Updated
Updated · Kotaku · Jul 17
ZA/UM Studio Cuts Up to 32 Jobs After Zero Parades Misses Financial Targets
Updated
Updated · Kotaku · Jul 17

ZA/UM Studio Cuts Up to 32 Jobs After Zero Parades Misses Financial Targets

3 articles · Updated · Kotaku · Jul 17

Summary

  • Up to 32 ZA/UM employees across all departments received redundancy or at-risk notices after the studio said Zero Parades failed to deliver enough commercial success.
  • ZA/UM said it is working with the studio's labor union on the layoff process, even though the Disco Elysium follow-up drew strong reviews.
  • The cuts deepen a four-year crisis at the studio, which has already faced founder departures, lawsuits and repeated project cancellations since 2022.
  • That turmoil splintered Disco Elysium's remaining creators into three separate studios, leaving Zero Parades as the first major post-split release and now another setback for ZA/UM.

Insights

Can a studio ever truly escape the shadow of its own masterpiece and the creators it lost?
When critical acclaim can't save jobs, is the video game industry's business model fundamentally broken?