ZA/UM veterans are reuniting with a major investor from the Disco Elysium days to work on its 'true detective RPG' successor.
Dark Math Games, one of the several new studios founded by talent from Disco Elysium creator ZA/UM, has netted a sizable investment from Estonian firm MM Grupp just months after announcing its first game.
While an exact amount or other terms of the deal have not been shared, the studio confirmed with GamesIndustry that the deal represents a seven-figure investment. MM Grupp was also a majority investor for Disco Elysium, with Dark Math founder Kaur Kender calling the firm "an experienced investor that understands and appreciates art, as well as the video game industry specifically".
"Grupp's backing will bring stability and long-term vision. We have done something great together in the past, and are positive that we'll do it again," he continued.
In October, the freshly founded studio announced its first project, XXX Nightshift. Dark Math will put that new money towards its game, which has been previously described as a "true detective RPG" in the vein of Disco.
Dark Math Games is one of several studios set up by ZA/UM alumni that is hoping to continue the momentum that Disco Elysium built up. The very same day Dark Math was revealed, Longdue Games revealed itself to the world. That fellow fledgling studio is currently making a "psychogeographic RPG...set in a world where choices ripple between the character’s psyche and environment."
Hours after those announcements, Disco writer Argo Tuulik announced Summer Eternal, an "art collective/RPG studio" that features fellow ZA/UM alums Olga Moskvina, Dora Klindžić, and Lenval Brown. Tuulik's aim for his company is to bring on old coworkers and new hires to "create a liberating space for us and other veteran RPG developers to finally, collectively start innovating again in this game space."
Not to be left behind, the studio Red Info was also announced around that same time, though without as much info to share as the other three. That studio was notably founded by Aleksander Rostov and Robert Kurvitz, the art designer and lead writer on Disco Elysium, respectively, who were allegedly ousted alongside writer Helen Hindpere from the company in 2022.
That tumultuous set of exits set off a chain reaction: since 2022, ZA/UM itself has laid off staff, cancelled projects, and has been levvied with allegations of mistreating employees.
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