Another group of ex-Disco Elysium developers found Dark Math Games

A group of former ZA/UM staff have formed a new studio, Dark Math Games, and are working on a spiritual successor to Disco Elysium.

The team of 20 describe themselves as a “breakaway group from the original development team” behind the acclaimed 2019 role-playing game. One of the four founders is Timo Albert, who served as motion graphic designer on the Disco Elysium team.

IGN also found, via Companies House records, that Dark Math’s active directors include Heiti Kender, brother of ZA/UM investor and Disco Elysium executive producer Kaur Kender.

Dark Math Games is currently working on its debut game, XXX Nightshift, which it describes as a “true detective RPG” with a science-fiction setting and a “unique companion dynamic” that creates different paths when solving cases.

In the announcement, Albert said: “Additionally to innovating the traditional RPG mechanics, we’ll bring something fresh to the table. You will see. And of course, a few less words. And a few more bullets, perhaps. In total: lot more fun.”

Dark Math’s unveiling follows this morning’s news that another group of former Disco Elysium developers have also set up a UK studio, Longdue. We spoke to the team about their debut project – another spiritual successor – and the impact of the ZA/UM dispute.

With these two studio announcements, there are now three developers working on Disco Elysium-like games.

The third is Red Info Ltd, founded in June 2022 by Disco Elysium’s project lead Robert Kurvitz and lead artist Aleksander Rostov, who were both involved in a ZA/UM dispute after claiming they were unfairly dismissed from the company. PC Gamer reported the studio was set up with the backing of Chinese publisher NetEase.

Kaur Kender – who is also listed as a director for Dark Math Games but marked as ‘resigned’ rather than active – previously filed a lawsuit against ZA/UM and its CEO Ilmar Kompus over the alleged misappropriation of €4.8 million of company funds to illegally purchase majority share in the studio.

This 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.