New details are emerging about the slow and painful death of the successors to RPG masterpiece Disco Elysium, one of which we’re now learning will be the “Hardest Disco Since Disco.”
In a wide-ranging and often poignant interview with PC Gamer, current and former ZA/UM Studio employees describe the creative vision and well-received internal demo for the now-cancelled standalone expansion to Disco Elysium codenamed X7, executive decision-making. that supposedly led to his death, the layoffs that affected most of his development team, and the aftermath of it all. The whole write-up is worth your time, but what struck me the most is how former X7 head Dora Klindžić described the canceled project, which was to be helmed by Disco Elysium writer Argo Tuulik.
“It was something that nobody else but Argos could do, and it would have been 110% authentic, the strongest Disco since Disco,” Klindžić said, adding that X7 “would have advanced the story, the emotional themes and the elements of game all at once to truly evolve the psychological RPG genre as Disco Elysium began… For a while it seemed like miracles were possible, and with them, redemption.”
PC Gamer’s sources say the X7 began development in 2022 and will likely be ready for release in 2024 or 2025. An internal demo was passed around to other teams at ZA/UM, most of whom were impressed with what they saw. “Everyone was looking forward to its development,” said a ZA/UM developer. “Her internal announcement lifted many spirits after a rough time of bad press around the studio.”
The ZA/UM developers also felt that the X7 was “exactly the type of game [the studio] should be extinguished,” thinking at the time that he could “reassure fans that ZA/UM is not a shell, that the IP is in safe hands, and that the studio is full of talented people with a genuine love for the world of Revachol . .”
Ultimately, management canceled the project and laid off most of the development team in February, despite clear assurances from ZA/UM president Ed Tomaszewski in December 2023 that the studio’s strong finances would protect them those from the ongoing layoff crisis in the industry.
Despite releasing to universal acclaim in 2019, Disco Elysium is shrouded in a cloud of controversy that appears to stem from the inner workings at the executive level of ZA/UM. After an acrimonious split between the main creators in 2022, the fired developers of Disco Elysium traded serious words with the studio, with the former alleging fraud and the latter alleging toxic management. The story got even messier with the release of a comprehensive 2023 documentary by People Make Games that delves deep into the complicated financial and legal situation at the company.
PC Gamer’s story doesn’t reveal a single definitive reason for the X7’s cancellation and studio layoffs, even from the perspective of the employees interviewed, but hierarchical turpitude appears to be a contributing element. Klindžić and Tuulik set up the project together and nominally served as development leaders, but neither was officially handed the reins.
Additionally, every developer PC Gamer spoke to who worked on X7 testified that the project was never allowed a proper pre-production period, an unprecedented setback that Klindžić said was tantamount to dooming the project from the start : “Every time we raised concerns about this and expressed that we needed more writers if the deadlines were to be met, we were accused of not wanting to do our jobs.”
The full truth of the reasons we’ll never get to play X7, or the full coded sequel Y12, or the sci-fi game P1 helmed by Disco Elysium producer Kaur Kender, may never fully come to light. This latest splash of color will likely do little to dull the sting for a fan base forever pondering what might have been, because what might have been sounds pretty awesome.
There’s a good reason Disco Elysium made our list The best RPGs ever done.