By rifanmuazin 
The video game industry continues to grapple with a turbulent economic landscape, and the latest casualty is ZA/UM Studio. The developer, best known for its monumental 2019 title Disco Elysium, has announced a significant restructuring that will see up to 32 employees—nearly a third of its workforce—laid off. Despite the recent release of its ambitious spiritual successor, Zero Parades: For Dead Spies, which garnered widespread critical praise, the studio cited underwhelming commercial performance as the primary driver behind the job losses.
This latest development marks a grim milestone for a company that has spent the better part of five years mired in legal battles, internal power struggles, and a reputation-staining public perception. As the studio attempts to reconcile its artistic ambitions with its fiscal reality, the community watches with a mix of sorrow for the workers and lingering resentment toward the management.
The Financial Reality: A Gap Between Quality and Commerce
The central conflict facing ZA/UM is the disparity between its creative output and its bottom line. In a statement released via social media, the studio acknowledged that while Zero Parades: For Dead Spies was met with five-star reviews and critical adoration, the financial returns were insufficient to maintain the studio’s current headcount.
"Today, we are sharing difficult news," the official statement read. "While Zero Parades: For Dead Spies was released to critical acclaim, its commercial performance has not enabled us to sustain a studio of our current size."
The announcement confirmed that redundancy or at-risk notices have been issued across all departments. This represents a substantial contraction for a team that, as of October 2025, consisted of approximately 100 people. The studio noted that it has engaged in consultations with the ZA/UM Workers’ Alliance, the first recognized video game developers’ union in the UK, throughout this process.
A Chronology of Contention: From Success to Strife
To understand the weight of these layoffs, one must look at the fractured history of ZA/UM. The studio’s trajectory since the launch of Disco Elysium has been nothing short of volatile.
The Rise and the "Great Schism"
When Disco Elysium launched, it was hailed as a generational masterpiece—a complex, anti-capitalist RPG that redefined narrative design. However, the subsequent years saw the original creative core, including game director Robert Kurvitz and art director Aleksander Rostov, ousted from the studio.
Kurvitz and Rostov publicly alleged that the studio’s new owners, Ilmar Kompus and Tõnis Haavel, seized control of the company and its intellectual property through fraudulent means. They claimed they were fired immediately after seeking transparency regarding the studio’s financial records.
The Management’s Defense
In response, the new management at ZA/UM issued a series of counter-allegations, claiming that the founders were terminated for misconduct. These accusations included claims of a "toxic work environment," failure to perform duties for nearly two years, and attempts to illegally sell the studio’s IP to third parties. These allegations were categorically denied by the founders, who characterized them as a tactical diversion to obscure the management’s own questionable financial practices.
The Cycle of Layoffs
This is not the first time the studio has faced internal instability. In 2024, ZA/UM underwent a similar period of contraction when a planned Disco Elysium spin-off was cancelled. At that time, 24 employees were laid off, and reports surfaced suggesting the workplace environment was plagued by extreme crunch, burnout, and persistent conflict.
The Human Cost and the Industry Climate
The reaction to the latest layoffs has been swift and unforgiving. Social media platforms, particularly Bluesky and X, have seen a flood of criticism directed at the studio’s leadership. The irony of a studio that produced a work as staunchly anti-capitalist as Disco Elysium being accused of corporate negligence and prioritizing profit over its workers has not been lost on the gaming community.
"I feel terrible for the workers," wrote one user on Bluesky. "Especially since gamedev is absolute [challenging] right now… Unfortunately, ZA/UM is not a safe place, and it will fall sooner or later, since they poisoned the brand for the majority of fans."
This sentiment reflects a broader crisis within the gaming industry. As major studios and independent developers alike face mass layoffs, the "poisoning" of the brand—a common sentiment among the Disco Elysium fanbase—has made it significantly harder for the studio to rely on the goodwill of its audience to drive sales for new projects like Zero Parades.
Zero Parades: A Masterpiece in a Dying Light?
Despite the corporate chaos, it is essential to acknowledge the work of the developers themselves. Zero Parades: For Dead Spies, released just two months ago, has been praised for its narrative depth and technical polish.
In a review for Eurogamer, critic Alexis Ong described the game as a "narrative distillation of the familiar into a messy, painful journey that feels, at turns, cinematic and mundane." She praised the creative team for their "bristling reactivity" and "gorgeous prose," noting that the game serves as a testament to the skill of the individuals involved.
The fact that such a high-caliber product failed to generate enough revenue to keep the team intact highlights a distressing trend: critical success is no longer a safety net in the modern games market. Even when a studio hits the mark creatively, the weight of a compromised reputation, legal baggage, and a volatile market can lead to catastrophic consequences for the staff.
Implications for the Future of ZA/UM
What does this mean for the future of the studio? In their statement, ZA/UM insisted that while the "shape" of the company is changing, its "purpose" remains intact. "Our artistic standards remain unchained: we will persist," the statement read.
However, the path forward appears fraught with obstacles:
- Talent Retention: With a reputation for high turnover and internal toxicity, attracting and retaining top-tier talent will become increasingly difficult.
- Brand Trust: The fanbase remains deeply divided. Without the original creative leads, the studio has struggled to maintain the "magic" that defined their earlier work in the eyes of many, leading to lukewarm engagement with new releases.
- Legal Lingering: Multiple legal battles, some resolved and others still simmering, continue to drain resources and keep the studio in the headlines for the wrong reasons.
- The "Spiritual Successor" Problem: Several studios formed by former ZA/UM employees are now creating their own spiritual successors. This creates a crowded market where consumers are increasingly choosing to support the creators rather than the brand itself.
Conclusion
The story of ZA/UM is one of the most complex sagas in modern gaming history. It serves as a cautionary tale about the intersection of creative genius and corporate governance. While the studio claims to be moving forward, the reality for the 32 individuals currently facing redundancy is one of uncertainty and career disruption.
As the industry continues to monitor the situation, the focus remains on the workers. The legacy of Disco Elysium will always be defined by the brilliant, collaborative work of the team that created it. Whether the current iteration of ZA/UM can find a path to sustainability—or if it will continue to be consumed by the fires of its own internal history—remains to be seen. For now, the most vital takeaway is the need for greater accountability and stability for the developers who are, ultimately, the true heart of any studio.
Basiran 
Asep Darmawan 
Laily UPN 