Disco Elysium 2 got cancelled and ZA/UM is burning

0:00 Intro
0:44 Part 1: What happened?
6:30 Part 2: It gets worse.
Disco Elysium's studio ZA/UM terminates the game's successor and fires a third of its staff.
“What remains at ZA/UM is a cold, careless company where managers wage war against their own creatives, where artistry is second to property, and where corporate strategy is formed by an arrogant disdain for their own audience.” - Dora Klindžić
The articles by GLHF / Marco Wutz:
videogames.si.com/news/disco-...
videogames.si.com/news/disco-...
Thumbnail art by Iskris iskris_
MUSIC:
Aila - L’appel du vide (after the Pale - the world again)
Aila - Rain in Revachol (it was a good day)
ailasound.bandcamp.com/
Monster OST - Drift
Sea Power - Martinaise Daytime (early version)
seapowerband.com/
Oneironaut - Disco Elysium
paleat.bandcamp.com/album/one...
Paul Looney - God, Please (Disco Elysium)
plooney.bandcamp.com/
My video on the Disco Elysium investigation
• About the Disco Elysiu...
The PMG video:
• Investigation: Who’s T...
Corrections:
7:28 Dora Klindžić said that, not Argo Tuulik.
2:01 I continued quoting from the article after the explicit quote. I hope you can excuse the accidental plagiarism!

[@JamrockHobo]

Special thanks to the journalists who broke the story, the artists who let me use their beautiful music, and Iskris who painted me an amazing burning game studio! Corrections: 7:28 Dora Klindžić said that, not Argo Tuulik. 2:01 I continued quoting from the article after the explicit quote. I hope you can excuse the accidental plagiarism!

[@maquinaparlante5257]

Oh but remember, Robert Kurvitz (disco elysium lead writer) is mean sometimes so that makes it equally as bad if not worse than Zaum corporate corruption and greed. Thanks people make games for the impartial covering :) It's so sad to think that we would already have disco elysium 2 had all this shit show never happened.

[@admiralpepper6933]

@@maquinaparlante5257 Mean like an asshole mean or absolute cunt mean?

[@mnzznxplay9747]

​@@maquinaparlante5257at least he was saying he tried to be nicer to staff. I think he could become better lead, if not these undergoing schemes

[@thecoolnerdcolress1738]

@@maquinaparlante5257Breaking News! Robert Kurvitz is the reincarnation of Bobby Kottik!! source: PMG

[@PlayingItWrong]

I was already disappointed with pmg, but this just makes what he said even more absurd, I hope he removes the original videos, or perhaps better just provides a correction.

[@vokey8827]

i'd rather have no sequel than a shitty sequel

[@maxobb7259]

Honestly

[@spaceghostmiid]

plus when the company goes under there's a chance the original creators can buy the IP rights back and actually make something good with it.

[@CRITICALHITRU]

I so want people to realize this.

[@NottanALias]

It’s not said that it

[@adwaawddw4730]

A Disco Elysium sequel that is total shit because of capitalism would be _perfect_.

[@Kawerok2000]

The very fact that Disco Elysium 2 has been cancelled and there are such problems in ZA/UM is indeed quite disco

[@Sopel429]

it's quite hardcore

[@ylylenjoyer5903]

​@@Sopel429is it tho

[@Nice_Tree]

That's all the doomed commercial area

[@OhDontMindMe]

​@@Nice_Tree They're really committed to the roleplay apparently.

[@BirdsBirdsBirds123]

​@@ylylenjoyer5903 Internally coherent!

[@Nightmarished]

Wow that's crazy it's almost as though corpos don't give a shit about art and kurvitz was right

[@ShortHomie]

If this wasn't as tragic as it is, this would be some hilarious irony. Another fortress down

[@Doctor_Straing_Strange]

sooo crazy, defo didn't see that coming

[@yari4046]

It's almost as if the guy who risked his whole financial security just to make his dream game and worked his ass off to make it a reality was actually telling the truth

[@demitrysualokin2796]

"b-b-but he was an arsehole! and that's bad!"

[@Nibelungenwarmongers]

​@@yari4046he sold his rights to corpo-guys. Such an irony that commie like him so greedy and naive

[@zenny8877]

You have to appreciate this shit went down in literally the most disco elysium fashion of all time.

[@franz.francisco]

This is so disco

[@ileutur6863]

I don't appreciate anything about this. This IP deserved to be explored further, now all we have is one game and one questionably translated book.

[@dawidwojacki5049]

Self-fulfilling prophecy

[@neophyteredglare961]

​@@ileutur6863 the company that owns it does not deserve to explore said ip

[@blehh_mae]

@@ileutur6863 afaik the whole thing about this controversy is the original devs are trying to get the ip back, but theres a bunch of dumb legal and person issues going on so its taking a while we just have to wait uintill zaum goes under and hope they can get the IP back and make an actual elysium game

[@riccardomazzaro1901]

Honestly, wasn't surprised at all of hearing these news. Disco Elysium 2 was a project transparently dead in the water, there is no way you can release such a particular genre of game if your very fanbase hates your guts. The original creators have an immense power by their side, which is the power of popularity: if a new game were to be crowdfunded, I can easily see this become one of the most funded games ever, given how many people enjoyed the game and how much they are passionate about it.

