Abubakar Salim has A lot of beef with Hollywood – and he pulls it out of his chest in his latest video game. The actor, known for his roles as Alyn de Hull House of the dragon and a father in Raised by wolvesbalanced their time between the big screen and gaming, two industries that were hit by a pile of similar things: long hours, Declining jobsabuse of power and, more recently, the rapid rise of artificial intelligent use and generative ai.
Salim’s Sophomore game, Dead takeThere is a history of Hollywood, ambition and exploitation, dressed as a horror game that aims at the problems of his industry, from corruption to AI use. “Hollywood is pure horror,” Salim says.
Dead take is a company Departure of his debut game, Kenzera’s Stories: Zau. Where Wide said lively, a heart story of sadness,, Dead take is a psychological thriller set in the dark rooms of Hollywood palace. After his friend Vinny is missing, a wrestling actor Chase breaks into the home of the industry’s hottest director, Duke Cain, looking for evidence. The game is an escape room with a home invasion; Room-to-room puzzles unlock more areas of the house, whether that means dig through bedrooms and cupboards, or navigate pool. Duke’s domain is filled with indications of a lost child and a failed marriage, along with hints about how far he is ready to push actors in his movies.
Salim likes to write the game to exorcism. “You hear these stories,” he says about whispers about hitting abuse and bad behavior. “It’s terrible. By then make a game that explores who feels like” Oh Fuck You “to the industry and the machine. It’s really crazy with what people go away, the amount of toxicity that exists at an industrial level.” Dead take Allows players to merge these stories, no matter how much you would do in real life, through emails, notes and context. Actress trapped in a Metoo-like scandal. Director fighting their actors against each other, or pushing them beyond their borders.
During their search, players find flashes containing videos of the game’s actors. Salim made the unusual choice of letting these scenes play as real -life images instead of encouragement. Although the use of a full -fledged video in games has enjoyed new popularity, thanks to titles such as Immortality, It is still rare. Ben Starr (Final Fantasy XVI,, Clear Darkness: Expedition 33) and Neil Newbon (Gate of Baldur 3,, To meet everything) To act as guides the game, Chase and Vinny. Both actors worked for years, but only recently did they have the spotlight, thanks to more prominent roles in popular games. “They are good and I want to show that, instead of putting them behind a character,” Salim says.
As a creative professional, there is a lot for Salim to dislike AI -use – and he certainly dislikes – but one fear stands out to him: pictures or videos are “bastard” in ways, as actors and artists do not control. “I think that is annoying and disgusting,” he says. “The last thing I want is someone to generate a terrible picture of myself and then my daughter stumbles on it, as we are older. That would be terrible.”
