On Disco Elysium’s five-year anniversary, two separate studios every made up of people that used to work at developer ZA/UM have introduced they’re each making a non secular successor of their very own.
Disco Elysium is a 2019 narrative role-playing sport developed and printed by controversial studio ZA/UM. Gameplay revolves round navigating dialogue bushes slightly than fight, with every of the 24 expertise representing a distinct side of the amnesiac detective protagonist’s talents and ideas. The participant is free to assist or suppress his ideologies as they work by means of the story. Disco Elysium is taken into account by some among the many biggest video video games ever made.
It went on to get pleasure from huge success, successful quite a few sport of the yr awards and promoting hundreds of thousands of copies. A TV collection adaptation deal adopted, as did the discharge of an expanded model of the sport that includes full voice appearing and new content material subtitled The Last Lower. A follow-up appeared all however assured, however after high-profile workers exits and subsequent messy authorized tussles introduced ZA/UM to its knees, what may need turned out to be a Disco Elysium sequel was canceled.
Now, two new London-based studios have emerged from the chaos: Darkish Math Video games and Longdue Video games. Every has drawn a line again to each Disco Elysium and ZA/UM within the announcement of not simply their existence, however their upcoming video games.
Let’s begin with Darkish Math Video games. Based in 2023, Darkish Math describes itself as a “breakaway group” from the unique improvement staff of Disco Elysium. It’s a group of 20 individuals, about half of whom “contributed” to “bringing the critically acclaimed hit Disco Elysium and Disco Elysium – The Last Lower to life.”
Darkish Math’s sport is known as XXX NIGHTSHIFT and, like Disco Elysium, is described as a ‘true detective RPG.’ Right here’s the official blurb:
Set 2086, you play a Patrol Op, Dinorah Katz, who’s stranded at a luxurious Ski resort in Antarctica. This authentic science-fiction setting lands you in a resort that shouldn’t exist with individuals that you just shouldn’t know with the infinite polar night time overlaying a mess of sins.
XXX NIGHTSHIFT will ship a deep single-player role-playing expertise with many instruments and layers of gameplay. A singular companion dynamic provides extra enjoyable and presents completely different paths to unravel instances. The progressive and highly effective role-playing system respects your time and trusts your intelligence with seismic decisions. It’s as much as you to resolve how your story unfolds — and the way it ends.
Based mostly on its announcement trailer and screenshots, XXX NIGHTSHIFT seems to be remarkably much like Disco Elysium, even all the way down to the isometric perspective and dialogue textual content that strikes up the right-hand aspect of the display because the participant makes decisions and hears voice actors convey a narrator and the protagonist’s inner monologue to life.
One of many 4 Darkish Math founders is artwork director Timo Albert, who was a movement graphic designer at ZA/UM from 2018 to October 2022. Albert commented: “Moreover to innovating the normal RPG mechanics, we’ll convey one thing recent to the desk. You will note. And naturally, just a few much less phrases. And some extra bullets, maybe. In whole: lot extra enjoyable.”
In response to filings on Firms Home, Darkish Math’s energetic administrators embody Heiti Kender, along with his brother, Kaur Kender, listed as a resigned director. Kaur Kender was an early investor in ZA/UM and government producer of Disco Elysium. In March 2023, a bitter authorized dispute between Kender and ZA/UM over possession of the coveted Disco Elysium IP was resolved, with a court docket ordering Kender to repay ZA/UM CEO Ilmar Kompus for authorized charges.
Now, let’s transfer on to Longdue Video games. It mentioned it’s making a “new psychological RPG… set in a sport world conceived by the leads of the now canceled Disco Elysium sequel.” Others engaged on this untitled Disco Elysium non secular successor labored on the likes of Bungie, Rockstar, and Sure, Your Graces developer Courageous At Evening.
Longdue, backed by tech investor Riaz Moola, mentioned it has a “give attention to creating psychologically deep, narrative-first experiences” and desires to turn into “a significant and constant voice within the isometric cRPG area.”
“With the fifth anniversary of Disco Elysium on the horizon, Longdue is proud to announce its formation as a brand new unbiased studio that has raised seed funding to create an RPG that may proceed Disco Elysium’s award-winning legacy and characterize a daring new inventive endeavor that goals to trailblaze within the narrative-first cRPG area,” Longdue mentioned in its word to press.
Longdue didn’t title its sport (all we now have for now’s a solitary piece of idea artwork, under), but it surely did say it options what it calls a “psychogeographic” RPG mechanic “the place each resolution reshapes each the world and the characters that inhabit it.” “On this expertise,” Longdue defined, “the traces between the thoughts and the surroundings blur, colliding and remodeling with every alternative, main gamers by means of an ever-evolving narrative panorama.”
Right here’s the official blurb on Longdue’s sport:
Longdue’s debut RPG explores the fragile interaction between the acutely aware and unconscious, the seen and unseen. Set in a world the place decisions ripple between the character’s psyche and surroundings, gamers will navigate a continuously shifting panorama, formed by each inner and exterior forces.
Longdue talked about simply one in every of its builders in its press launch: narrative director Grant Roberts. Roberts mentioned: “At Longdue, we’re impressed by a long time of basic RPGs, from Ultima and Wizardry, by means of Fallout and Planescape, to the justifiably adored Disco Elysium.
“We’re excited to proceed that legacy with one other narrative-first, psychological RPG, the place the interaction between internal worlds and exterior landscapes is the beating coronary heart of the expertise. We’re constructing a world-class staff for a world-class sport that may inform a world-class story, and we will not wait to point out you extra.”
Londue isn’t saying anybody else working on the firm proper now, “however is wanting ahead to speaking extra in regards to the studio and the sport sooner or later,” a consultant informed IGN.
It’s value noting that neither Robert Kurvitz, the lead author and designer of Disco Elysium and founding member of ZA/UM, nor Aleksander Rostov, who was artwork director on Disco Elysium, are concerned with both studio. Each had been fired from ZA/UM in 2022 amid allegations of mismanagement and misconduct. Kurvitz and Rostov are reportedly making a brand new sport of their very own at a studio referred to as Crimson Information, which is backed by Chinese language web firm NetEase.
As for ZA/UM, it reportedly canceled a standalone enlargement for Disco Elysium again in February, leaving a number of workers members susceptible to shedding their jobs. Whereas an official Disco Elysium 2 appears as unlikely now because it did when ZA/UM first fell aside, it’s clear that there are a lot of who’re eager to maintain the dream alive.
Wesley is the UK Information Editor for IGN. Discover him on Twitter at @wyp100. You possibly can attain Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].