[@fidii347]

I mean if they just sit around with no employees, they can just survive off of DE sales until the end of time; enough people will probably continue to buy it

[@se7ensenses]

this is the way

[@giovannicervantes2053]

​@@fidii347most likely unfortunately

[@kudjaremastered3362]

True, man. I hate politics and even more so the commie crap, but I'd support this cause

[@eclipserepeater2466]

@@kudjaremastered3362 lol

[@remainprofane7732]

Hearing Disco Elysium 2 got cancelled is like hearing a dead relative won’t turn into a zombie. Sucks they’ll never be anything else but at least they’re not a soulless husk shambling around

[@kit548]

so fucking real

[@broblerone413]

yeah i'm sad that it's the end, but it would've hurt a hundred times more to see it become a capitalism-fueled imitation of itself lacking all self-awareness. of the two possibilities, it's better this way.

[@Coffeepanda294]

Exactly. God, I remember when Collage came out and it had some easter egg narration of a future Martainaise. It seemed the new people _tried_ to emulate the original game's writing but they couldn't hold a candle to the OGs who made the game. DE2 would've been a cash cow and I'm glad it never came out.

[@Luke01730]

W Sunless Sea profile picture

[@arthurdent6256]

Accurate

[@admiralpepper6933]

Za/um really embracing what happened to Fortress Accïdent super hard.

[@DwRockett]

*ZA/UM falls apart because of management fucking all the artists over* me: “BROOOOOO, iS tHaT a mFinG Disco Elysium reference??!?!?!”

[@admiralpepper6933]

@@DwRockett Next we're going to have a real Pale and a small hole in an abandoned church hahaha...

[@BirdsBirdsBirds123]

It's clearly because za/um spent too much time designing different types of welkins

[@PotionSmeller]

​@@BirdsBirdsBirds123No I keep telling you, it's all because of that fucking Valley of the Heads.

[@handoverthestromboli6715]

the curse is real

[@thatonedudebutwho9919]

"We made a load of money off the golden goose, so we decided to fire the golden goose now let the REAL money come in"

[@novalinnhe]

😂😂😂😂

[@PaulSpades]

Nah, these talent-less moronic corporate ass-wipes think they made the great game, they're the geniuses behind the success. They also think staff that actually made the game are disposable. It's just plain narcissistic behaviour found in these business, manager types all over the world in businesses of all types and sizes.

[@planescaped]

The golden goose is a golden goose, sure... but the mystery box could be anything! It could even be another golden goose! Quick! You're fired!

[@justanuff]

Shall we nurture this goose and let it lay another egg? Nah, lets butcher and devour it.

[@TheAgamemnon911]

The storyline of the next game's universe basically writes itself in ours.

[@Vile]

honestly my thoughts as well lol

[@ddd4040]

Art imitates life they say, Life imitates art as well it would seem

[@broblerone413]

damn, talk about immersive storytelling

[@tomorbataar5922]

Disco is really just our own world seen through a weird mirror.

[@artenstien7100]

HARDCORE

[@matthulme2388]

Only way for a second one is for the lead writers to form a new company. You can't change the artist and still expect the same art

[@invurret9533]

That's assuming ZA/UM Forfeits the rights to Disco and it's world. But they won't. They want their greedy palms on whatever they can get and they won't let go of the rights to Elysium.

[@rita6355]

They'll make a new game called Gisco Flysium

[@mathusalen1]

There were talks of them joining with Timothy Cain (og fallout game dev) so maybe they're already cooking something, but likely not disco related

[@iago110]

@@mathusalen1broooo i want an Interplay style game so bad. I miss Arcanum and og Fallout, especially when the only ukranian guy that knew Arcanum’s code prob fled his country and is MIA since some years before the war re started

[@Pir-o]

@@invurret9533 Just release it under a different name. Hardcore Nirvana, Rock Arcadia, Tequila sunrise, whatever.

[@LorrienVeen]

Breaking! Breaking! The bone-crushing wheel of capitalism continues to crush bones, including those attached to the bone-crushing wheel drivers.

[@gianni50725]

It's not even capitalism, this is just plain stupidity. Stealing an IP doesn't accomplish anything if you fire everyone who could make good content using said IP. It would be like marvel firing jack kirby. Plain stupid negative sum outcome for everyone, not even zero sum as in the case of other forms of exploitation

[@Noahthelasercop]

Tragic and unexpected.

[@panwu6602]

Nothing to do with capitalism. Stupidity? Sure.

[@LorrienVeen]

@@panwu6602 Oh stupidity for sure. But what better motivator for stupidity than capital.

[@panwu6602]

Well, the way I see it, in capitalism, good choices are being rewarded and bad choices get punished by people giving or taking away their capital. These clowns definitely f*cked up @@LorrienVeen

[@maboilaurence8227]

The OG devs failed a skillcheck and still somehow succeeded. Lore accurate Harry.

[@mavolent6332]

>second spin off disco elysium project cancelled who could've thought that kicking off the guy who made it would've turned into this huh, ZA/UM can't even grasp the idea how to make the same type of game lmao

[@thelordoftime803]

As a game designer myself, holy god damn what an amazing, almost impossible to replicate, piece of art Disco Elysium is. It's nightmare inducing to even think of trying to make something as well thought and complex as this and you literally need a WORLD CLASS WRITER to pull this off.

