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Earlier this year we found out about Project X7, a standalone Disco Elysium expansion canceled in February. At the same time ZA/UM laid off 24 employees, including Argo Tuulik, the final writer from the original game’s credits remaining at the shell of the studio responsible for one of the greatest videogames of all time. It was, to put it lightly, a bummer.
Now a Disco Elysium YouTuber called Jamrock Hobo has uploaded almost 15 minutes of an internal presentation about Project X7 showing where it was at nine months before it was canceled. Given the date of uploading, you’d be forgiven for assuming this is a cruel prank, but you can clearly hear the voice of Dora Klindžić, the now ex-ZA/UM writer working on Summer Eternal, just minutes in. It’s obviously real, and heartbreaking.
This internal presentation reveals that Project X7 would have been called Locust City – An Elysium Story, and would have been “a singleplayer co-operative game” in which the player could switch between two characters at will: Cuno and Cunoesse. The two violent brats from Disco Elysium might not seem like an obvious choice for protagonists, but if you take the Cuno path rather than the Kim path through the original game, that vicious kid’s got quite a character arc and it actually makes a weird amount of sense to focus on him in a follow-up.
As the video goes on to reveal, Locust City would have let both characters talk to different skills, including some returning from Disco Elysium like Inland Empire (Cuno) and Authority (Cunoesse). There would also be completely new skills, with Cunoesse having access to Pursuit and Ambush, while Cuno has the evocatively named Scar Shield and Beastmaster Racoono.
Also returning would be the thought cabinet, including thoughts that can be unlocked by having the two characters talk to each other on their journey. Over the course of Locust City’s five acts, they’d be fleeing from Martinaise to Cunoesse’s home after a murder takes place, with the video highlighting a train journey from act two.
Another interesting mechanical tweak would have been the option for both characters to co-operate to attempt skill checks together, a feature I’m sure players who wanted to work more closely with Disco Elysium’s beloved sidekick Kim Kitsuragi would have loved.
Other intriguing details from the presentation include the fact it would have had multiple endings depending on your choices, with four or five potential different outcomes. There would also have been separate inventories for the characters, with different items having different effects—the example shown is a hat that boosts Cuno’s Encyclopedia skill, but increases Cunoesse’ Authority skill because it makes her feel taller. Even the sound design would have differed based on which character you were controlling.
As for the name, Locust City is a reference to a shoebox full of locusts carried around by Cuno throughout the game. You could have checked on this bug colony to get updated on the evolving civilization within, which would be changed by decisions you make and items you add to the box. The locusts would eventually develop their own political system and potentially fight wars or dream of freedom. Sounds like just the right amount of batshit for a Disco Elysium game.
All told, it’s a fascinating insight into a possible follow-up to Disco Elysium we’ll never get to see. Instead, ZA/UM is working on a mobile adaptation and a new game that doesn’t share Disco’s setting but sure does resemble it. Meanwhile, two of the names attached to Locust City, Argo Tuulike and Dora Klindžić, have founded the aforementioned studio Summer Eternal to work on a game of the same name, while ZA/UM’s original founders, who left before any of this happened back in 2021, have founded a studio called Red Info to work on an unannounced project.
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Kurt Indovina
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