Zero Parades: For Dead Spies Fails to Sell, ZA/UM Lays Off Staff
Tough times for the Disco Elysium studio
After the dazzling and unexpected success of Disco Elysium, things haven't gone so well for the Estonian studio ZA/UM. At the end of 2021, the game's creators were let go, a painful separation that led to legal disputes, but more importantly, caused the loss of talent that is difficult to replace. ZA/UM's reputation suffered greatly, with a significant portion of users beginning to distrust the studio.
Layoffs at ZA/UM
ZA/UM tried to restart with Zero Parades: For Dead Spies, a spy story that reuses some of Disco Elysium's concepts, although it doesn't manage to approach the same glory: we explain it well in our review. Released last May, the game was generally well-received by critics, but from a commercial standpoint, it did not achieve the success ZA/UM expected.
For this reason, ZA/UM has made the decision to reduce its workforce: the measure will affect up to 32 employees of the studio. The total number of ZA/UM members is estimated to be around one hundred, so this means laying off approximately one-third of the total.
— ZA/UM Studio (@studiozaum) July 17, 2026