According to a key member of the Disco Elysium development team, many key members have “involuntarily” left the company.
According to ZA/UM Editor Martin Luiga, a founding member and Secretary of ZA/UM cultural association, key members of the development team that put the critically-acclaimed Disco Elysium were no longer part of the studio, which includes Lead Writer and Designer Robert Kurvitz, Writer Helen Hindpere, and Lead of Art and Design Aleksander Rostov. Luiga says in a Medium post:
“… Kurvitz, Hindpere nor Rostov are working there since the end of last year and their leaving the company was involuntary. Which would seem like bad news for the loving fans that are waiting for the Disco sequel.”
The ZA/UM cultural association is different from the ZA/UM development studio – the cultural association was a sort of artist collective which brought together the creative minds that eventually became the studio itself. Luiga says that the dissolution is caused by the organization no longer representing the ethos it was founded on.
Replying to some comments on the post, Luiga appears to place some of the blame on investors of ZA/UM studio as to the cause of their departures, although he conceded that Disco Elysium wouldn't have been published in the first place without them. He says:
“Imagine a kleptomaniac, if you will. Only that instead of stealing, say, “A Lolly pop”, they take pains to manipulate dozens of people to steal, in the end, from themselves, just because they happen to be very proficient in that kind of an operation. It's what they always do, really. One of them was the first guy to be convicted for investment fraud in Estonia. All the same, idk if we would have managed to get the initial investment without these people.”
It is unclear who the “first guy to be convicted for investment fraud in Estonia,” is in the post.
In spite of this, Luiga appeared optimistic about the release of the Disco Elysium sequel nonetheless. Through a tweet, Luiga says:
Nah I think that things with the sequel are actually sweet enough, you might even get it the way it was meant, it might take a shit ton of time but RPG fans are sorta accustomed to waiting, ain't they
— ∞Luiga∞ (@martinluiga) October 1, 2022
“I think that things with the sequel are actually sweet enough, you might even get it the way it was meant, it might take a sh*t ton of time but RPG fans are sorta accustomed to waiting, ain't they.” (censorship ours)
While the departure of its Lead Writer and Lead Art Director would feel as if the sequel would definitely lose its soul, it appears that even Luiga thinks otherwise – so while the news might come as a shock and as something negative for fans, it would seem like there really isn't anything for Disco Elysium fans to fear – apart from a protracted development time.
Rerleased in October 2019, Disco Elysium has been highly regarded as one of the best video games of all time and has been credited for pushing the boundaries of video games as an art form. In the game, players take control of a troubled police officer who wakes up in the middle of a murder investigation, only that he has no recollection of his recent past, due to blacking out to a combination of drugs and alcohol.
An enhanced edition called “The Final Cut” was eventually released on March 30, 2021. The enhanced edition featured complete voice work for all of the game's characters, including the game narration and player-character skills, encompassing 1.2 million words of voice acting, along with new art and animations, and four previously-cut quests called “Political Vision Quests.” Disco Elysium: The Final Cut is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and the Nintendo Switch.
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