A new report suggests that the threat of dozens of layoffs looms at ZA/UM, as the studio has canceled the development of a standalone expansion to its beloved RPG Disco Elysium.
GLHF at Sports Illustrated reports that ZA/UM has canceled a project known internally as X7, which would've been a standalone expansion to Disco Elysium. According to the report, studio president Ed Tomaszewski told staff the project was "one to two years away from completion" and might have taken "more time and effort than Disco Elysium did."
The report suggests that ZA/UM also canceled a full Disco Elysium sequel in 2022 and put development of a "new sci-fi IP" on hold in 2023. Two new projects, one of which is still connected to the Disco Elysium IP, are said to remain in development.
"With the cancellation of X7 we are proposing to reshape our team to support our two remaining games," CEO Ilmar Kompus told employees in a message published by GLHF. "This adjustment will almost certainly lead to redundancies, mostly affecting the X7 team but also our non-development teams and non-X7 projects." The report estimates that around 24 employees are at risk of being laid off.
While Disco Elysium was heralded as an instant classic upon its release in 2019, the story at ZA/UM has been fraught with controversy thanks to a messy split between the studio and some of its creative leads in 2022. Allegations of fraud and toxic management flew back and forth between the two parties, and the story only seemed more complicated in the wake of an extensive documentary in 2023 from the folks at People Make Games. Whatever the truth of the situation, reports like this don't paint an inspiring picture for the studio's fortunes.
