Luiga, one of the co-founders of the studio ZA/UM, originally stated the three leads had left “involuntarily”. Designer Robert Kurvitz, one of the developers affected, later confirmed that he, along with writer Helen Hindpere and art director Aleksander Rostov, was no longer working at the studio. In a short interview with GamePressure, Luiga revealed more about the background of the studio and the events leading up to the trio’s removal. “It happened late last year,” he stated. “They were fired on false premises,” he alleged, adding he could not disclose everything he knew to GamePressure due to uncertainty over NDAs. Luiga, who worked at ZA/UM during its first year and then a few months in 2021, stated he broke the news of Kurvitz, Hindpere and Rostov because he felt “the fans had a right to know”. Their departure from the studio had not been made public by ZA/UM or the developers themselves yet. Luiga was pessimistic about the future of Disco Elysium in the interview. “I think ZA/UM Studio in its current form will not be developing the sequel,” he stated, adding he was unsure how many people who worked on the original game remain at the studio. When reached for comment about the allegations, ZA/UM stated it had “nothing to add at this time”.
