’s a crazy one,” Salim began. “Tales of Kenzera, some of the cutscenes were first staged in Garry’s Mod. I just remembered that! We used it as a rehearsal. Literally, we’d do our storyboard in Garry’s Mod.”  

Garry’s Mod, Valve’s physics sandbox game, is a bit like the Wild West. Its huge potential for user-generated content makes it a near-unmatched playground for modders, with few rules and restrictions. It largely centers around Valve’s Source engine, allowing players to engage with the studio’s back catalog of games in near-endless ways. It’s no surprise the title is a mainstay in Steam’s list of most-played games.

I used to play on servers but it wasn’t short games, it was essentially a role-playing server where you’re role-playing within the world of Half-Life. And it was run by a really cool community, and it was awesome at the time.

“My mate Dom, who’s actually at [Surgent Studios] now as my writing partner, we used to play Garry’s Mod a lot. And that was through the love of Half-Life. So we used to just screw about on Garry’s Mod all the time, just to build silly places, build cool spaces. It was just a place to hang.

And then, a bit like what’s going on with Minecraft and Roblox, servers. I used to play on servers but it wasn’t short games, it was essentially a role-playing server where you’re role-playing within the world of Half-Life. And it was run by a really cool community, and it was awesome at the time.”

For Salim, Garry’s Mod was how he fell in love with the idea of modding communities, proving just that the possibilities truly are endless. It was also a perfect, and accessible, hands-on experience with the technical side of game development. “It really boosted my creativity, I feel. Especially on a technical level. You get an idea of what physics are, playing with different characters and posing them in different ways. Me and my friend were very much into film, so we were almost making our own scenes in Garry’s Mod.”

Abubakar Salim's episode of The Games That Made Me is available today on GINX+ and Spotify. You'll be able to catch the full video episode on YouTube on May 13th. 

Tales of Kenzera: ZAU is available across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam. Be sure to also check out our review in which we explore its “engaging and tender gameplay, and a remarkable soundtrack.”