Surgent Studios, the company founded by actor Abubakar Salim (Raised by Wolves, House of the Dragon), has announced its next major project: a first-person psychological horror game, titled Dead Take. As revealed, this is a game starring an actor who stumbles onto a strange mystery, following a missed phone call with a friend. From this beginning, dark threads unravel as the ‘gilded rot’ of the entertainment industry is discovered.
In a ‘dark, opulent mansion’ the actor will need to solve all kinds of puzzles, while avoiding the corruption hiding behind its glamour. Here’s the official description, per Surgent Studios:
‘In Dead Take, you play as an actor who becomes uneasy when your friend won’t answer the phone. Delve into the gilded rot of the entertainment industry and show up at the last place he was before he went quiet: a dark, opulent mansion.’
‘Haunted by mysterious humanlike figures, you advance into the house by solving object-based puzzles and splicing together the video clips you find along the way. Oddly quiet for the site of a glamorous party just hours before, the house is now populated by the figures that seem to turn up where you least expect them.’
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Given Abubakar Salim’s own acting career, and the promise of a single-player story shaped by ‘real experiences in the entertainment industry,’ we expect Dead Take will be a pretty incisive exploration of modern Hollywood, with a rawness in its subject matter.
Surgent Studios’ Dead Take – First Look Trailer
There remains ample secrecy around the upcoming game due to its large ambitions and scope. Per Abubakar Salim, the game will notably feature an ‘impressive lineup’ of actors, set to be revealed in the coming weeks.
‘We’re being secretive for a reason,’ Salim said in a press release. ‘The subject matter of this game is delicate, and it hits close to home. When it comes out, and it won’t be long until it does, I want players to think, “I can’t believe they actually did this.”‘
For now, we don’t know when exactly Dead Take will launch, although we do know it’s targeting release for PC in 2025. These ambitious are supported by Pocketpair Publishing, the team behind Palworld. We’re likely to hear much more about this game in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.
