One of the original developers of Disco Elysium is raising questions regarding the future of Disco Elysium 2. Few can deny that Disco Elysium is 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 was dissolving 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 that Disco Elysium 2's development continued but that it was years away yet. A more recent comment from Luiga has complicated the situation, however.
In an interview with GamePressure, Luiga says that he doesn't think, "ZA/UM in its current form," will be developing Disco Elysium 2. He adds that he isn't sure how many developers for the original Disco Elysium remain to work on Disco Elysium 2. ZA/UM notably hasn't officially announced the development of Disco Elysium 2, but the sequel is believed to have been the next project for ZA/UM following the release and success of the original game.
Luiga's original comments on Disco 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 that Disco Elysium fans may 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 of Disco Elysium were making next will no longer be made, but that new developers and potentially an entirely different team or studio will take that and make a Disco Elysium 2 based on those ideas. As such, Disco Elysium 2 is dead, long live Disco Elysium 2.
The situation is obviously not great regardless of the development status of Disco Elysium 2. The ZA/UM founding team is clearly very talented and they will hopefully get another opportunity to make the kind of games they want. It just won't be related to Disco Elysium, and what Disco Elysium will be next won't be from them. ZA/UM will hopefully continue to find success regardless, and will leave its mark uniquely.
Disco Elysium is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: GamePressure