[@mikicerise6250]

Oh, they're making a sequel... it's just not a game. 🤣

[@VixenRosa]

"I NEED YOU. YOU CAN KEEP ME ON THIS EARTH. BE VIGILANT. I LOVE YOU."

[@lichprincessdeshyr6805]

Hardcore!

[@swampsong9740]

@@lichprincessdeshyr6805TOTALLY HARDCORE TO THE MAX YEAH

[@dantederi5062]

​@@swampsong9740Yekokataaa

[@TheFabulousGravyTrain]

This is a true Greek tragedy on a disco level scale. Disco Elysium is now a blank tape spinning on for eternity...

[@juke9674]

Disco Inferno.

[@justinsemple7454]

That will probably be the name of the noclip documentary.

[@spagootest2185]

henlo juke its madie

[@Ixarus6713]

Burn baby burn... 🔥🔥🔥

[@distorted_Nilli]

In this Inferno (inferno), we revive each other from this hell.

[@juke9674]

@@spagootest2185 Hi maddi!!

[@kalovii_chort]

"I have to say - this is *not* disco."

[@AutieZo]

Even the ultraliterals would agree 😢

[@cleverman383]

@@AutieZo Firing employees for profit is always disco, but by canceling Disco Elysium 2, they're lacking the grind and hustle of the true ultraliberals

[@user-io5ol1hb6d]

It feel like some book story: creators made a story about how capitalism, ideology and will of elite destroy the world and sudenly the story they written turns into harsh reality (or maybe make a full circle, considering how Disko initially born)

[@plinfan6541]

It's almost like People watch something like Squid Game, a show that has the message of how fucked up the consept of that is. Only for the Corporate Sponsors to use that Idea for a actual Game show, completly missing the poi..wait a minute...

[@kikrinman1450]

It's eerily reminiscent of the story of Wirrâl Untethered we can discover in the Doomed Commercial Area.

[@conspiracypanda1200]

Nah, it's like people coming back to MGR:R or the Simpsons and going "omg they predicted the future!!!¡¡!!¡!" as if the creators didn't see the problems of their time and ballooned them up to then-ridiculous proportions in the hopes their audience would understand their critisisms and thereby address the real life version of the problem. Well, turns out a lot of people either didn't understand or didn't care to address anything, and now enough time has passed that the ridiculousness of reality has ballooned up to match the ridiculousness of past fiction. And as long as people keep repeating "there's nothing we can do about it", it can keep getting worse from here, baby!

[@more_less]

@@conspiracypanda1200 Many people don't even understand what the game is saying because it criticizes all 4 of the political paths.

[@gavinferguson2938]

​@@more_lessWell the creators were self proclaimed leninist marxists and were very clearly on the side of communism or at the very least social democracy. That being said they were not dodging the obvious issues that thier ideaology featured and aknowledged the impracticality of communism in the contemporary age where globalism and neoliberalism is king. Also the pretentiousness of communism as a passive ideology, where most of its members are more interested in discussing it rather than activley making strides towards it. Its inherantly idealistic and its that emphasis on idealism which renders it so impractical in the modern age. Atleast thats how I interpreted everything. Still, all in all this whole situation with ZA/UM is fucked either way.

[@UberMenschNowFilms]

Hbomberguy's Deus Ex video starts with a neat quote: "Deus Ex is one of the best games ever made... so the developer went bankrupt! If that line sounds familiar to you, get used to it. Like 12 more videos are going to start this way." Add another one to the pile!

[@rabbitcreative]

Why do you think this happens?

[@yamataichul]

The answer is in this video but long story short: the munchable deserve to be munched to the bone, for nourishment of course

[@icecold1805]

​@@rabbitcreativeart is incompatible with business. Any instances of art aligning with business are an abnormality of the laws of nature, an oddity which cannot be replicated, and capitalism hates things that can't be replicated into mass production. Thus, as capitalism realizes business and art cannot coexist, it sets itself in a clear course of action: the destruction of art.

[@evanhenderson9461]

@@rabbitcreativeCatching lightning in a bottle is rare enough. Doing it again is even more rare. On top of that, it's likely unconventional practices were used to break the mold and make something new. When money comes as a result people tend to get rid of unconventionality out of fear of the dead horse drying up.

[@michimatsch5862]

Bloody corpos ruining everything for us.

[@chrislink73]

I know Larian and Swen helped out a bit during Disco's original development, and it would be so awesome if Larian took these unbelievably talented former ZA/UM employees in and allowed them to work on something new. They didn't deserve this, not after making such a masterpiece, and I hope the former employees all land on their feet.

[@castillogrande8926]

Or just give them the resources to start a new studio. Maybe Larian: Estonia?

[@chrislink73]

@@castillogrande8926 A subsidiary of Larian that is supported by their funding and resources, but is given creative autonomy would be ideal.

[@phylippezimmermannpaquin2062]

wait, larian as in divinity/baldur's larian?

