Summer Eternal is yet another new studio founded by former Disco Elysium developers
Studio led by Argo Tuulik, who co-created the worldbuilding when acclaimed title was a tabletop RPG
More former ZA/UM employees have started up their own development company, this time under the name Summer Eternal.
The studio was founded by Argo Tuulik, who was credited as one of the writers on Disco Elysium and co-created the worldbuilding for its setting back when the ZA/UM collective was a group of friends running their own tabletop RPG sessions in the early 2000s.
Tuulik was one of the ZA/UM employees laid off in February, when the company is also said to have cancelled a Disco Elysium spin-off.
IGN reported that Summer Eternal's team also includes fellow Disco Elysium co-writer Argo Tuulik, voice actor Lenval Brown, principal writer Dora Klindžić, senior concept artist Anastasia Ivanova, graphic designer Michael Oswell, and Aleksandar Gavrilović, who was previously managing director of Croatian studio Gamechuck.
According to the company's website, it will be based in the Croatian capital of Zagreb from April 2025.
Speaking to IGN, Tuulik described Summer Eternal as a "worker-owned co-operative" with ambitions of becoming a "revolutionary RPG studio." However, he emphasised that the studio's first project is "definitely not a Disco Elysium studio," although it will be a narrative-led RPG.
Summer Eternal's announcement follows Friday's unveiling of Longdue and Dark Math Games, both of which are based in the UK and staffed by former ZA/UM employees.
In addition to these, ZA/UM remains operations and two of Disco Elysium's leads, Robert Kurvits and Aleksander Rostov, formed their own studio – Red Info Ltd – in June 2022 with backing from NetEase.
That makes a total of five studios (so far) staffed by former Disco Elysium developers in the aftermath of legal disputes between ZA/UM and the game's key creators.
In October 2022, it was reported that Kurvitz, Rostov and Helen Hindpere had "involuntarily" left the company, with the Kurvitz and Rostov accusing ZA/UM of unfair dismissal.
There were also accusations that ZA/UM CEO Ilmar Kompus has misappropriated €4.8 million of company funds to illegally purchase majority share in the studio This prompted Disco Elysium's executive producer Kaur Kender (who is attached to Dark Math Games) to file a lawsuit against the company.
The lawsuit was withdrawn less than a month later, and the legal dispute was resolved in March 2023, with Kender withdrawing his suit and being ordered by court to repay Kompus' legal fees.
For more information on the legal battle around Disco Elysium, be sure to watch the in-depth investigation by People Make Games.