Lead Disco Elysium Devs ‘Involuntarily’ Left Studio ZA/UM, Sequel Still in the Works

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Key members of ZA/UM, the studio responsible for the incredible narrative RPG, Disco Elysium, have left the company in an “involuntary” manner, it has been announced. The news comes to us by way of Martin Luiga, an editor who worked on Disco Elysium and assembled the core team that would ultimately create the game, in a post over on Medium. Luiga also announced the dissolution of the ZA/UM Cultural Association, not to be confused with the studio itself.

According to Luiga, lead writer and designer Rober Kurvitz, writer Helen Hindpere, and art and design lead Aleksander Rostov have not been working at ZA/UM “since the end of last year and their leaving the company was involuntary.”

As anyone who has played Disco Elysium knows, the writing and art direction define the experience of the game, and these departures are particularly sorely felt. Kurvitz claims to have developed the insanely imaginative world of Disco Elysium as a teenager and has written a book (In Estonian, not yet available in English) called Sacred and Terrible Air, set in the same universe.

However, it may not all be doom and gloom, as Luiga elaborates in a reply on Twitter.

The reasons for the departures remain unclear, but Luiga suggests differences between the creatives and the “money people” could be the cause, which is just about the most Disco Elysium thing ever.

What do you think of this entire situation? Are you a fan of Disco Elysium? Are you hopeful for the future of the series? Sing a sad, slow song in the comments section below.

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