Abubakar Salim Talks About Melding Games And Film In Dead Take

We shot all of their live-action clips over the course of a couple of days in London, and having us in the same room together definitely brought a certain spark to everyone’s performance. It created more than a few moments where you could actually see either Ben or Neil have a sudden idea and just run with it, and we ended up keeping so many of the surprises in the game.

Hearing their voices in your head makes a huge difference as a writer. A lot of us pick actors to hold in our minds as we write, but in this instance, we knew exactly who would be saying each line. The characters themselves continued to develop on set, and there was one moment in particular where one of the leads took a scene in a completely different direction that shocked and terrified us all, and we absolutely kept that in.

Ben and Neil play actors vying for the same role of “Willie” in an upcoming film. The gameplay in Dead Take helps players understand how that audition process actually unfolded.

Absolutely. I couldn’t have made this game without having these experiences and stories to draw on. It’s a combination of things I’ve experienced, rumours I’ve heard, and stories that have been shared with me by my fellow actors. For me, its authenticity is a big part of the horror.

We knew we wanted to splice video together, specifically quite early in development. This is a game about movies, so we wanted some type of “movie” – even if just short clips – to underpin the narrative.

It’s so cool to get to see Neil and Ben’s actual faces as they act. They are such talented actors in the games space, so it was a unique opportunity to see them as actors being and looking like actors. Technically, the live action sequences tie into the gameplay in a way that gives the player a lot of agency, so that makes it still feel really game-y even during the video sequences.

The mansions that I’ve been able to visit while in LA for work are beautiful but bizarre. They’re such obscene displays of wealth, but they’re also very obviously built first and foremost for privacy. That really gives you an odd feeling as a visitor. We also wanted to play with the feeling of going from big spaces to small spaces and manipulating light and dark to give a strong sense that anything could be around the corner.

We will also be on the Epic Games Store in addition to Steam. We’re open to console ports if the opportunity presents itself.

Definitely, this game is about the film industry on its surface, but we’ve always said it was about power and corruption in the entertainment industry as a whole. We’re specifically thinking about how creative or artistic work, when it becomes an industry with soaring amounts of cash and influence involved, can create a very specific kind of environment that turns people into pawns.

We didn’t want to shy away from anything with this game. It’s basically the games industry making a story about itself; it’s going to be self-referential in the end.

We’ve been lucky enough with our first two games to feel very in control of our creative vision. That doesn’t mean we’re not aware of it happening for others, however. It’s a difficult balance, and we’ve all seen where it hasn’t gone right.

Dead Take was intended to be a standalone game, but as a studio, we’ve learned that flexibility and listening to our audiences is paramount. We’ll see what people say.