We guess a certain bitterness behind the words of Martin Luiga who, solemnly, declares the dissolution of “the cultural association ZA/UM“, an entity separate from the studio but which obviously represented a lot in his eyes since the ZA/UM adventure would have started in this form of a collective of artists. Luiga takes the opportunity to reveal that Aleksander Rostov, artistic director, Helen Hindpere, screenwriter, and Robert Kurvitz, designer, are no longer part of the studio”since the end of last year“and that their departures would be”involuntary“, without specifying the circumstances in which they left the company.
A “bad news for fans waiting for the sequel to Disco“according to Martin Luiga, since the success of the first part obviously owed a lot to Rostov, Hindpere and Kurvitz. ZA/UM was quick to react to this revelation by publishing a press release the next day, which we reproduce here in extenso : “Like any video game, the development of Disco Elysium was and remains a collective effort, with the contribution of each team member being essential and valued as part of a larger whole. At this time, we have no further comment other than that the creative team at ZA/UM remains focused on developing our next project, and we look forward to sharing more news at this topic with you all soon.“
Following this press release, Aleksander Rostov confirmed his departure and those of Helen Hindpere and Robert Kurvitz on Twitter, without giving more details on the reasons for this break with ZA/UM. A studio worker has since stepped up to remind that “more people who DID Disco Elysium than those who left are still in ZA/UM“, regretting that the news of these departures has taken on so much importance, obscuring the work that continues to be done by the members of the team still in post. We will of course keep you informed if other elements should shed light on this case.