After Years of Chaos, the Workers of Disco Elysium Are Finally Seizing the Means of Production

In a move that feels both long overdue and incredibly fitting, the UK-based staff at ZA/UM, the studio that gave us the masterpiece of political misery Disco Elysium, have officially unionized.

After a few years of absolute turbulence: we’re talking project cancellations, mass layoffs, and a public falling out that was messier than a three-day-old crime scene - the people still trying to make games amidst the chaos have decided to secure a seat at the table. They’re calling themselves the ZA/UM Workers' Alliance, and honestly, good for them.

A Reckoning After the Wreckage

Let's not pretend this came out of nowhere. Early last year, the studio axed about a quarter of its staff after canning a standalone expansion for Disco Elysium. For a small, tight-knit team that’s a bloodbath. "Any project cancellation is devastating," marketing manager and union rep Poppy Ingham said. That event, combined with the constant industry-wide layoffs, apparently lit a fire under the remaining staff.

The goal is simple and painfully understandable. They want to feel safe in their jobs. "We like being here. We want to continue being here. So let's try and get a seat at the table in the big management meetings," Ingham explained. It's a basic, human desire for stability in an industry that treats its talent like disposable assets.

The Toxicity of Fandom

Of course, you can't talk about ZA/UM without addressing the elephant in the room: the ugly public divorce between the studio’s new management and its original creative leads. That drama spawned a cottage industry of commentary and, unfortunately, a torrent of abuse aimed at the people still working there.

I get being passionate about a game, but the line gets crossed pretty fucking quick. "When people are telling us to go kill ourselves, I'm the person reading that," Ingham stated. "Management aren't the ones reading that. We talk about the fans valuing workers, but the abuse they're sending comes to the workers." It's a grim reminder that the current team is caught in the crossfire, weathering both corporate instability and a fanbase that sometimes can't separate the art from the artists.

A Painful Lesson

Management, for their part, is playing nice. Studio president Ed Tomaszewski claims recognizing the union was "core to our values." He was even "pleasantly surprised" that the union's first meeting wasn't just a list of problems. It’s a nice sentiment, but it comes after the cancellation of three separate games since 2019.

Tomaszewski described this history as a "painful lesson" for a studio that "thought they could do everything and all at once." I'd call it mismanagement. But regardless of what you call it, the outcome is the same: insecurity and layoffs that spurred this union into existence.

The Road Ahead

This isn't just about ZA/UM. It’s a story we’re seeing across the industry as workers finally start pushing back against the churn-and-burn cycle. The team is now working on a new espionage RPG, Zero Parades: For Dead Spies, with the added security that a union provides.

The hope, as one rep put it, is that other studios will look at them and think, "if they can do it, so can we." In an industry that's been bleeding talent for years, that’s a powerful message. It's taken a lot of pain to get here, but the workers who brought us one of the most politically charged games in recent memory are finally practicing what their creation preached. It’s about damn time.

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