The Daily Populous Sunday October 13rd, 2024 evening edition
Authored by gamesindustry.biz and submitted by jhd9012

A group of developers who previously worked on the acclaimed Disco Elysium have formed a new studio in the UK, Longdue.

The company already has around a dozen staff, including folks who worked on ZA/UM's hit and its unreleased sequel. Other members of the team have previously worked at Bungie, Rockstar and Brave At Night, including narrative director Grant Roberts.

The studio "isn't ready to talk about specific names at the moment" when it comes to who is on the team, a representative told GamesIndustry.biz. However, the company did confirm to us that Robert Kurvitz and Aleksander Rostov are not involved.

In October 2022, it was reported that Kurvitz, Rostov and Helen Hindpere "involuntarily" left ZA/UM. The two men claimed it was unfair dismissal, while a company for which Kurvitz was a board member filed a lawsuit against the studio, alleging that CEO llmar Kompus spent €4.8 million in company funds to illegally obtain a majority share of the studio.

The dispute esclated with further allegations between the two parties, as well as the game's producer Kaur Kender, but the legal battle was resolved in March 2023.

It has left a shadow over the critically acclaimed game, and the companies involved. We asked Longdue if this had affected the new studio.

"As a long-time gamer myself and massive fan of all types of RPGs, gaming is obviously an industry where there can be such a tension between the art and commerce of it all, and when those elements clash, no matter the circumstance, it’s really disruptive and gets in the way of allowing creatives to do what they love and giving gamers the experiences they are looking for," said Longdue chair and investor representative Riaz Moola.

"I don’t think there’s anyone on the Longdue team who isn’t really passionate about what they do and who isn’t happiest when they’re getting to be creative, and this is why we decided to invest in the business.

"I think that’s what Longdue represents to the team - an environment insulated where these disputes are not a factor and an environment with solid creative drive and mission. That’s something we really want to cultivate."

"Longdue is its own entity with our own vision. The studio is certainly inspired by [Disco Elysium's] ideals but we're focused on innovation and trailblazing, not replication" Riaz Moola, Longdue

While the new studio includes former Disco Elysium developers, they are keen to emphasise this is a fresh start and will not necessarily be drawing on any work done on the game's unannounced sequel.

"Longdue is its own entity with our own vision, and that’s really important," Moola said. "The studio is certainly inspired by those projects’ ideals — intelligent storytelling, psychological depth, and solid world-building — but we’re focused on innovation and trailblazing, not replication.

"So, if anything, the real takeaway is to keep moving forward, and the real thing to draw from is that if we put the story first, write well, and treat players with respect, they’ll respond to that.Which is easier said than done, but that’s what we’re here to do."

Details on Longdue's first game are minimal so far, although the startup has said that it will "explore the delicate interplay between the conscious and subconscious, the seen and the unseen."

The game revolves around a new "psychogeographic RPG" mechanic, which is said to "reshape both the world and the characters" based on players decisions. And while it will not draw directly from their work on Disco Elysium, the team has said it is thinking about what made ZA/UM's RPG so popular.

"One of the things that resonated with players was the combination of deep, layered world-building and psychological complexity," Moola explained. "In the game Longdue is working on, we’re honing in on that and seeing what boundaries we can push there. We’re crafting a world with a constant, meaningful interplay between the protagonist’s interior reality and the outer environment.

"Every decision and thought process leaves a mark – not just on the characters but also on the world around them. The line between the character you’re playing and the environment you’re navigating becomes blurred, creating an experience where both are deeply intertwined. It’s quite an abstract idea, but we’re really excited to push it and see what comes from it."