The authors of Disco Elysium from ZA/UM perceive the games of their colleagues who split from the studio after the scandals as just "friendly competition"
ZA/UM Studio, known for the iconic Disco Elysium, continues to develop its spy project C4. Meanwhile, the developers talk about "friendly competition" with projects created by former employees who left the studio after scandalous lawsuits.
Here's What We Know
In 2021, before numerous lawsuits against ZA/UM, which were later settled, key team members left the studio. After that, several new studios were founded, working on projects that are positioned as the "spiritual heirs" of Disco Elysium. Among them are Longdue, Hopetown, and XXX Nightshift by Dark Math Games, which calls itself a "breakaway group from the original Disco Elysium development team."
ZA/UM itself is working on C4, as well as a mobile adaptation of Disco Elysium to "capture TikTok users".
ZA/UM's lead producer Ruud Ulas and head writer Siimo Sinamäe shared their thoughts on all this.
"This, let's say, situation has really strengthened the character of the team in a good way," said Sinamäe. "Every artist faces certain difficulties in their creative practice. It makes them better."
"But of course, I'm very interested to see what each of the studios that grew out of ZA/UM will show in the coming months and years," added Ulas.
"It's always a friendly competition for us," said Sinamäe. "We're not going to think about what other writers or studios are doing... how can I get better at my own craft? We're essentially competing with ourselves in terms of can we go further? Do we need to compromise? I think that absolutely sets us apart."
What makes the ZA/UM game unique? According to Ulas, it is the wide range of people with different skills that make the team unique. "We have a lot of people who come from different walks of life, not just video games," said Ulas. "I was trained as an artist, there are people who came from the world of fashion and traditional 2D art, and so on.
"Working together is what makes us stand out, I think, as well as going through these hard and challenging times as a studio and growing as a team. When I wake up in the morning and start working, it motivates me."
In C4, the team intends to explore the human mind and its complexities as the protagonist, an operative, adopts several covers and struggles with his sense of self. In his "office of thoughts", players will be able to amplify or suppress thoughts, which will not only affect the development of the plot, but also create dissonances as it progresses - perhaps adopting a new cover will lead to a change in the reinforced perceptions. The choice will depend not only on the dice rolls, but also on three key constraints: anxiety, delusion, and fatigue.
Source: Eurogamer
