{"id":50237,"date":"2024-06-01T03:00:06","date_gmt":"2024-06-01T02:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.xtremeservers.com\/blog\/tales-of-kenzera-zau-director-addresses-constant-targeted-harassment-lowers-price-of-game-on-switch\/"},"modified":"2024-06-01T03:00:06","modified_gmt":"2024-06-01T02:00:06","slug":"tales-of-kenzera-zau-director-addresses-constant-targeted-harassment-lowers-price-of-game-on-switch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.xtremeservers.com\/blog\/tales-of-kenzera-zau-director-addresses-constant-targeted-harassment-lowers-price-of-game-on-switch\/","title":{"rendered":"Tales of Kenzera: Zau Director Addresses ‘Constant Targeted Harassment,’ Lowers Price of Game on Switch"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Abubakar Salim, the founder of Surgent Studios and creative director of Tales of Kenzera: ZAU, issued a strong statement today addressing harassment both he and his studio have faced since the release of Tales of Kenzera in April.<\/p>\n

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In a five-minute video posted to X\/Twitter (which you can watch below), Salim opens by saying he didn’t want to address the harassment, and that he’s dealt with assertions that he didn’t “deserve the opportunit[ies]” he got from the beginning of his career: “No, it was simply because I’m Black, and I’ve turned my other cheek and just kept doing my thing,” he says. <\/p>\n

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A needed message. pic.twitter.com\/oJaJEeZd61<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Abubakar Salim (@Abzybabzy) May 31, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Salim is also an actor known for roles in Assassin’s Creed Origins, Max’s Raised by Wolves, and an upcoming part in Season 2 of HBO’s House of the Dragon. He goes on to say that he can brush off some of the comments, but “when there’s a constant barrage of them, it’s exhausting.” And, when it came to Tales of Kenzera in particular, the situation reached “a fever pitch,” especially as the game was roped into ongoing harassment campaigns<\/a> targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts on social media.<\/p>\n

“Don’t get me wrong, there’s been so much amazing and beautiful support for this game. The fact that it’s inspired so many people and touched, you know, so many lives, it was one of our goals from the outset \u2014 to have this positive impact, right?” Salim says. “But at the same time, we are being faced with constant targeted harassment from people who see diversity as a threat. From people who look across the vast landscape of modern media and decide that anything that doesn’t speak to them or centers around them is unnecessary and inauthentic.”<\/p>\n

“And look,” he continues, “there’s always a reason why diverse stories can’t exist. You know, it’s always either we’re doing it the wrong way or it’s just there to tick boxes and it’s just beginning to feel like there is no right way. You know, these exclusionary rules continue to stack up and the goalposts continue to shift until, you know, me, my studio, people who look like us, just sit down, be quiet and just accept the fact that you’re outsiders. But I won’t do that.”<\/p>\n

“We are being faced with constant targeted harassment from people who see diversity as a threat.<\/section>\n

“If there are people who aren’t like you in a game, I want you to know that game is still for you,” Salim continues. “You know, if the characters are a different race or a different gender or you know, a different ideology or different perspective, that doesn’t mean the game isn’t for you. It can still be for you.”<\/p>\n

It’s that philosophy, Salim says, that inspired him to set Tales of Kenzera at a more affordable price than many other games, going for $20 across Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X\/S, and PC. But the harassment, he continues, has spurred him to make the price of the game even lower to try to make it more accessible to a larger audience. <\/p>\n

He announces that, starting today, the price of Tales of Kenzera will be lower than $15 on Switch, giving Nintendo a shoutout for “acting fast on this.”<\/p>\n

“I’m working with the team in bringing this discount to all platforms and it’s gonna start from now to until the end of June because, you know, it just means so much to me, man,” he says.<\/p>\n