Disco Elysium Developer Unveils New Espionage RPG, Confirms It’s Not a Sequel to Disco Elysium

ZA/UM Studio, the entity which at one point released Disco Elysium, a critically acclaimed detective RPG about navigating the ruins of capitalism and solving a murder, has finally revealed its next game nearly six years later. Instead of Disco Elysium 2, it’s a spy RPG still mostly shrouded in secrecy called Project [C4], and one big question facing it is whether it will bear any resemblance to the studio’s previous work after years of internal upheaval and tumult.

In [C4] you play an Operant working for a corrupt global power in a world where the mind is a battlefield for geopolitical struggle and espionage. “More vulnerable and more powerful than the physical world, it can be erased, changed, reordered, and of course significantly altered through regular use of psychoactive substances amongst other means,” reads the press release from ZA/UM Studio. “Players must steel themselves with whatever comfort they can in order to survive the violent canvas of the real.”

Here’s the quick teaser released today which has some cool art and intriguing vibes but is light on substance.

The material was first presented to press in a scripted 10-minute presentation by C4 writers Jim Ashilevi (voice over direction on Disco Elysium) and Siim Sinamäe (additional writing on Disco Elysium). They confirmed that the studio has been working on the new project for about three years now and said one of the main things that will differentiate it from other RPGs is making failure “a joy in itself” rather than something players want to save-scum their way out of. The duo also cited John le Carré and his thriller Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy as one of the inspirations for the game, but didn’t share many specifics on what the game’s actually about or how it will play.

Most notably, the pair did not take questions and only vaguely referenced the ongoing issues facing ZA/UM, which is a very different studio than it was five years ago after layoffs, firings, and departures of some of the core team that made Disco Elysium, including creator Robert Kurvitz, art director Aleksander Rostov, and writer Helen Hindpere. Amid dueling allegations of theft, fraud, and abuse by the founders and current studio leadership, several new indie teams popped up last year, each claiming the mantle to creating the true Disco Elysium successor.

“As with any artistic practice, attempts and failures have been a natural part of this process. Failing forward seems to be one of those things we here at ZA/UM excel at,” Ashilevi said during the [C4] presentation. The game, whatever it turns out to be, seems to thematically echo many of the studio’s troubles. “Betrayal is only possible in the presence of love,” Sinamäe said of the project’s spycraft storytelling. The team is planning to present more information about the upcoming game at GDC later this week.

.