Disco Elysium Devs See “Friendly Competition” Between Them And Former Colleagues For This Rival Studio

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It seems there’s no lingering animosity between the developers of Disco Elysium at ZA/UM studio and their former peers at competing studios. A parting of ways occurred in 2021, following a series of legal disputes that led to several team members leaving the studio.

The division led to a number of fresh competitors emerging, each brimming with experienced developers creating games they refer to as the spiritual sequels to Disco Elysium.

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The separation caused several new studios to appear, all filled with veteran game creators who are producing titles they label as the successors in spirit to Disco Elysium.

One of the games they’re working on is called XXX Nightshift, and it’s being directed by Timo Albert. He was previously with ZA/UM, but now he’s leading a new project from Dark Math Games, which bills itself as a splinter group made up of former members from the original team behind Disco Elysium.

At present, ZA/UM is developing a mobile adaptation of Disco Elysium, tailored for TikTok enthusiasts, alongside C4, a role-playing game centered around the theme that “betrayal arises from love.

ZA/UM Calls Former Colleagues New Projects “Friendly Competition”

Regardless of past issues between ZA/UM and certain team members, the UK Studio appears to hold no ill feelings. In a chat with Eurogamer during the latest Game Developer’s Conference, lead game writer Siim Sinamäe commended his former coworkers for striking out on their own.

I can’t wait to discover the creations that each studio, which sprouted from ZA/UM, will reveal in the upcoming months and years.

It’s evident from his remarks that Sinamäe is eagerly anticipating the output of these fresh studios. Additionally, he feels confident that these upcoming projects will motivate ZA/UM to create even more impressive games.

In essence, this circumstance has positively molded our team’s character through healthy competition.

In simpler terms, if Sinamäe’s comments are genuine, the upcoming project like C4 (Code 404) should surpass existing high expectations significantly. Not only is it a sequel to one of the top games of the last decade, but it also pushed ZA/UM to reconsider their work from both internal and external perspectives.

It’s important to maintain lofty anticipation for upcoming titles from emerging studios like Dark Math Games and Longdue, particularly since the latter has unveiled a Kickstarter campaign for what they call the spiritual successor to Disco Elysium.

Disco Elysium debuted in 2019 and garnered numerous accolades, among them being named “Best Indie Game” and “Best RPG” at The Game Awards of that same year.

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2025-03-24 22:38