[@kadirguven1858]

İt would be so cool

[@chrislink73]

yes. @@phylippezimmermannpaquin2062

[@bloodyidit4506]

You cant kick a man off with a specific vision that put your company on the map and not face consequences for it. Older companies realized that. The autuer may be rude or have a slew of problems, but if he made money for you, you do not kick his ass off the project, you manage him. Few people have the drive or experience to make something deep. Many have nothing, few thoughts.

[@BoolyK]

If I went from writing novels to managing full teams, I'd probably be hard to work with too. It's my vision, first and foremost

[@Pasteurpipette]

But you see, Mr DuBois, I'm helping you find your *lost ip*. Please, have a seat.

[@adora_was_taken]

@@Pasteurpipette _dies from the how uncomfortable the seat is_

[@fanyar_]

Goodbye, Fortress Accident.

[@JohanKylander]

FA/ZM

[@ethantaylor9613]

“now that I kicked that stupid goose out there golden egg company is going to really start paying dividends!”

[@ankhtahr1401]

As a software dev who was recently laid off and is now trying to recover from burnout inflicted on me in a massive crunch, this story couldn't sound more familiar. The entire IT industry needs to finally organize. Until now, salaries were too good for many to care. But now, with layoffs and pay cuts, I hope that some organization could finally happen.

[@gianni50725]

It won't. Consultants, lawyers, investment bankers and other professionals have never organized in any serious manner afaict and it's simply because the pay is too good to justify it. That's even with harder paths, more credentials, worse working conditions and (often) worse pay than software devs. Despite the downturn, I haven't seen salaries go down much, so it won't happen until and unless people are truly desperate (and by then, frankly, it's too late). Mainly, the situation right now is that there are less jobs available and an oversupply of people who bought into the hype without any actual interest in the field -- wages haven't decreased much. Wages are sticky.

[@tanktank5532]

i have seen unions forming. while its not software dev focused, CrankySec and the community thats formed from it recently seems to be on its way towards making a union in cybersecurity.

[@more_less]

Go to one big union.

[@YossarianWro]

Mister Kompus is helping me run my company

[@ahorseofcourse7283]

Mister Kompus is helping me run my company

[@Ixarus6713]

Mister Kompus is helping me run my company.

[@emulatorisland7417]

Mister Kompus is helping me run my company.

[@HoloFizz]

Mister Kompus is helping me run my company

[@melteddali8000]

Mister Kompus is helping me run my company

[@sirin9850]

Can't wait for the mod that removes the za/um logo from the start of the game

[@jinxedeyes7388]

i think also replacing it with kurvitz' and roskov's names would be pretty disco

[@Hypogean7]

@@jinxedeyes7388 Kurvitz was apparently abusive to the team.

[@doubleaabattery7562]

​@@Hypogean7 according to a bunch of chumps who joined late and probably are just dick riding ZA/UM...

[@SliceOfFish]

​@@Hypogean7 source?

[@Hypogean7]

@@SliceOfFish The interviews conducted.

[@ozymandiasramesses1773]

"The mask of humanity falls from capital. It has to take it off to kill everyone - everything yoy love; all the hope and tenderness in the world. It has to take it off, just for one second. To do the deed."

[@whirlingincosmos]

Martinaise was such an infinitesimally small portion of the world of Elysium, it's heartbreaking to know we might never ever see this world that was crafted with so much depth, care and history. As naive as I may be, I still choose to hope and believe something beautiful is going to happen. Maybe someday, we will get to see more of Elysium but with the immense passion, care and love behind those who made the original so special.

[@gianni50725]

If the company goes bankrupt, the IP could be purchased as everything is liquidated like many game franchises past That just depends on how much the CEO of ZA/UM is willing to cut off his nose to spite his face tho. He could, in theory, fire everyone except himself and ride off the residual profits of Disco Elysium as unaware people continue to buy the game, and let whatever miniscule amount of money trickle in. Maybe he will continue to be stupid and go bankrupt, though. Here's hoping he does.

[@kikrinman1450]

I'm still holding out some vain hope we'll get a faithful game adaptation of A Terrible and Sacred Air.

[@lodziklocPL]

You want something beautiful to happen? Why not roll up your sleeves and make it happen instead of waiting for a knight on a white horse to do this for you?

[@dontlistentome7498]

genuinely makes me so sad. Such a genuinely beautiful and unique game fucked by these awful companies and frauds. May these "people" be thrown into the pale and become less than nothing.

[@tritonis54]

@@lodziklocPLWhat are you even talking about boy

[@charlesb.phillips5337]

I'm kinda happy that Disco Elysium 2 was cancelled, I feel like if it wasn't it would happen what Konami did with the Silent Hill and Metal Gear franchises.

[@Wveth]

Have you seen the latest jerking motions from the Silent Hill corpse puppet that Konami is showing off? It's a tragedy.

