A recent report by PC Gamer has revealed more about the tumultuous climate at Disco Elysium developer ZA/UM. Featuring interviews with current and past employees at the company, it’s been revealed that a stand-alone expansion for Disco Elysium was well ?into development when it was canceled, and much of the? team was laid off.

Disco Elysium was released in 2019 to wide acclaim, and it seemed like fertile ground for ZA/UM to develop a series around. However, in 2022, three of the lead developers on the team, Robert Kurvitz, Aleksander Rostov, and Helen Hindpere, departed. Reports on these departures are conflicting, with Kurvitz and Rostov accusing the management of financial malfea?sance, while official statements from the company say that they were fired for misconduct.

Business continued as usual for the staff at ZA/UM, with many wishing to prove that they could build on Disco Elysium in a way that stayed true to the original game.

According to the report from PC Gamer, the canceled expansion was being created under Disco Elysium writer Argo Tuulik and another writer named Dora Klindžić. The two say they were made to pitch the expansion to management under extraneous circumstances. It was greenlit, but they were then pushed directly into production. According to Dora Klindžić, “We were set up to fail from the start.�/p>

Even with all the challenges thrown at them, at the end of 2023, the team had created an internal demo of the expansion that was? reportedly well-received. "Its internal announcement lifted a lot of ?spirits after a rough time of bad press around the studio," a member of the studio told PC Gamer.

Despite this, in February 20??24, the p??????????????????????????roject was canceled, and a quarter of the staff was laid off.

According to reporting, ZA/UM seems to still have two projects still in development, with one being “a smaller-scale Elysium game targeting touchscreen devices.â€?However, it’s difficult to imagine anything comin?g to fruition in an environment such as th??at.

You can read the full report over on PC Gamer.

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ZA/UM confirms key figure departures

Several key members of ZA/UM, the studio behind the esoteric and critically acclaimed RPG Disco Elysium, have announced that they ??have left the studio and will not be committing further work toward the award-winning game's upcoming sequel.

In a candid post on Medium, titled "The Disso?lution of the ZA/UM Cultura?l Association", Disco Elysium editor Martin Luiga succinctly noted that writer and designer Robert Kurvitz, co-writer Helen Hindpere, and lead artist Aleksander Rostov were all no longer at ZA/UM. The post notes that the trio left the company in an "involuntary" fashion. Rostov later confirmed the departure on their own Twitter. Luiga note??s that this motion could cause a delay in the sequel's release, subtly pointing at studio investors as potentially being the catalyst for these events.

The news immediately set the gossip wheels in motion, with many fans upset that such core members of the Disco Elysium experience would not be around to serve further on the anticipated follow-up, with a note of anger as to the possibility that the trio had been ruthlessly pushed from the company. This aggressive reaction triggered pushback from some remaining ZA/UM employees, who understandably felt tha??t their own contributions counted for little in the eyes of t??he players.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWWA1jnI5N4

This morning, ZA/UM released a?n official statement, which avoids the controversy and, reading between the lines, confirms the departure of Rostov, Kurvitz, and Hindpere, whilst also expressing confidence in the studio's remaining team members.

"Like any video game, the development of Disco Elysium was and still is a collective effort, with every team member's contribution essential and valued as part of a ??greater whole," wrote ZA/UM. "At this time, we have no further comment to make other than the ZA/UM creative team's focus remains on the development of our next project, and ??we are excited to share more news on this with you all soon."

While it is a fair comment to suggest that Disco Elysium is more than the work of just three individuals, it is all fair to say that the idiosyncratic nature, fantastic writing, and completely compelling and unique art style is what made the RPG such a "year's best" release. Does talent remain at ZA/UM? Of course it does, and likely in abundance, but has the key "identity" of Disco Elysium been lost?

This question will, very likely, be answered in time,?? one way or another.

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It's Jamais Vu all over again

If you're jumping into Disco Elysium today, you might find something new waiting for you. Studio ZA/UM has announced the "Jamais Vu" update for Disco Elysium, which seems to add some mysterious new content.

The developer discusses it in a new Steam blog, which has a few cryptic hints towards what's been added. Disco Elysium is, after all, a detective story. Walking the players right to the new content might not fit with the whole vibe. So instead, ZA/UM has some helpful hints for finding the right threads to pull in the Disco Elysium update:

• Perhaps it's worth stopping a while to admire the scenery
• The cold coastal waters are known to wash up the lost
• Knock, knock, lieutenant

There's also an image with some helpful hints to jog your detective brain. It has been a while f??or some of us, after all. It's not easy being the best-worst investigator on the force.

And if you're new to the mysteries of Disco Elysium, well, it's also on sale as part of the Steam holiday sale. Disco Elysium: The Final Cut is slashed down to just $17.99. And also, ZA/UM has teamed up with Remedy Entertainment and publisher 505 Games to make a special Control x Disco Elysium bundle for the sale, too. That's two very good games for a very good price.

Disco Elysium is still a game I think about, regularly. Whether for its beautiful w?orld, the way it turns your inner cacophony of thoughts and ideas into a role-playing system, or just that trumpet ringing out over the water as you walk outside, it lingers. It's still ea??sily one of the most compelling role-playing game experiences you can find on a PC, and a small sense of Jamais Vu might be a good enough reason to go back. I've yet to play a high-action muscle cop playthrough.

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