ZA/UM, the developer behind the sublime CRPG Disco Elysium: The Final Cut, is reportingly planning to lay off 24 workers after cancelling its next major project, codenamed ‘X7’.
This comes via Sports Illustrated’s GLHF, which reports that the 24 workers currently at risk make up roughly a quarter of the studios total workforce. Meanwhile, project X7 is understood to be an expansion of Disco Elysium, though GLHF also reports that Argo Tuulik, the last remaining writer to work on Disco Elysium, is one of the staff members on the potential chopping board.
In speaking with GLHF, Tuulik described how the announcement was made via email before ZA/UM leadership hosted a Campfire video meeting to discuss the decision. According to Tuulik, pre-selected questions were answered and it was the first time that microphones and comments were fully disabled during a studio meeting.
Tuulik then goes on to state that staff members affected by the decision were sent a letter from HR in which a score was assigned based on “objectively applied selection criteria”. Those who scored the least were to be made redundant.
Seemingly not one to mince his words, Tuulik describes how the atmosphere at ZA/UM changed dramatically after the departure of Disco Elysium’s lead creators, Robert Kurvitz, Aleksander Rostov, and Helen Hindpere, making reference to the extensive video investigation from People Make Games. He concluded the conversation by stating:
“The fish starts rotting from the head, not the tail or the midsection. Don’t get angry at the junior producer, mid-level lead, senior artist, community manager etc. They didn’t know, were kept in the dark. It’s not their fault. It was their love for Disco, not dystopian totalitarianism, that brought them here. It’s their worst nightmare too.
“āIt’s the people on top ā the motherf*****s in sailing shoes and bowties ā that f****d Harry, f****d Kim, f****d Robert, Rostov, Helen, Olga, Cash, f****d Elysium, f****d you and me too. They are not artists, they are professional f*****s.”
Despite the cancellation of X7, there are reportedly two more projects currently in active development at ZA/UM, codenamed C4 and M0 internally. It’s not currently known if the lay offs will affect the progress of these or what the foreseeable future of the studio will look like, but it certainly doesn’t look too promising for the time being.
