Disco Elysium is widely hailed as one of the best RPGs of all time, but the future of the series is up in the air. Planned sequels and expansions were canceled, and developer ZA/UM laid off some employees as a result. There are also notoriously nasty battles over intellectual property ownership. Still, the essence of the original game is very much alive, especially with new studios working on spiritual successors. The project will continue the “thoughtful, story-first approach that characterized its predecessors.”
London-based Longdue’s 12-person team includes some of the developers who worked on Disco Elysium and its aborted sequel, as well as people who have worked at Bungie, Rockstar Games, Brave at Night, and more. It is. The studio’s first game is being touted as a “psychogeographic RPG that explores the subtle interplay between the conscious and subconscious, the visible and the invisible,” according to the Guardian. Set in a world where choices ripple between a character’s mind and the environment, players navigate an ever-changing landscape shaped by internal and external forces. ”
If you know anything about Disco Elysium, it should look pretty familiar. So far, not many other details about the game have been revealed, but Longdue has released some concept art (above).
“Longdue brings together decades of classics, from Ultima and Wizardry to Fallout and Planescape to the justifiably beloved Disco Elysium,” said Grant Roberts, former Bungie and Rocksteady narrative director, in a press release. It’s inspired by RPGs.” “We’re excited to continue that tradition with a story-first psychological RPG where the interaction between your inner world and the outer landscape is central to the experience.”
Longdue has not disclosed all the former ZA/UM developers involved, but Disco Elysium’s lead designer and writer Robert Kurvitz and lead artist Aleksander Rostov are not among them. In late 2022, ZA/UM’s new majority shareholder fired the pair, along with author Helene Hindpere, for fraud and attempting to steal intellectual property (among other things). This is despite the fact that Karwitz wrote the novel that inspired the 2019 game world. A lawsuit was filed and ZA/UM claimed it was settled last year. Kurwitz and Rostov founded their own company, Red Info.
