Anyway, so by the time we first heard the news of this video game project, Za/Um as a cultural movement was already dwindling. For an Estonian art-adjacent person, Za/Um has basically been dead since 2017. That's why Luiga's decision to disband the movement doesn't really raise an eyebrow here. It's old history, man.

Feb 15, 2024 · The downfall of ZA/UM has to be one of the most tragic wastes of potential in recent years in the gaming industry... Disco Elysium was such a breath of fresh air - from artistic direction to writing, the game is wholly unique and incredibly impressive for a first effort (!) from a new studio. You could really feel that it was made by a core ...

Mar 14, 2023 · Following Kender's suit withdrawal against Tütreke, the ZA/UM's majority shareholder, Kompus and Tütreke paid €4.8 million ($5.1 million) back to ZA/UM. So, wait. One of the big accusations involved in these cases is that the majority stake Tütreke has was obtained fraudulently by having ZA/UM sell materials to a third party for cheap then ...

Sep 22, 2022 · This is the original za/um blog, it ran from 2009 to 2016 and it features writing from a lot of the people who would later form disco´s team. It has early art by Aleksander Rostov, Games and albums reviews by Kurvitz , book recomendations by Jim Ashilevi and Made Luiga , some very personal essays and even some erotica.

ZA/UM has tripled in size from a year ago to nearly 100 employees while retaining the vast majority of the team that worked on Disco Elysium. We have built a passionate and creative team of staggering talent that continues to combine storytelling, art, and technology in our efforts to elevate video games and redefine genres.

ZA/UM turns into an entity that just licenses out the IP for random soulless garbage like the rumored television show. Most likely outcome is probably somewhere in between with a big studio / publisher waiting for several years to buy out the IP for cheap and release a Disco Elysium 2 in 2035 that’s only vaguely reminiscent to the original.

Krompus's plan (allegedly) is to sell ZA/UM and Disco Elysium before Kruvitz noticed. Krompus (allegedly) sold 4.8 million from ZA/UM to a company under his control. The result of this lawsuit (even though it was dismissed) is that the 4.8 million is back in the hands of ZA/UM. Which is good, this money was supposed to go to Disco Elysium 2.

Oct 2, 2022 · What is ZA/UM? ZA/UM was an artists collective, self-describing as a cultural movement, founded in 2009. A loose organisation of (from what I gather) mostly Estonian, mostly Marxist artists whose goals and vision aligned. Martin Luiga provides some backstory on the early days in this post and also this post. ZA/UM, as of yesterday, no longer ...

Robert Kurvitz and Sander Taal have issued a response to ZA/UM legal dispute and have described the matter as "deeply misleading" as a directly concerned party. In a statement sent to GamesIndustry.biz, Kurvitz and Taal (the latter being an alias for Aleksander Rostov, according to ZA/UM) said the press release is false in multiple areas.

Aug 19, 2023 · I have no clue if ZA/UM will ever work out its issues and release another game. But I do know that this game has inspired a great deal of people (myself included) to try writing in DE's style, making fan art, fan fiction, even an 8-bit remake of the game. Any art, once it's out in the world, belongs to its audience.