Inside ‘Dead Take’: Abubakar Salim Explores Fear, Fame, and the Actor’s Experience

Dead Take is a horror game by actors, about actors, and for fans of video games and horror alike, as you step into the aftermath of a glitzy Hollywood Hills party in search of your friend. 

Ahead of the game's July 31 release, I had a chance to converse with Abubakar Salim, the Creative Director of Dead Take and the founder of Surgent Studios, about Dead Take's main characters, unique gameplay elements, and the potentially risky story to tell.

Actors Playing Actors Auditioning For A Role

Dead Take will follow the journey of two actors: Chase, played by Neil Newbon, and Vinny, played by Ben Starr.

"You'll play as Chase. The game begins as you arrive at the mansion in search of Vinny after a glitzy party, and the story will unfold as you solve puzzles and splice live-action videos together to get deeper inside," Salim said.

While it isn't 100% clear the full nature of the relationship between Chase and Vinny, Salim did expand that "Dead Take is about two actors going for the same role." The announcement of Newbon and Starr as cast in Dead Take introduced them not only as playing their own characters, but that both play the role of Willie.

Video game fans will be familiar with Neil Newbon with his incredible performance of Astarion in Baldur's Gate 3, and many know Ben Starr for his roles as Clive in Final Fantasy XVI and Verso in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

In the universe of Dead Take it seems that Chase and Vinny are both trying to book the role of Willie.

"It’s been fascinating to have actors playing actors, because so many things in the game hit so close to home for them," Salim said.

As you progress through the game, you'll get to see these characters showing different approaches to a single role.

Drawing on their own experience, Salim was complimentary of Newbon and Starr not just in their performances but "also when sharing their own experiences in the industry." This involvement throughout the development process helped "shape the narrative in a big way."

There is a dark twist to the performances that we'll see, too. Knowing that the game would be told from the point of view of one actor and we'd get to see multiple live-action performances, I questioned how reliable will what we're seeing as the players be if it's just from Chase's perspective or the perspective of a camera.

"When you have big aspirations for yourself, like so many actors have to, you create these grand narratives in order to understand how you fit into the industry," Salim explained. "So much of what unfolds in Dead Take is about those grand narratives, picking them apart to see the awful truth underneath."

Telling a Dark Hollywood Tale

Knowing just how specific a story this is, one of "a side of the entertainment industry only discussed in whispers," as the Steam store page cites, I was interested to hear where this idea originated from and what it was like to develop.

"It felt a bit dangerous to me, and once I’d had the idea, it wouldn’t go away. When I told people about it, their reactions were either 'You have to do this,' or 'Ditch this idea, you’re gonna get blacklisted,'" Salim said. "But for me, the most important thing was to acknowledge the elephant in the room. Not everyone with power uses it responsibly, and there’s something about being an artist that makes it doubly insidious."

Their reactions were either "You have to do this,” or “Ditch this idea, you’re gonna get blacklisted.”

Knowing that Salim has credits as an actor, director, and producer across live-action, animated, and actual-play content, I was interested to hear what led him to pursue this story in the medium of video games. He explained that he was looking to create a deeper connection to the player.

"Making this into a game makes it feel less like forcing you to hear my perspective and more like inviting you to step into my perspective and draw your own conclusions," he said. Not wanting to tell the players how they should feel or interact with the world, but instead to experience the narrative from his view and to then draw their own conclusions.

"It feels more collaborative to me, and I like the feeling of connecting to players in that way."

Mansion Exploration

Seeing snippets of walking through creepy, darkened hallways and reassembling a trident to open a path forward, I immediately thought of games like Resident Evil or newer FNAF games, putting players in a tense situation with puzzles to solve.

For Dead Take I was interested to hear what more there would be in terms of gameplay. "Although there are plenty of puzzles that play on the bizarre mix of items you find in a movie mogul’s house, we also wanted to tap into the reality of being an actor trying to score a role," Salim said.

Referencing the different live-action footage filmed of actors, players will be "finding and splicing together live-action videos." You'll not only be able to solve the mechanical puzzles of the game, but also learn more about who the actors are that you're playing as or trying to find.

"We wanted to tap into the reality of being an actor trying to score a role. For a lot of us, how well you’re doing can be measured by what you’re actually filming: audition tapes? Screen tests? Interviews? There’s something about behind-the-scenes content, showing actors slip in and out of character like it’s nothing, that is so creepy and unsettling, so we wanted to play with that in a puzzle," Salim said.

Dead Take releases on July 31 for Steam. Joining Newbon and Starr, other familiar faces that you might see include Jane Perry and Alanah Pearce, as well as Matt Mercer, Laura Bailey, and Travis Willingham.