Tales Of Kenzera: Zau Director Responds To “Fever Pitch” Of Racism
Tales of Kenzera: Zau’s director, Abubakar Salim, has responded to the “fever pitch” of racism that’s been directed at the game by pushing a discount that he hopes will give more players the chance to experience it.
2024 might be a little lighter on triple-A releases than the gargantuan year that was 2023, but that hasn’t been a problem at all with so many great indie games carrying us through each month. There have been some incredible games already (go play Animal Well, please), but one of my favourites is Tales of Kenzera: Zau, a Metroidvania that places as much emphasis on combat and platforming as it does its story.
Zau is a game that I haven’t stopped thinking about since I played it, but it’s also one that has unfairly been targeted and hit with the same claims of forced diversity that several other releases in 2024 have. Tales of Kenzera’s director, Abubakar Salim, has taken the time to respond to them with a heartfelt message that rises above the “fever spike” of racism.
Over on Twitter, Salim shared a video with the caption, “A needed message”. In the video, Salim says that he’s experienced a lot of racism and had a lot of people tell him that he didn’t get his roles because of his work and that he was simply given them because he was black. Salim says that he’s had to ignore comments like that all of his life, but that it’s been a “constant barrage” since Zau released.
According to Salim, these racist comments have reached a “fever pitch” with Tales of Kenzera’s release, something that’s drowning out the positive responses and impact that it’s had on those who have actually played it. In his passionate message, Salim says that it’s starting to feel like there’s “no right way” to tell diverse stories, because there’s always someone telling you it’s being done wrong.
“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 centres around them is unnecessary or inauthentic.”
In response to this, and in an effort to let more people play Tales of Kenzera: Zau and experience it for themselves, Salim announced that he’s dropping the game from its already reasonable price to less than $15 until the end of June. The sale is already live on Nintendo Switch, but Salim expects it to start on other platforms soon.
It’s a shame that it’s even come to this since Zau is a fantastic game that should have already had plenty of eyes on it, but it’s a move from Salim that’s worthy of applause.