A new developer, Longdue, is being created to develop a “spiritual successor” to 2019’s award-winning computer role-playing game Disco Elysium.
The new studio currently consists of 12 people, including some who worked on the original game and its canceled sequel, and former employees of Bungie (Destiny, Halo) and Rockstar (Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption). Their debut game is described in a press release as “a psychogeographic role-playing game” that “explores the delicate interplay between the conscious and the subconscious, the visible and the invisible. Set in a world where choices vary between the character’s psyche and the environment, players will navigate an ever-changing landscape, shaped by forces both internal and external.”
The Bafta-winning Disco Elysium, in which you play a depressed alcoholic detective in a city whose inhabitants still bear the scars of a war that took place decades before, is considered one of the best computer role-playing games ever created and has passed several years. at the top of List of PC gamers of the 100 best PC games. His uncompromising writing ranges from racism and socialist politics to philosophy, psychology and creative swearing, and his intelligence and willingness to mystify the player earned him a community of fiercely passionate advocates.
The future of Disco Elysium has been unclear for years due to a series of disputes with its developer, ZA/UM. Several key employees, including lead designer and writer Robert Kurvitz, writer Helen Hindpere, and lead artist Aleksander Rostov, claimed to have been overthrown against his will in 2022; the company claimed they had been fired for misconduct. Years of defamation and several lawsuits followed, which were resolved in 2023, but ZA/UM laid off a quarter of the remaining staff early this year. A sequel and expansion to Disco Elysium were in development at ZA/UM, but both have been cancelled.
Longdue hasn’t specified exactly who from the original Disco Elysium team is working on its new game, although he has said that Rostov and Kurvitz are not involved.
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The narrative director is Grant Roberts, formerly of Bungie and Rocksteady. “At Longdue, we draw inspiration from decades of classic RPGs, from Ultima and Wizardry, through Fallout and Planescape, to the justifiably beloved Disco Elysium,” he said. “We are excited to continue that legacy with another psychological and narrative RPG, where the interaction between internal worlds and external landscapes is the heart of the experience.”