[@bajscast]

Chris Avellone wasn't 'behind' new vegas, he was one of many important parts of it. The most accurate person to say that for would be JE Sawyer, who was project director. Lead writer was John Gonzalez

[@TheManyMan]

haha, imagine the teams combined NV & DE

[@mill3889]

‘Capital has the ability to subsume all critiques into itself, Even those who would critique capital end up reinforcing it instead’

[@lodziklocPL]

Not exactly. The game criticised capitalism, got hijacked by some greedy people, but it managed to not become an accomplice to capitalism - instead, it became a burden which they couldn’t handle. Also, survivorship bias. This game had a spectacular controversy, but many other products which could have had been exploited by corporations were never absorbed into them. You have so many undergrounders whose work never attracted much attention, commercial or informal. Heard about Tupac, Bill Gates or Saint John Coltrane? Certainly. Heard about Spider Loc, Terry Davis or Skerik? Ha. And you also have works which were cleverly copyrighted so they cannot be exploited for profit. A precaution which wasn’t handled well by Kurvitz and whoever he hired to be his legal assistant. Many other forms to subvert this semblance of a trope exist. Disco Elysium laughs at fatalistic people who discover certain constants and think they are static. They aren’t. Just because this game proves its own point does not mean it is always correct. You are falling into the same trap as the Deserter.

[@faecervine]

@@lodziklocPL bill gates was the exploiter from day one, insane list to include him on

[@THEFabianValenzuela]

Lmao true

[@theviniso]

@@lodziklocPL I mean, I get your point but Terry Davis is also pretty famous and was massively controversial himself. The only reason people know Gates and not him is because everyone has Windows running on their PCs, not TempleOS.

[@Hypogean7]

@@lodziklocPL The main point is that even if those products exist in the system, they are still overshadowed by everything that actually made it big, which played the game better, or were lucky. Doesn't matter how unique your indie title is, if you don't have the finances your artists will starve.

[@AtomicRiftYT]

I choose to have hope. I choose to believe-- in a world with little care for creativity and compassion-- that despite all odds, Elysium will prevail; that through the dying lights of a world near-fully enveloped by a pale mist, there will be born new life. I choose to have faith that a beacon of spiritual progress cannot be staunched forever. That whether the world we live in is godless or not, that love will always prevail. For if it doesn't, then what did Elysium ever stand for? What did Elysium ever *die* for? I choose to believe that, even if the last flickers of Elysium's flame die out, that its dying embers will be scattered across our world. That those embers will find dry kindling, nesting themselves deep, then combusting into new flame. New life. I choose to believe that something beautiful cannot die. That life extends beyond the physical, and to the concepts and emotions that life represents. That even beyond one's death, that one lives on. That one can live forever should those they affected hold them near and dear to their hearts. I choose... *INLAND EMPIRE* [Hard: Success] -- To have hope. *VOLITION* [Formidable: Success] -- That one day.. *SHIVERS* [Impossible: Success] -- I WILL RETURN TO YOUR SIDE.

[@whirlingincosmos]

This is beautifully written. Something beautiful is going to happen.

[@Ixarus6713]

Beautiful, but you forgot the [+Morale]'s. 😢

[@AtomicRiftYT]

@@whirlingincosmos thank you, i wrote it with two cocaine straws in my nostrils

[@Fuckalope-cm5dk]

Yes

[@broblerone413]

something beautiful is going to happen. if not for Disco Elysium, then in a next life, with other people. Disco's story will inspire (and has already begun inspiring) artists to create, and hope for the future

[@thatsdisco]

oh fuck, that kinda explains why my suddenly newest Switch update made the game less playable than before

[@CorpsesReborn]

not the 1st series to get horribly mishandled

[@thepants1450]

What did the update do

[@thatsdisco]

​@@thepants1450 it made it in total much more laggy, certain bugs like the Measurehead and Man on the Balcony were kinda solved before but now it's back with a vengeance, and the game just crashes much more often than before

[@evanhenderson9461]

⁠@@thatsdiscoit was already unforgivably bad on switch. can't believe i have to tolerate it just for the portability. that sucks man.

[@rocker4640]

This reminds me of the failed DND company from the Doomed Commercial area, shit...

[@jevestobs9814]

They really hid a lot of truths about what was going on in production in the game.

[@pory-z]

this is the most disco elysium thing that couldve happened to the disco elysium studio

[@spartan117ak]

DE took decades to build that depth A spiritual successor is gonna need a lotta time and care

[@Metabii]

Probably the most Disco way of crashing the Ferrari into a concrete wall, with the beams then twisting and falling down into the car.

[@Ixarus6713]

I think you mean crashing a Kineema into Ice... 😂

[@Metabii]

@@Ixarus6713 This is a great one.

[@dominykassimonis2180]

Remember: No Truce With The Furies!

[@JayTohab]

The furries? What did they do?

[@LaRavachole]

No Truce with Capital.

[@KarlKapo]

​@@JayTohabBeing furry

[@ArkadyTunguska]

@@JayTohab This is why that name didn't stick

[@FlashheadX]

Imagine you release one of the most critically acclaimed video games in history and this is how you follow up

[@alfonshedstrom9859]

About capitalism and it gets fucked up due to trying to cram capital. It can't get more ironic than this

[@ils4844]

I thought the possibilities of a sequel were already dead as soon as they threw out the original creatives tbh.

[@du_san]

Peak Capitalism Dystopia BABY Wooooooo

[@saac9975]

ZA/UM falling apart is actually for the better. Talented people will always be talented, and I have faith that Disco Elysium will not be the last thing these talented people create, whether together or independently from one another. This just means these people are free to create art under less strict conditions, once they secure their financial situations anyways.

