Zau Studio Defended Against “Go Woke Go Broke” Layoff Backlash

Highlights

Surgent Studio faced layoffs, affecting a dozen developers.
Wardog Studios’ CEO defended the studio against accusations related to the game’s narrative direction and involvement with Sweet Baby Inc.
The CEO emphasized the importance of understanding the terms “DEI” and “go woke, go broke” and encouraged people to consider the human impact of layoffs.

Less than three months after Surgent Studio released its debut game, Tales Of Kenzera: Zau, the indie games company was the latest to be faced with industry layoffs. The studio confirmed that it had to lay off a dozen of its developers in what its founder, Abubakar Salim, described as a “difficult time.” Salim shared details of those affected by the layoffs on his social media, stating that the decision “hurt deeply,” and also how he was honored with what the studio had brought to fruition.

Following the devastating announcement, some netizens had gone on to blame the game’s narrative direction and involvement with the company Sweet Baby Inc. for the layoffs. Coming to the studio’s defense amid these allegations is Wardog Studios’ CEO who called out those who claimed Tales Of Kenzera: Zau was DEI and that most of those using these terms didn’t know what they meant.

“It’s So Saddening” – Tales Of Kenzera Director Forced To Prove Racism Actually Exists

Tales Of Kenzera’s Abubakar Salim hits back with proof of the targeted harassment he and his team have been subjected to.

Posting on Twitter/X, Jade Law, who is the CEO of Wardog Studios, jumped in to offer support to Surgent Studios after its unfortunate news. In Law’s first post, they said “It’s legit sad to see people celebrate devs losing jobs” and “celebrating the misfortunes of others generally doesn’t make you a good person.”

In a follow-up message to this, Law went further in a bid to educate those who decided to hurl abuse at the studio, especially when faced with such a recent and devastating loss. “To everyone claiming this game is DEI and ‘go woke go broke’, I want to help educate you” Law began, before highlighting that it wasn’t factually correct to assume that the studio’s layoff had anything to do with the game underperforming.

“Smaller studios can’t always afford to keep their staff from an end of project ramp up if they haven’t secured funding for their next game,” said Law. “The game currently has positive reviews on Steam. Mark Kern is spewing lies that Sweet Baby killed another studio. Nonsense. They’re still around, they’ve just scaled down and are focusing on the future.”

The CEO went on to state that the company Sweet Baby Inc. provided some assistance on the script but that they weren’t behind “the main character being black. Again, it’s made by a black man about a black man.”

“For every one of you that has complained about diversity in games and that minorities should go ‘make their own game’. Well, they did, and you still accuse it of being ‘DEI’.”

Referring to the terms many have thrown at the studio like “go woke, go broke” and “DEI”, Law echoes what most critical thinking people have been saying too.”Most of you don’t even know what these words mean, never mind how they actually apply to development, you’re just parroting something a YouTuber told you to be mad about.”

Ending the well-written and insightful post, Law expressed that even if a game isn’t for you personally, these damaging layoffs affect actual people and their families, and if you enjoy watching other people suffer, “then you might want to sit for a moment and ask yourself. Am I a good person?”.

Surgent Studios has yet to disclose what their next project will be, and not that we blame them, but until then, we at DualShockers wish them every bit of luck on their next journey.