Following the layoffs at ZA/UM earlier this year, some of the affected developers have provided some details about the Disco Elysium spinoff they were working on before being laid off and subsequently cancelled. Like all the Disco Elysium content we haven’t gotten since the original game was released, this game sounds pretty cool.
If you don’t know, it would be an understatement to say that the studio has had a tumultuous time since Harry and Kim came into our lives in 2019. Prior to this year, they had become key figures in the development of the first game, before they parted ways with the studio, and a documentary explored just how chaotic things were.
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Now, according to a report from PC Gamer, some former employees of the studio have revealed what the project, codenamed X7, was like before it was canceled.
According to the developer, the spin-off, which is set in Elysium (not a sequel, by the way, as that idea was shelved after the departure of original Disco Elysium developers Robert Kurvitz, Aleksander Rostov, and Helen Hindpere in 2021), is “about one of Disco Elysium’s most beloved characters” and is directed by original developer Argo Tuulik.
“This is something that no one else but Argo has done, and it’s going to be 110% authentic, the most hardcore Disco since Disco,” said former X7 lead writer Dora Klindúi, adding that the game “will advance the story, the emotional threads, and the gameplay elements all at the same time, really evolving the psychological RPG genre that Disco Elysium pioneered.”
“I think this is the best attempt at a disco-like game. [Kurvitz]Rostov, and the rest of the crew that made the original Disco Elysium,” added another former ZA/UM developer. Reactions within the studio to an internal reveal of the game in late 2023 have reportedly been quite positive, with some suggesting it could help “reassure fans that ZA/UM is not an empty shell, that the IP is in safe hands, and that the studio is full of talented people with a true passion for the world of Revachol.”
Sadly, development on X7 started in 2022, and it looked like it might be released in 2024 or 2025, but now we’ll likely never get to play it. This naturally sucks for us fans, but more importantly, for the developers working on it.
If you’re feeling as devastated by this news as I am right now, you might want to read this feature we ran last year on World Mental Health Day, where one of us discussed how some of Disco Elysium’s messages helped him overcome some issues that were affecting his life.