[@Gabriel_Blair]

i think this is the best story disco 2 could have possibly had, considering the messages of the previous

[@lockerpaint2955]

I would 100% give money to a crowdfunding effort by these creators. But whether or not they go that route, I'm excited to see what they come up with next! Hopefully this studio drama won't hold them back for too long.

[@Arcgateway]

To me it settles the “debate” to who was at fault for firing kurvitz

[@Ixarus6713]

Definitely says it was foul play, I agree. Hopefully ZA/UM crashes and they can get the IP back..

[@Hypogean7]

The man was still a menace to the team. Some of them looked afraid to talk about him.

[@doubleaabattery7562]

​@@Hypogean7 It's pretty obvious their fear of talking about him is because if they say literally anything nice they will likely be fired

[@Hypogean7]

@@doubleaabattery7562 Considering other individual statements from them, I don't think it was out of fear of the higher ups. They genuinely did not like working under him.

[@PalitoSelvatico]

Sadly kurvitz is at fault for failing to present to work for a loong time. Its a break of the contract and he was fired. He was also abusive to the employees. But still he deserves to have his ip and get the chance to do things right.

[@DawidUliczny-ro7eo]

It's hard for me to explain how much this game resonated with me. Like no other, ever in 30 years. It's the most powerful piece of any medium of art I ever experienced. There been moments it felt like game is reading my mind. After 30 minutes of playing I had this feeling like this is some sort of trick, video game can't have writing that good. I grew up in Eastern Europe right after fall of communism, and that frenetic writing style, bleak yet somewhat hopeful felt immediately familiar. And the music. And that incredible impressionistic style. I also never met anyone who played this game. The fact that we're seeing themes of the game playing out in real life with ITSELF as a centerpiece is incredibly surreal.

[@novalinnhe]

Beautiful comment.

[@animarthur5297]

Form a new studio and make a spiritual successor. Fuck ZA/UM, we can't let them stand in the way of such a beautiful vision

[@VitoVitonerLanci]

The new studio could also incorporate what happened in the new plot. The world of Elysium was being engulfed by "nothingness" anyway. The new world could be a parallel universe existing in the same "macro-multiverse" as DE, just afflicted by similar problems called in a different way and maybe slightly altered to fit the new game world. Or you could find a body similar to DE's protagonist (kinda like finding Altair's body in the Witcher 2).

[@icecold1805]

Yeah sadly I wish it was that simple. For one, how do you get the IP rights. For two, how do you get the funding.

[@alcross1001]

Oh wow, so completely unexpected. What could have gone wrong?

[@EyeoftheU]

Turn from the ruin. Turn and go forward. The only way to load the dice is to keep on fighting.

[@Khono]

The shivers I got throughout my body when they mentioned the possibility of teaming up with Larian. Hahaha oh man that would be phenomenal.

[@laetzchen12]

I am completely devastated, thank you for making this video though. I am speechless that my favorite piece of art will never continue.

[@dontlistentome7498]

same. Nonetheless may we hold out hope for the future of Elysium. no matter how minuscule.

[@plinfan6541]

It is amazing how ZA/UM had a incredible impactful game and instead of doing anything with it's legacy, they just burned their own house down and any future they might have had.

[@samovarsa2640]

There were a lot of people mentioning how that documentary at ZA/UM was deliberately framing the situation in a false dialectic (People Make Games? I cant remember) and hey! Looks like those people were 100% right!

[@JayTohab]

Mostly the criticisms were pointed at the portrayal of the creative people,I thought

[@Hypogean7]

It wasn't a lie, though. Kurvitz was still at fault for treating his team like workhorses.

[@jevestobs9814]

@@Hypogean7 Yeah I think there was definitely some truth there, but the focus on that while letting the scammer get away with a single, barely questioned section was dirty as fuck.

[@PalitoSelvatico]

​@@jevestobs9814the perfect victim doesn't exist, I think they did a great job showing the bad acts of each character. How naive and mean kurvitz was. How prepared the men in suits are, by lawyers and experience, the kid was shittin his pants in that part.

[@varsoonhks3211]

I do hope that a game gets made that builds on the systems present in Disco Elysium. Hearing Kurvitz excitedly talk about his sequel ideas and design considerations has me hoping they're realized in some mode, some day.

[@eloryosnak4100]

I never would have expected Larian getting namedropped as a possible solution to the woes of the Disco Devs. I totally agree with the concept, its clearly a studio that values drive and intellect over profit margins, but my god i wouldnt have guessed it!

[@user-jq1mg2mz7o]

it would still be a temporary solution i feel- cdpr seemed like the golden boy only a decade ago, and i fear larian has every chance to become as driven by capital in the next ten years

[@mikicerise6250]

@@user-jq1mg2mz7o CDPR is still a golden boy. They still have a studio, developers, a hit, and a dedicated fanbase. Even Ubisoft or EA have an actual market they extract money from. This... I have no idea what this is supposed to be. What do they think they're achieving? 🤣 Seems like just a classic case of death-by-success. Their thing got too big for small people.

