Zero Parades: For Lifeless Spies and Disco Elysium developer ZA/UM Studio has filed redundancy paperwork that may see the corporate probably lay off as much as 32 staff throughout “all departments.”
This information comes from the corporate’s social media accounts, the place it posted an announcement that concluded with an attraction for different builders to contemplate hiring the impacted staff. The put up states that whereas Zero Parades was launched to constructive opinions, its business efficiency has apparently not hit the mark.
As ZA/UM put it: “Whereas Zero Parades: For Lifeless Spies was launched to essential acclaim, its business efficiency has not enabled us to maintain a studio of our present measurement.”
The put up says the laid-off staff’ work has “made a long-lasting distinction” and “left its mark” on Zero Parades and the studio as an entire, and that the corporate is constant to seek the advice of and work with representatives of the ZA/UM Staff’ Alliance.
ZA/UM has struggled because the launch of Disco Elysium
These post-launch layoffs are the newest in a years-long string of hits for the studio that started with the ouster of two co-creators of Disco Elysium. They and different founding staff would quickly discovered their very own firms: Darkmath Video games, Longdue Video games, and Summer time Everlasting.
ZA/UM CEO Ilmar Kompus later accused sport director Robert Kurvitz and artwork director Aleksander Rostov of fostering a poisonous work setting, whereas the pair insisted they have been fired by executives solely targeted on company greed. Sources chatting with Gamesindustry.biz and Folks Make Video games lent credence to the notion that each accusations may be true.
The corporate later laid off an undisclosed variety of staff in February of 2024. Remaining staff selected to formally unionize in October 2025.
On the time, the union reported that ZA/UM employed roughly 100 individuals throughout the globe. If that quantity held fixed via the launch of Zero Parades, that will imply in the present day’s layoffs account for round one-third of the corporate’s employees.
