There’s apparently no bad blood betweenDisco Elysiumdevs at studio ZA/UM and former colleagues at rival studios. After multiple lawsuits were filed, an initial split between the studio and several staff members happened in 2021.
The split resulted inseveral new rival studiospopping up full of seasoned devs making games they’ve called “spiritual successors” to Disco Elysium.
One of those games isXXX Nightshift from Dark Math Games. Timo Albert, who left ZA/UM, is the director of the new game from the studio that describes itself as a “breakaway group from the original development team of Disco Elysium.”
Currently, ZA/UM is working on amobile version of Disco Elysiumdesigned to appeal to TikTok users, as well asC4, an espionage RPG where, “Betrayal is only possible in the presence of love.”
Disco Elysium Best Build Guide
If you’re unsure of which skills and thoughts to build for in Disco Elysium, this guide will help.
ZA/UM Calls Former Colleagues New Projects “Friendly Competition”
Despite how things ended between ZA/UM and several staff members, the UK Studio doesn’t seem to harbor any grudges.Speaking with Eurogamerat the most recent Game Developer’s Conference, principal game writer Siim Sinamäe praised his former colleagues branching out on their own:
“I’m really excited to see what each one of the studios that has grown out of ZA/UM will show over the next months and years.”
From his comments, it’s clear Sinamäe is excited for what these new studios will produce. He also believes these new projects will only push ZA/UM to make better games:
“This, let’s say, situation has really built the character of the team in a good way… For us, always we think it’s friendly competition. "
So what does all this mean for a project in the works like C4? If Sinamäe’s sentiment is sincere, the game should blow away already sky-high expectations. Not only is it a follow-up to one of the best games of the last decade, but it’s also one that has forced ZA/UM to evaluate itself from both inside and outside.
We should also have high expectations for games coming from new studios such as Dark Math Games and Longdue, the latter of whichrecently launched their “spiritual successor” to Disco Elysium on Kickstarter.
Disco Elysium: Best Skills Ranked
No need for min-maxxing–these skills instead provide a treasure trove of insight into the world of Disco Elysium.
Disco Elysium originally released in 2019 and won multiple awards, including “Best Independent Game” and “Best Role-Playing Game” at The Game Awards that year.
