More former ZA/UM devs have set up another studio, but they are “definitely not” working on a Disco Elysium sequel
Yet another Disco Elysium legacy project has been announced.
Summer Eternal is a new studio from Argo Tuulik, a former ZA/UM developer cited as having co-created Disco Elysium’s worldbuilding. It is the third ZA/UM-adjecent outfit to have used Disco Elysium’s fifth anniversary on 11th October to announce their next steps.
If you’re struggling to keep track of everything, you’re not alone, but this appears to be the fifth – fifth! – Disco Elysium offshoot, with three of them all announced on the same day. The others include Longdue, a new independent studio comprising staff from Disco Elysium studio ZA/UM, and Dark Math Games, a studio describing itself as a “breakaway group from the original development team of Disco Elysium”.
Writer and designer Robert Kurvitz also established Red Info in 2023 with artist Aleksander Rostov. And then there’s ZA/UM itself, of course.
Tuulik was the last remaining writer to have contributed to Disco Elysium to have been let go earlier this year following the cancellation of a Disco Elysium standalone expansion.
Tuulik has teamed up with fellow Disco Elysium writers Olga Moskvina and Dora Klindžić, as well as voice actor Lenval Brown, senior concept artist Anastasia Ivanova, designer Michael Oswell, and Gamechuck’s former MD, Aleksandar Gavrilović.
“We must be living at the dawn of a cultural Golden Age, when like mushrooms after rain the companies promising ‘the next Disco Elysium’ are popping up every hour on the hour,” Summer Eternal said in a statement to IGN.
“It’s a sure sign that the fifth anniversary of the release of this monumental game is approaching, and every corporation wants a piece of the fortune.
“However, often forgotten in this money lust are the creatives themselves, first instrumentalised for press releases and afterwards underpaid, silenced, bullied, sued, abused… But it is all of us – the creatives, the workers, the players – who should be holding control over the means of our creation and who should be celebrated on this day.
“Therefore, we announce today our own vision of a worker-owned co-operative, a complex structure that will ensure that not only moneylenders but every worker, every creative, even every player, has a seat at the table.”
Interestingly, Tuulik is keen to stress that this project will not be a Disco Elysium sequel.
“It will definitely not be a Disco Elysium sequel!” Tuulik said. “It is time to break away from the past and start a new chapter.
“It will be a completely new setting and story with new mechanics. But end of the day, we are who we are, and RPGs are what we will make – do what you will with it :)”
“I believe that the last time around, we made something genre-breaking,” Tuulik added. “Discipline-transcending. Something completely new. I am not ready to give up on that.
“The lessons learned, skills developed, experience forged — for five fucking years, I’ve been waiting to put them to use. So we went back to the drawing board with one goal in mind – let’s do it fresh from the start, but this time let’s not fuck each other the moment the checkered flag drops. It makes the entire mankind look bad.”
This seeming rivalry is likely the result of unrest at the studio following the release of Disco Elysium, including a lawsuit, reports of toxic behaviour and IP theft, and layoffs after a standalone expansion was reportedly cancelled, leading to an extremely public legal spat.