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ZA/UM Studio (Disco Elysium & Zero Parades) hit with layoffs
- Thread starter Hideous Snake
- Start date
uncreativename
Gold Member
That's a shame. I bought Zero Parades. I don't think it's as good as Disco Elysium, but still pretty good.
DarkLordOtaku
Member
This is unfortunate, though I'm surprised to see them report commercial underperformance.
It's general review velocity relative to the scope of the game made me think it was doing alright. Guess you can't make assumptions. It also only released two months ago...
I guess I'm part of the problem though, because I have it wishlisted, but really want to wait for at least one round of discounts on this before diving in.
It's general review velocity relative to the scope of the game made me think it was doing alright. Guess you can't make assumptions. It also only released two months ago...
I guess I'm part of the problem though, because I have it wishlisted, but really want to wait for at least one round of discounts on this before diving in.
graywolf323
Member
I picked it up as well but not really surprising that communists aren't good at running a business
JoduanER2
Member
Exactly.
In 2019, the developers made headlines when they explicitly thanked Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in their The Game Awards acceptance speech, cementing their Marxist leanings. Their game, Disco Elysium, is heavily praised and debated for its complex, self-critical exploration of communism, the tragedy of failed revolutions, and the failures of the political left.
BennyBlanco
aka IMurRIVAL69
I have never heard of Zero Parades until this thread
DarkLordOtaku
Member
I will say though, Esoteric Ebb was really good.
uncreativename
Gold Member
I don't really care about devs politics as long as they're not harming other people irl or being part of cancel mobs on social media and stuff like that. If they're not bothering anyone, all that matters is if their game is good or not.
Anyways, there are still two other former Za/Um dev games that might come out which could be neat imo.
The Red Info game that we know absolutely nothing about except that it has three of the main people from Za/Um and possibly Chris Avellone?
Summer Eternal which also has a bunch of people who worked on Disco Elysium. They sound like a bunch of crazy people way into their politics judging by this website with a picture of Castro and a manifesto lol. https://summereternal.com/ Hopefully it makes for a good game.
There are a couple of others, but they look kinda bad or boring imo.
Anyways, there are still two other former Za/Um dev games that might come out which could be neat imo.
The Red Info game that we know absolutely nothing about except that it has three of the main people from Za/Um and possibly Chris Avellone?
Summer Eternal which also has a bunch of people who worked on Disco Elysium. They sound like a bunch of crazy people way into their politics judging by this website with a picture of Castro and a manifesto lol. https://summereternal.com/ Hopefully it makes for a good game.
There are a couple of others, but they look kinda bad or boring imo.
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uncreativename
Gold Member
Oh right, I totally forgot about Esoteric Ebb. This art style is a real turn-off to me, so I'm going to keep on not remembering about it, though.
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
Just checked Steamdb now. Never knew they even released Zero Parades. Looks like hardly anyone bought it and it's been out for over a year.
Has a similar look to Disco. Everyone talked about Disco but not Zero Parades.
Hideous Snake
Gold Member
Absolute nonsense once again. The same was said with souls, the same was said with roguelike/lite. One hit wonders in video games does not exist
xrnzaaas
Member
Yeah I should be more specific and say 'commercial success'. Don't think they'll appeal to a lot of people even if some of them will get good reviews.
MEGATECHBODY.Co.LTD
Member
wow, what a sur/prise
YeulEmeralda
Linux User
Yeah Zero parades for dead spies retains the Disco art style.Oh right, I totally forgot about Esoteric Ebb. This art style is a real turn-off to me, so I'm going to keep on not remembering about it, though.
I can't fucking stand Western cartoon style.
Miles708
Member
Precisely. Never heard of this game before.
How can some devs release their games without even a hint of marketing? Man you have a company, what are you even doing?
I remember the same happening for the game Banishers, which it could have also been interesting IF ONLY SOMEONE IN THE TEAM DID THE BARE MINIMUM MARKETING EFFORT.
Plague Doctor
Member
An old joke but a good one.
"Capitalism really was the villian after all"
"Capitalism really was the villian after all"
Buggy Loop
Member
I'm not sure what even happened at ZA/UM since the hostile takeover which most of the leads left/fired anyway. The studio was nuked.
It splintered off into like a dozen studios. Who even worked there anymore and somehow managed to make a new adventure game that reviews well?
Now, shocking that their game is actually with very positive reviews but 0 marketing as I learned about it not even more than a month ago .
It splintered off into like a dozen studios. Who even worked there anymore and somehow managed to make a new adventure game that reviews well?
Now, shocking that their game is actually with very positive reviews but 0 marketing as I learned about it not even more than a month ago .
Buggy Loop
Member
Did you finish what you were typing? "It was inevitable Za/um would fail with the main creative minds behind disco leaving the company after the hostile takeover and all leads left/fired" perhaps?
Have you all forgotten?
Yet somehow their new game reviews well on Steam. You can go blame marketing there but certainly not the creative minds remaining.
Red Info Ltd: Has lead director Robert Kurvitz, art director Alexander Rostov, and head writer Helen Hindpere of Disco Elysium.
Hindpere who at the game awards made the whole shout out to communists
She's not even at ZA/UM anymore.
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calico
Member
This style of game can have a future, but you probably need to be talking about a core team of ~3 people max, and at least one of them has to be a good writer.
Esoteric Ebb was ok. The writing was not really to my taste, but plenty of people seem to love it. I haven't played Zero Parades yet.
Esoteric Ebb was ok. The writing was not really to my taste, but plenty of people seem to love it. I haven't played Zero Parades yet.
Bonfires Down
Member
Apparently they have 100 employees. Yeah they scaled up way too fast based on only Disco Elysium. This is unfortunate but small studios need to keep it sustainable.
DarkLordOtaku
Member
I think Esoteric Ebb does one of, if not the best, applications of utility spells in the context of a game borrowing from the D&D SRD.Oh right, I totally forgot about Esoteric Ebb. This art style is a real turn-off to me, so I'm going to keep on not remembering about it, though.
I guess the art is subjective, though I generally enjoyed it. A few screenshots from my playthrough:
Danny Dudekisser
I paid good money for this Dynex!
Zero Parades is on my wishlist, and I liked (but didn't love) Disco Elysium... but I am completely unsurprised that commies can't figure out how to run a business.
Donald mac Ronald
Member
I remember seeing the video of the game and it being a carbon copy of disco.
Then nothing
Had no idea they actually released their own game .
No hype and no marketing.
Then nothing
Had no idea they actually released their own game .
No hype and no marketing.
NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt
Biggest Trails Stan
I particularly found that funny since they are selling a game that I know if they were under communism they wouldn't be able to make
StueyDuck
Gold Member
they'll all be equally jobless, just as communism permits.
dreamstation
Member
Yea I'm really enjoying it too. Well worth picking up if you enjoyed Disco. Also picked up another "Disco-like" this week called Celestial Return. Haven't played an awful lot yet but I'm really intrigued by the story so far. Shame about the ZA/UM layoffs but I'm one of the people that loved Disco but couldn't bring myself to pick up Zero Parades after what they did to some of the original players.
DarkLordOtaku
Member
This one is on my wishlist too, and with the lower price point I'm thinking about picking it up on its introductory promotional sale.
Wildebeest
Member
Communism is a hot market in the US right now but the consumers are very fickle and have no real ideology or commitment to anything in particular. Very driven by aspirational trends and wealthy influencers.