Abubakar Salim and Ben Starr met in drama school. They shared a love for games, but didn’t know it. Now, they both work in the industry. In this hour-long conversation, they discuss what made them decide to finally embrace the truth: they truly love everything about games.

United in their experience of playing atypical heroes, Abu and Ben share what it’s like to work with creative teams that give them the freedom to play, explaining how people can only really connect with a performance that feels real. Both having the opportunity to originate their characters, they discuss how games can tackle some of life’s most painful trials…yet still somehow make them fun.

When discussing games’ unique quality of being fuelled by emotional input, Abu and Ben list what they believe to be the gold standard of recent games and share deeply personal stories about how some more unexpected titles directly helped them through hard times.

They chat about the unique approach their parents took to games when they were younger, tracing their most well-known performances to their considerable experience with a controller in hand.

From chasing performances that feel truly “gross” to admitting genuine nervousness when presenting something new to devoted fans, Abu and Ben get candid about their careers, how they met and why they love seeing fans who wear their support on their sleeves.

Why games? What makes them different? And will they even stick with it? Find out in this hour-plus conversation between drama school friends who just want to play.

Follow Abubakar:   / abzybabzy  
Follow Ben:   / the_ben_starr  
Follow Surgent Studios:   / surgentstudios  
Pre-order Surgent's first game, Tales of Kenzera: ZAU: http://x.ea.com/78917