ZA/UM, the developer behind Disco Elysium, has cancelled its new game and set to layoff a number of employees.
According to a report from GLHF at Sports Illustrated, about 24 employees could be let go from the company. That amounts to nearly 25% of the company’s workforce.
The job cuts, the report states, go “hand in hand” with the cancellation of Project X7, a standalone expansion for Disco Elysium that had been in development. ZA/UM president Ed Tomaszewski told staff that X7 was “one to two years away from completion”.
In an alleged message to the company from ZA/UM CEO Ilmar Kompus, that was obtained by GLHF, the CEO says:
“Despite concerted efforts over the past eight months by our management team and the X7 disciplines, following consultation with our management team, I have taken the difficult decision to cancel X7. This decision, unlike the pause on Project P1, will unfortunately most likely lead to redundancies within our studio.
“With the cancellation of X7 we are proposing to reshape our team to support our two remaining games. This adjustment will almost certainly lead to redundancies, mostly affecting the X7 team but also our non-development teams and non-X7 projects.”
The studio still has two projects in development codenamed C4 and M0, the report states.
Insider Gaming has reached out to ZA/UM for comment on the report, and will provide an update should a response be received.
What do you think of Disco Elysium developer ZA/UM cancelling its new game and laying off a quarter of the company? For more Insider Gaming, read about Bandai Namco canceling five games that were in development.
