Whole truth about Disco Elysium fate in 18 hours. Watch first part of interview with former ZA/UM devs
Do you have a spare 9 hours? That's how much it takes to learn the truth about Disco Elysium from an interview with the developers. Or, in fact, half the truth, as the continuation is yet to come.
After years of interviews, statements, new studies, and (canceled) projects (as well as layoffs), former employees of ZA/UM studio decided to cut off speculation and revealed exactly what happened to the developers of Disco Elysium. They discussed this in a massive, 18-hour interview.
9 hours and the truth about ZA/UM - part one
After the launch of this acclaimed RPG, the Estonian studio seemed to follow in the footsteps of other independent teams that, thanks to great success, ventured into the mainstream. However, much to the irritation or even despair of fans, what truly awaited the developer were controversies, the departure of key creators, and ultimately the formation of entirely new teams with their own projects... which clashed even before these games were released.
During this time, more than one interview with former or even current employees of ZA/UM has been published - always with questions about the situation in the studio. However, The 41st Precinct channel went a step further - or rather a whole mile. The first part of the interview, which was made available on YouTube, is almost 9 hours of conversations with the devs of Disco Elysium - more than it takes to watch the cinematic version of the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy (less if we count the director's cut).
No, it's not due to lack of editing - the group had to cut out a lot of material.
"Castration" of rebellious devs
Of course, not all information is completely new. Key creators of Disco Elysium were supposed to leave the studio in 2021 - according to one of the developers, in an "involuntary" way. The ZA/UM management pointed to "toxic" behavior as the cause, while former employees spoke of "corporate intrigue."
Argo Tuulik, DE scriptwriter, now adds that the new ZA/UM management tried to curb the "unpredictability" of the two main developers: Aleksandr Rostov and Robert Kurvitz. The Estonian admits that one could have looked at it differently, but in his opinion, it was possible to see that the "malicious idea at the time was to somehow undermine" these creators.
Kurvitz was annoyed at being limited to "just" the role of a screenwriter, and he was being bothered by Tonis Haavela (one of the two investors who acquired the studio in 2021), who was trying to persuade him that Rostov wasn't doing well as an artistic director. The result was that Kurvitz and Haavel were planning to sideline Rostov - although it is not certain who started this.
"Short" vacation of developers
As you might easily guess, this didn't sit well in the studio. The only support for the employees was Justin Keenan, a scriptwriter and narrative designer for Disco Elysium. Until the time when, after the change of owners of ZA/UM in 2021, Keenan, along with other artists, was to report about these meetings to the studio's management. He was also supposed to say that Rostow allegedly referred to Haavel as a "financial criminal."
The result was that Rostov was fired. Later, the same fate befell Kurvitz and Hindpere. Initially, their departure was presented as a "short break" for "cooling off." According to Tuulik, the management insisted that they couldn't possibly let go of "such creators of the entire world of Elysium, because how would that look?" Later, the developers accused Haavel and Ilmar Kompus (the head of ZA/UM) of taking over the studio through a "scam."
Boredom and intellectual emptiness
The problems of the studio didn't end there. We have previously covered the fate of the unsuccessful sequel codenamed Y12, which was surprisingly canceled. Dora Klindzic, one of the few people who worked on the first DE and remained in the studio, recalls how the management began eagerly approving changes to the project script - which aroused her suspicions, as it usually required more persuasion.
Soon after, the team was crushed by the news of the game's cancellation - though many employees felt relieved. They believed that developing Disco Elysium 2 without Rostov made no sense: both for moral reasons and because the project lacked a certain direction of development.
Furthermore, the next game was reportedly started to be developed with the approval of the whole studio, except for Klindzic and Tuulika, who were strongly against the project due to concerns about quality and "misogynistic" themes, making it supposedly the "most boring thing" Tuulik had ever seen. As he put it, the idea combined "boredom with intellectual emptiness," and the management "politely" responded to the criticism of the employees that they shouldn't point out the mistakes of their superiors.
Of course, this is just a big recap of the interview... or rather its first part. We have to wait for the second one until next month. At the same time, funds are being raised for Argo Tuulika, who plans to take legal action against his previous employer.