[@Claymarrows]

it's not even that they fired a third of their staff. they fired the last few people who were part of the original zaum

[@adambadam4870]

Is in only here in Poland where I live or is it that the whole gamedev is experiencing mass layoffs? Honestly that was a logical conclusion of the moneygrab that booted the artistic lead team behind the game - the project went trough some inertia but had to hit the wall eventually.

[@varsoonhks3211]

All tech sectors have been shrinking since COVID.

[@olaf5929]

All industries are getting layoffs. Worldwide recession. You want integrity and independence? Go indie. Be your own boss. You want the perks of a corporate job? Stick to corporate and deal with hearing and doing things you may not like because that's the job. You want both? Do both as long as your corporate contract allows you to. Do whatever you want as long as you're passionate about it and it keeps you secure financially in life. Making dreams come true requires effort and may be uncomfortable. That said uncomfortable isn't the same as agreeing to exploitation. Mental health is important in the long run. Good luck!

[@Hypogean7]

@@olaf5929 You still need money.

[@SlumpDrunko]

I will always be glad that Disco Elysium managed to exist and be as excellent as it is, but fuck man, DE2 made by the same team is gonna be my Dolores Dei that I'll be grieving forever.

[@yukaiyami]

ZA/UM was screwed over and burned harder than the actual game studio IN DISCO ELYSIUM next to the Whirling Rags. Geez.

[@cloneguy77]

The bourgeois are not human

[@Bruh-zu9dm]

This feels like a story I would find in the game itself. Truly life imitates art.

[@faryn3687]

Maaaaaaaaan I hope Kurvitz can get the rights back ... somehow ... Damn Corpos =( =/

[@deadinside3001]

I guess that's what happens when you try to steal the source code, take credit for things you didn't do, create a toxic work environment, and refuse to work for over a year

[@kit548]

@@deadinside3001 lol

[@Hypogean7]

@@kit548Not a lie.

[@doubleaabattery7562]

​@@Hypogean7 It's a very blatant lie made up by randoms who barely did any work Literally all the claims made against the games golden goose are just deflection

[@Hypogean7]

@@doubleaabattery7562 And how do you ascertain that it is a "blatant lie"? Most of the sources seem to point towards that conclusion, and there isn't any eveidence to back the contrary, other than hatred against the higher ups of ZA/UM.

[@Luckmann]

>Disco Elysium 2 just got cancelled >and ZA/UM is burning Good.

[@graete8644]

love the Kojima after he left Konami parallel, hoping for that it plays out somehow like that

[@erin1569]

Stand proud with Cindy the Skull!

[@funnylittlecreature]

Color me completely shocked. 😒

[@Miss_Argent]

It sounds like Boots Riley did manage to get in touch with Kurvitz. I wonder what'll come of that? I love The Coup.

[@daverok]

Dear Hobo of Jamrock, thank you for content. It brings me to tears that professional business arsonists are in head of ZA/UM. Unfortunate, but we will stand and fight. With content, words and action. Thank you for spreading the word.

[@azerty_42]

"The mask of humanity fall from capital. It has to take it off to kill everyone - everything you love; all the hope and tenderness in the world. It has to take it off, just for one second. To do the deed"

[@Evochio]

This whole story about ZA/UM and Disco Elysium I feel is reflected everywhere, not just the game industry. As soon as something unique and wonderfully creative rears its head, the corporate sharp smell cash in the water. They'll barge in to take their fill, they'll push everyone out to ensure they can squeeze every last drop of blood out just for themselves, until the wonderful thing is a shredded carcass. The insatiable greed for maximum money that permeates everything disgusts me.

[@larsthedude1984]

At least the original Disco guys can get some relief knowing once ZAUM goes under they can’t fuck with the world they built anymore. Maybe the OG guys, Kurvitz ect, can legally get away with continuing work on Elysium by making it free, practically the equivalent of fan fiction or fan works, using crowd funding systems like Patreon to keep them going. With ZA/UM collapsing, the money-fucks probs don’t have time to sic lawyers, at least once the company goes under. I want to also tangentially reiterate how I fucking hate how fans of the game that explicitly decried centrists as awful and bad, turned around when the ZA/UM situation happened and said “let’s approach this neutrally and rationally and hear both sides of the story. Maybe the CEO fraudster is in the right to an extent with stealing someone’s life’s work simply for profit?”

[@Hypogean7]

The CEO would still have more money and legal sway than a bunch of artists.

[@doubleaabattery7562]

​@@Hypogean7 Wah wah wah

[@Hypogean7]

@@doubleaabattery7562 It's the legal truth. I don't say that it's right, but that's how the corporate world works.

[@kafkaesque6459]

Hopefully, this can be used as leverage by Kurvitz in the ongoing litigation against the new suits, as this level of mismanagement seems almost intentionally bad.

[@flourbvoy1269]

9:33 I litterally cried watching this part. It hurts so much to experience the destructive nature of capitalism over and over again - without intervention. Disco Elysium is There are obviously way worse examples of this and I'm not trying to debate that. Anyway, thank you so much, JamrockHobo, for keeping us informed about what's going on. I'm still hopeful about the future of Elysium, despite everything the professional fuckers did. ZA/UM is dead. I wouldn't have to think twice about supporting a cooperative of former ZA/UM employees in realising their vision. And even if that's never going to happen, I want to thank everybody who put their heart and soul into Disco Elysium. I hope they are doing okay after all the shit they were put through.

