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Disco Elysium writer sues studio ZA/UM

Writer Robert Kurvitz is taking ZA/UM to court after he, fellow writer Helen Hindpere, and artist Aleksander Rostov were forced out of the studio.

TJ Denzer

October 24, 2022 8:45 AM

Image via ZA/UM

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It looks like the Disco Elysium developer ZA/UM is about to find itself in a legal battle over ongoing tensions with the company. Studio ZA/UM founding member and developer Martin Luiga recently shared details that the current ZA/UM is no longer representative of the philosophies it was founded on. Luiga went on to say that writers Helen Hindpere and Robert Kurvitz, and artist Aleksander Rostov were “fired on false premises.” Now, it seems Kurvitz has filed a lawsuit against ZA/UM, confirming rumors that he would be taking legal action against the developer.

Kurvitz’s lawsuit against the Disco Elysium studio was spotted on the Estonian Ministry of Justice site Riigi Teataja, as shared by TechNewsSpace. At the moment, the lawsuit filing makes the demand to “obtain information and review documents” from ZA/UM. It is currently unknown what Kurvitz is going for, but in Luiga’s recent sharings, including a post about the dissolution of the ZA/UM Cultural Association, he suggested Hindpere, Kurvitz, and Rostov’s exit from ZA/UM was an unfair and “traumatizing” affair.

With this in mind, Kurvitz could be simply going for earnings and money he feels he was owed from his work, or he could be going for control of the Disco Elysium IP as a whole. Kurvitz has spent around a decade working on the Disco Elysium universe.

For its part, ZA/UM issued a statement in relation to the allegations against it, claiming that the development of Disco Elysium is still a “collective effort, with every team member’s contribution essential and valued as part of a greater whole.”

Disco Elysium was considered to be a masterpiece of the year it came out, earning high marks in its Shacknews review and elsewhere, and earning numerous awards including a high spot on Shacknews’ Top 10 Indie Games of 2019. It could be expected that further projects set in the same universe are either in development or conception, but time will tell what Robert Kurvitz’s lawsuit is really going for. Stay tuned as we follow this story for further updates.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on BlueSky @JohnnyChugs.