With no Disco Elysium 2 in sight, who exactly are behind the 5 studios of Disco devs now vying to make its spiritual successor?

GamesRPGDisco ElysiumWith no Disco Elysium 2 in sight, who exactly are behind the 5 studios of Disco devs now vying to make its spiritual successor?When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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(Image credit: ZA/UM)

Harry and Kim

Jump to:ZA/UMRed InfoLongdueDark Math GamesSummer Eternal

Ahead of Disco Elysium’s fifth anniversary earlier this month, three new studios announced their plans to make games explicitly building on its legacy, joining the two that already had something underway⁠—and plenty of former devs who have filtered out elsewhere in the industry. What does not appear to be in the cards is a direct sequel using Disco’s characters or the established world of Elysium.

Studio ZA/UM canceled development on a full sequel to Disco shortly after the departure of three key developers. Those devs, including the setting’s creator, alleged financial malfeasance on the part of the company’s executives⁠—including two of Disco’s producers⁠—while the other side maintains that these developers were fired with cause. Earlier this year, ZA/UM canceled development on a “standalone expansion” to Disco,laying off its developersin the process.

That’s the topline summary of how we got here. Below I’ve listed the studios currently vying for your attention, the original Disco devs working at them, and my assessment of their chances.

ZA/UM

(Image credit: ZA/UM)

Kim Kitsuragi observes Harry clean and jerking a 225lbs barbell

I don’t think I’m speaking out of turn when I say that ZA/UM is an “embattled” studio. Fan sentiment has largely aligned with the former developers who departed in 2021, with most goodwill (or even just benefit of the doubt) accumulated after the release ofPeople Make Games' Disco documentarywiped out with the laying off of a quarter of the studio⁠—including a key writer on the original game.

Following post-Disco hiring and subsequent layoffs, ZA/UM should still consist of about 70 employees⁠—more than twice the size of the team that made Disco. The studio’s primary project in development is an unannounced RPG in a new setting, independent from the world of Elysium. If ZA/UM’s developers are allowed to make the game they are capable of without undue interference or more mass layoffs, I think it could be something special.

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Red Info

(Image credit: Zaum)

A man stares at himself, hanging from a tree beneath a disco ball

The developers who left ZA/UM alleging financial malfeasance in 2021⁠—Robert Kurvitz, Aleksander Rostov, and Helen Hindpere⁠—have set up this new studio, and they were some of the key creative talent on Disco Elysium. Kurvitz was the creator of the setting as a whole, hosting tabletop sessions and writing a novel set in Elysium before serving as the writing and overall project lead on Disco. Rostov, meanwhile, was lead artist on Disco Elysium, and before that he did illustrations for Kurvitz’s novel, laying the groundwork for Elysium’s visual language. Hindpere was a principle writer on Disco whose focus areas included the Doomed Commercial Area, Church ravers, and Working Class Woman investigation.

The big questions for me are what their plans are, and what sort of studio has/will coalesce around them. Red Info has been engaged in a legal battle with ZA/UM for ownership of the Elysium IP, the result of which remains unclear. PMG’s documentary revealed that the studio had submitted a copyright claim for something called “Corinthians,” with smart money being that this is a “backup” new IP, should ZA/UM retain ownership of Disco Elysium.

So we really just don’t know what Red Info is up to, how big it is (or will be), or what kind of timetable we can expect for further announcements, but the studio has received outside investment and was formed around a core group of exciting talent.

Longdue

(Image credit: Longdue)

Three figures in some manner of ruin or cave looking towards a triangular window/tunnel with gold light spilling forth.

Longdueand Dark Math are where things start to get strange⁠—as if the saga up to this point wasn’t strange enough as it is. Longdue consists of developers with previous experience on triple-A games, as well as former Disco Elysium developers⁠—but the studio will not say who specifically at this time.

It’s a move I’m sympathetic to given the extreme tensions around Disco Elysium⁠—some developers have reported receiving death threats⁠—and there’s certainly an argument to be made that the gaming public is overly concerned with specific developers and their personal lives. Even so, this doesn’t entirely sit right with me. The claim Longdue makes on Disco’s legacy as an RPG is undermined when the other studios in question have named talent who worked on specific parts of the game. Otherwise, Longdue is reminiscent of the large number of new, smaller studios with former triple-A talent that kept popping up in the more generous investment environment of the pandemic years.

According toLongdue’s own Companies House page, the studio was incorporated on September 25, a scant two weeks before its official announcement. Rather than having a hand in two different Disco successor studios simultaneously, I think it’s far more likely that Moola parted ways with Dark Math to spin up his own effort⁠—under what circumstances, though, who can say. Regardless, that September incorporation means that among these studios Longdue is possibly the furthest away from shipping a game, while also being the one we know the least about.

Dark Math Games

XXX NIGHTSHIFT - A true detective RPG. Dialogue Gameplay Trailer - YouTubeWatch On

XXX NIGHTSHIFT - A true detective RPG. Dialogue Gameplay Trailer - YouTube

Dark Mathis the only one of these studios with an announced, titled game, XXX Nightshift, which has ateaser trailerand even aSteam page. That’s led to some understandable excitement, but the content of XXX Nightshift’s promo material, as well as who’s making it, have me less enthused.

Dark Math’s founders, according to Companies House, include Kaur Kender, a producer on Disco Elysium. Though listed as having resigned from company leadership, Kender’s LinkedIn has him as executive producer on XXX Nightshift. Kender was an early partner in creating Disco Elysium, and his connections in Estonia seem to have been crucial in getting the game funded. Disco writer Argo Tuulik has also said that Kender’s father, a Soviet-era detective, was a partial inspiration for protagonist Harry DuBois.

The only original Disco developer named in Dark Math’s first press release was Timo Albert, who produced the trailers for Disco Elysium. Albert is art lead on XXX Nightshift, and I think his prior experience shows through in the first trailer’s evocation of Disco’s UI.

(Image credit: Dark Math Games)

A woman sits on a large sofa while a diagram of an ear floats on the screen.

Summer Eternal

(Image credit: Summer Eternal)

A red-hued image of a house burning, overlaid by the words “A single spark” and “A prairie fire”.

Summer Eternalwas the last of these studios to be announced, and it combines some exciting talent with a refreshing and daring political edge. Disco writer and lead writer on its canceled expansion, Argo Tuulik, is part of the team, as is Final Cut narrator Lenval Brown. Disco Elysium writer Olga Moskvina is also participating in a consulting role. Summer Eternal further boasts former ZA/UM developers who came on after Disco Elysium and the Final Cut, including writer Dora Klindžić, artist Anastasia Ivanova, and designer Michael Oswell.

Which gets to the risk factor: funding. Summer Eternal’s independence and bracing hostility to the usual sources of cash in the industry limit its options. The studio indicated that it will pursue crowdfunding, but that makes me a little nervous⁠—the golden age of videogame Kickstarters ended a long time ago, and I’ve observed a lot of exciting projects fail (or almost fail) to meet their funding goals.

But that’s the risk of doing something bold and iconoclastic, and it comes at a time of crisis for the industry⁠—venture capital funding may have been a nonstarter even if Summer Eternal had wanted to play nice with the suits. Summer Eternal has an exciting vision for the industry and some serious RPG chops, but also material challenges to overcome⁠—not unlike Studio ZA/UM when making Disco Elysium.

Editor’s Note:This article originally credited Timo Albert as having worked on Disco Elysium’s UI, prior to clarification that he worked on the trailers.

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