[GameSpot] - Disco Elysium Lead Designer Files Lawsuit Against Studio ZA/UM

[343iBot]

Disco Elysium lead designer Robert Kurvitz has filed a lawsuit against ZA/UM. We first heard that Kurvitz and a number of other key staffers at ZA/UM were no longer with the studio a few weeks ago. Former ZA/UM employee Martin Luiga claimed that the developers "left involuntarily" and "were fired on false premises."

According to Luiga, the departures occurred at the end of 2021, and he cannot offer further details due to NDAs. Kurvitz's lawsuit was filed on behalf of his own company, Telomer, and the hearing will take place in Estonian court on November 28. The exact nature of the legal dispute is not yet clear.

However, that hasn't stopped Disco Elysium fans from speculating whether or not this will have an impact on a potential sequel. Kurvitz first explored the world of Disco Elysium in an Estonian-language novel that was published years before the game. As such, it's not clear how the intellectual property rights to the game might shake out, nor whether or not that's even at issue here.

Widely considered one of the best narrative games of all time, Disco Elysium received a rare 10/10 from GameSpot. Creators struggling against the ownership of their franchises is nothing new for gaming, of course. Hideo Kojima had no input on the latest Metal Gear game, Metal Gear Survive, despite crafting nearly every aspect of the series for decades.

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