ZA/UM Studio, the acclaimed developer behind the groundbreaking RPG Disco Elysium and its recently released follow-up Zero Parades: For Dead Spies, has announced layoffs affecting up to 32 employees across all departments. The news comes just two months after the studio’s latest title hit the market.
ZA/UM Studio has laid off up to 32 employees just two months after releasing Zero Parades: For Dead Spies. (Image: markusspiske / Pixabay)
The Layoffs and Their Cause
In a statement posted to social media, ZA/UM confirmed it had “served redundancy or at-risk notices impacting up to 32 of our colleagues across all departments at ZA/UM Studio.” The studio attributed the cuts to the weak commercial performance of Zero Parades: For Dead Spies, which “has not enabled us to sustain a studio of our current size.”
According to SteamDB data, the espionage RPG hit an all-time peak of just 3,177 concurrent players around its May launch, and player counts have steadily declined since. For a studio coming off the cultural phenomenon of Disco Elysium — which won multiple Game of the Year awards and sold millions of copies — the numbers represent a significant commercial disappointment.
A Troubled Studio History
For those following ZA/UM’s trajectory, the layoffs may not come as a complete shock. The studio has faced a series of high-profile conflicts since Disco Elysium’s landmark success in 2019. These include the acrimonious departure of the game’s core creative team, a lawsuit involving intellectual property theft allegations, and reports of a hostile work environment for women.
Several former key developers subsequently established their own studio, Longdue, which is now working on a “narrative-first” spiritual successor. The brain drain from ZA/UM has been substantial, and the layoffs represent another blow to the studio’s diminished workforce.
Broader Industry Context
The video game industry continues to experience a severe downturn. ZA/UM joins a growing list of studios affected by layoffs in 2026, following major cuts at Xbox, id Software, and countless other developers across the sector. The trend reflects an ongoing market correction after years of pandemic-era expansion, combined with rising development costs and increasingly risk-averse publishing strategies.
ZA/UM noted that it remains “continued to consult and work with representatives of the ZA/UM Workers’ Alliance” as it navigates the restructuring. What remains unclear is whether the studio can recover its footing after the departure of so much creative talent — or whether Zero Parades will be remembered as the final chapter in one of gaming’s most remarkable stories.