One of the original developers ofDisco Elysiumis raising questions regarding the future ofDisco Elysium 2. Few can deny thatDisco Elysiumis a rare example of creative output, unique to itself. That’s in no small part due to the ZA/UM cultural association, a group of artists that formed the foundation for what would become ZA/UM. That group is now defunct, its members removed “involuntarily” from ZA/UM, and raising warnings about the development of the sequel.
This past week, artist Martin Luiga announced he wasdissolving the ZA/UM cultural association. Luiga also confirmed that three core ZA/UM talents, including lead writers Robert Kurvitz and Helen Hindpere, as well as lead artist Aleksander Rostov, were removed from ZA/UM. At the time, Luiga said thatDisco Elysium 2’s development continued but that it was years away yet. A more recent comment from Luiga has complicated the situation, however.
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In an interview with GamePressure, Luiga says that he doesn’t think, “ZA/UM in its current form,” will be developingDisco Elysium 2. He adds that he isn’t sure how many developers for the originalDisco Elysiumremain to work onDisco Elysium 2. ZA/UM notably hasn’t officially announced the development ofDisco Elysium 2, but the sequel is believed to have been thenext project for ZA/UMfollowing the release and success of the original game.
Luiga’s original comments onDisco Elysium 2, made on Twitter, said that he was hopeful for the project and that “things with the sequel are actually sweet enough.” He initially said thatDisco Elysiumfansmay even “get it the way it was meant.” It’s unclear what Luiga meant by these comments, in contrast to what he’s said more recently.
It’s possible that Luiga thinks that what he and the original creators ofDisco Elysiumwere making next will no longer be made, but that new developers and potentially an entirely different team or studio will take that andmake aDisco Elysium 2based on those ideas. As such,Disco Elysium 2is dead, long liveDisco Elysium 2.
The situation is obviously not great regardless of the development status ofDisco Elysium 2. TheZA/UM founding teamis clearly very talented and they will hopefully get another opportunity to make the kind of games they want. It just won’t be related toDisco Elysium, and whatDisco Elysiumwill be next won’t be from them. ZA/UM will hopefully continue to find success regardless, and will leave its mark uniquely.
Disco Elysiumis available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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