{"id":769810,"date":"2026-07-18T07:07:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T07:07:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/769810\/"},"modified":"2026-07-18T07:07:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T07:07:16","slug":"disco-elysium-studio-says-game-about-people-forced-into-impossible-situations-didnt-sell-well-enough-to-prevent-layoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/769810\/","title":{"rendered":"Disco Elysium Studio Says Game About People Forced Into Impossible Situations Didn’t Sell Well Enough To Prevent Layoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zero Parades: For Dead Spies, the follow-up to Disco Elysium from ZA\/UM Studio, was a success, at least from a critical standpoint. The game got rave reviews across the board, including from Kotaku<\/a>. But according to ZA\/UM, financial success didn\u2019t follow the critical acclaim and as a result, the studio says it\u2019s been forced to implement layoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have served redundancy or at-risk notices impacting up to 32 of our colleagues across all departments at ZA\/UM Studio,\u201d the studio posted on social, saying that it is working with ZA\/UM\u2019s labor union to navigate the layoff process.<\/p>\n

pic.twitter.com\/h1JqIYywR5<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 ZA\/UM Studio (@studiozaum) July 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The layoffs represent another setback for ZA\/UM, which has been rocked by layoffs and scandal for the last four years. In 2022, three of the studio\u2019s founders, Robert Kurvitz, Aleksander Rostov, and Helen Hindpere, revealed that they had left the company \u201cinvoluntarily\u201d<\/a> and that the remaining ZA\/UM leadership had been trying to keep the split under wraps.<\/p>\n

In response, Kurvitz and Rostov sued ZA\/UM<\/a> for allegedly taking over a majority share of the studio illegally, beginning a series of complicated legal exchanges that would eventually be resolved a year later<\/a>. During that time, however, ZA\/UM claimed that the reason the three were let go was because they fostered a toxic work environment,<\/a> with Kurvitz also allegedly trying to illegally sell ZA\/UM\u2019s intellectual property.<\/a><\/p>\n

It was a very messy, upsetting affair to watch the studio responsible for what\u2019s been called one of the greatest narrative games ever fall apart while on the cusp of developing a sequel, something the remaining members of ZA\/UM could never quite manage. In the years following Disco Elysium\u2018s release, ZA\/UM would cancel numerous projects<\/a>, further alienating its remaining creators who would leave the company to spin off three separate studios,<\/a> all gunning to create Disco Elysium\u2018s worthy successor. So far, none but Zero Parades have released, a feat that is itself tarnished now with layoffs representing an unfortunate irony when you understand the game\u2019s central theme.<\/p>\n