[@crumblyguy1834]

They stole the franchise and destroyed it. God damnit

[@Hypogean7]

Did they destroy it? In the end, nothing much changed, they just added the photo mode to the game and then ran out of money.

[@jeturin]

I'm honestly glad there won't be a sequel. Because without the original creator, it would have turned out to be crap anyway.

[@forestsavior]

Sad, but not surprising. But I, too, still hold out hope that we will see future work from Kurvitz and other ZA/UM alumni matching the quality and imagination of Disco Elysium, even if we can't return to that specific world. And no matter what happens, I think the fact that a game like Disco Elysium released at all is a wonderful miracle in our all-too-miserable world. A weird, talky, small-scale, RPG with damn near no combat and a dingy 90's PC RPG aesthetic -- and the players rightfully loved it for what it was. This game had every reason to die before it was ever born for the crime of being Hard to Sell to Gamers(TM), and yet there sits the shortcut on our desktop. Though the people who made this game unjustly suffered, they did not suffer in vain. We continue to be grateful for their gift.

[@dylangreen192]

Even if there is no direct sequel, Disco Elysium is going to inspire other projects in the future, even with completely different devs. Slay the Princess is really good.

[@el9634]

So crazy how in the wildly successful and popular game there was a fake game and storyline about a games company crumbling and falling apart. And then it happened to the very company that made that game. Ironic.

[@Coffeepanda294]

"Disco Elysium 2 just got cancelled and ZA/UM is burning." My, my, ain't that a pity 🍿.

[@Rissfleisch]

"Something beautiful has happened"

[@user-ew5pv1bd9q]

Ah. The corpos. People who have money and therefore run the show, while in reality they contribute nothing and just use money to get more money and ruining everything else in the process, feeling smug about it. Its like miniature representation of our World.

[@MrNoobed]

I am floored at how closely it followed the selling the picture to the light bending guy

[@vladkostin7557]

That would be the only Kickstarter campaign I'd fund!

[@sanctum4789]

Wonder if we could do a funding campaign to buy the rights of Disco Elysium and hand it back to the 3 og creators

[@jamesmeow3039]

Damn, People Make Games should really make a followup.

[@Hypogean7]

Why? In the end, those interviews where still true. That management fumbled hard is another matter entirely.

[@Poopmaster2010]

I'm beyond grateful you've been keeping up with Disco Elysium content and news this entire time, when I saw the article I was shocked and this video helped iron out my confusion. I do love this gem of a game and it's disheartening to see it go down. I would love to see the original team try to crowdfund it's successor. Thank you for all your videos, this game and it's creators deserve the attention.

[@hatter3013]

Finished Disco Elysium yesterday and immediately started searching for info on the sequel and ZA/UM. This is tragic and disgusting, I'm glad I only saw that now and not while I was enjoying the game. Gamedev is plagued with corporate greed these days...

[@inklinggirl7754]

Aw, right when I finally finished my first playtrough and got into the fandom we get these sad news... Well, I'm glad I was able to discover this wonderful game and its community at least :)

[@robinvuorinen9402]

Saw some people already saying this, but Disco Elysium might the best meta piece of art ever. I would almost feel pride as a creator of the ip, over how accurately they succeeded in capturing the cruelty of capitalism, so well its extended to real life.

[@Hypogean7]

Bad decisions are not exclusive to capitalism.

[@stevestevensong3401]

oh no....

[@ZlatkoTheGod]

They really didn't need to call me out like that with the whole born in Yugoslavia in the 90s quote.

[@Itgetsbetterofficial]

“Capital has the ability to subsume all critiques of itself.”

[@RumBuDum]

I am curious about what the court case looks like right now. I hope Robert and the creative leads get their ip back, but it seems we'll have to wait. If Elysium is back to us, it won't be the Elysium we deserve unless the original leads make it. It's going to return to us one day.

[@datwee7576]

As sad as I am we might never see more Disco Elysium, it might also be for the best that the worlds legacy remains as pristine as it is.

[@JojoTheRed]

Love you work man. This is sad but I remain hopeful. We are not checkmated yet.

[@Hypogean7]

We?

[@fakajuu9519]

Thanks for reading these articles for me.

[@ardea1021]

I'm glad they're reaping what they saw. Whilst it's obviously sad all the workers and employees being let down, treated like shit, being literally f*cked like Argo duly noted, the total dismay of Zaum as a corporate entity (the head of the fish) after shooting itself in the foot seems to me like some sort of bittersweet finale, a poetic justice happening in self-combustion: they have no more games to make, no one to make them, and no fanbase to play them. Honestly, when I first looked into this matter I had way, way worse expectations for what to come. And un jour, Kurvitz, Argo, Helen, all the hearth and soul of Elysium, they WILL be de retour apres de nous. Maybe in a new, independent studio that will carry on Elysium legacy's away from the fangs of corporate capital

[@WOLF36554]

Just when I started replaying Disco Elysium (for the fourth time)

[@dafuzzymonster]

God when you played that bit of music from the game it hit me

[@thegreenstache6163]

Ex Zaum leads plus Chris Avellone would be a mind-blowing creative machine if they can work together.