Disco Elysium 2 was “under threat” because of the scandal with ZA/UM, says the general director

For several months, the Disco Elysium developer ZA/UM was locked in a fierce judicial dispute between the current leadership of the studio and the original creators of the role -playing game. On one side, Robert Kurvitz, the leading designer and scriptwriter Disco Elysium, on the other, is the general director of ZA/UM Ilmar Compus, whom Courvitz accuses of taking control of the studios fraudulently.

This accusation is still being considered in Estonian ships, possibly in the most confusing struggle between the creator of the game and the studio. But one thing is clear: this dispute left the future Disco Elysium in question.

During the extensive investigation, PEOPLE MAKE Games studied all the details of the dispute, including the origin of ZA/UM, its development after the success of Disco Elysium and the complex property structure. The presenter Chris Bratt also interviewed the creators of Disco Elysium, including the Kurvitsa, the leading artist Alexander Rostov and screenwriter Helen Hindper to find out their version of history, as well as from Ilmar Compus, who said that Disco Elysium 2 was "put in jeopardy" Due to the ongoing legal conflict.

The interview with a computer lasts almost an hour and begins with a controversial question about whether the computers really stole ZA/UM from its minority shareholders. Since this is the subject of the ongoing trial, the computer often answered that it could not discuss the details of the financial transactions that took place behind the scenes, but he constantly assured Bratt that they were "to the benefit of minority shareholders".

Perhaps the comprehensive compliance, although indirectly, is accusing ZA/UM employees that Robert Kurvitz created a toxic working environment, often ignoring the structure of the company and protocols to achieve his own goals. The video describes in great detail about how Za/UM began as a small indie studio with a very free reporting structure, but as the company grows and attract new investors, the company was stratified in such a way that this contradicted the communist ideology of Kurvits. This conflict often led to explosive outbreaks and offensive behavior in relation to colleagues.

Currently, in ZA/UM, 100 employees are working on Disco Elysium 2, but as a result of a judicial dispute, the ownership of the IP can go to other hands. This may mean the end of the development of the game or at least a complete reloading of development. In addition, many developers do not like it when they personally fall under the cross -fire of a judicial dispute, and angry fans send threats in social networks.

Currently, the lawsuit continues: the Kurvitz requires from ZA/UM documents regarding financial transactions to which, according to the studio, he has no right. The court gave them time until September to resolve this issue of ownership before the trial resumes.