In October, news broke that the key creators behind Disco Elysium had left the studio ZA/UM last year. A few days later, Martin Luiga, a founding member of ZA/UM, claimed that they had been "fired on false premises. The studio ZA/UM issued a statement about the "collective effort" to develop the game without commenting substantively on the news. Then today, both sides made startling allegations.

Robert Kulwitz, game director of the fired "Disco Elysium," and Alexander Rostov, art director, have written an open letter (opens in new tab) claiming that ZA/UM's current owners illegally took over the company before they were forced out Published. The letter was apparently prompted by a report in an Estonian newspaper claiming that the two creators were toxic leaders who were fired for ignoring their responsibilities and mistreating their colleagues. The report quoted the current CEO of the studio ZA/UM, who later issued an official statement from the studio repeating the claim.

In other words, the situation is this: the fired creative leaders of Disco Elysium, Kulwitz and Rostov, say that the new studio co-owner who fired them, CEO Ilmar Combs, is an illegal interventionist in the business, while Combs and ZA/ UM deny the claims and say that Kulwitz and Rostov were fired for toxic management. It seems almost certain that this one will end up in court.

The Estonian Ekspress report quotes Kompus as saying: "Robert [Kulwitz] is allegedly known to have defamed women and colleagues in the past, but previously this was unknown to the company. It would be very shortsighted for a growing international company to condone such behavior."

Combs further states that Kulwitz and others had "delusions of grandeur" about their ownership of the Disco-Elysian IP, claiming that they tried to go elsewhere in the industry but "no one was interested."

The report alleges that Kulwitz and Rostov abused their colleagues in various ways, but does not go into detail. It also states that there was a conflict between the business side of ZA/UM and the creative team, which, given that this was an anarcho-communist group, might display a shocked Pikachu jpg. [GI.biz (opens in new tab), in its report on this claim, cites anonymous sources and describes the situation as "a CEO corporate conspiracy on the one hand and a toxic writer on the other."

ZA/UM issued a statement to PC Gamer detailing the reasons for firing Kulwitz and Rostov. According to the statement, Kulwitz and Rostov have demonstrated "limited or no responsibility and involvement in their work," including "not working at all for almost two years." The company also accused the two of "verbal abuse," "gender discrimination," and "attempting to illegally sell" ZA/UM intellectual property "for the purpose of undermining other members of the team."

The statement further states that ZA/UM "denies any allegations of financial irregularities or fraud" and that "the majority of the profits from Disco Elysion are invested in the studio to fund new projects."

"Financial irregularities" is one of several allegations Kulwitz and Rostov make in their letter. (The letter is not signed by Helen Hindpere, the third person fired, but she shared it on Instagram shortly after its publication.)

"Our investment in the game exists in the form of a minority stake in an Estonian company called Zaum Studio OÜ, which owns everything related to the game," Kulvitz and Rostov's letter states. The majority of the company's shares were initially held by Margus Linnamäe, an Estonian businessman and investor." In 2021, Linnamäe was acquired by another minority shareholder, the Estonian company Tütreke OÜ, which is run by two Estonian businessmen - Ilmar Kompus and Tonis Haavel.

Kompus is still the current CEO of ZA/UM, and Haavel was the executive producer of Disco Elysium. Kulwitz and Rostov go on to say that after they became major shareholders in the studio, these two quickly fired them and terminated their "access to company information." This allegedly happened after Kulwitz and Rostov asked for documents and financial data, which they say were never provided.

Then begins Kulwitz and Rostov's big accusation: "Tütreke OÜ must have gained control of Zaum Studio OÜ through fraud. We believe that the funds used by Tütreke OÜ to purchase a majority stake were taken illegally out of Zaum Studio OÜ itself and used for the benefit of one shareholder, even though they belonged to the studio and all shareholders. The money should have been used to pay for the production of the sequel."

In other words, the main creators of Disco Elysium say that Disco Elysium's profits were used to buy out Disco Elysium and ZA/UM itself.

"In our view, and in the view of our lawyers, these acts amount to criminal wrongdoing punishable by up to three years in prison, and we believe that they were committed by Ilmar Kompos and Tonis Havel, with the support of another minority shareholder, Kerr Kendell We believe that Ilmar Combs and Tonis Havel, with the support of another minority shareholder, Carr Kendell, were responsible for this. This is not surprising given that the supposed ringleader, Tõnis Haavel, was convicted of defrauding investors in a separate case in 2007 (open in new tab).

This link is to an Estonian court document, but the allegations relate to a bank called LHV Pank, which Haavel co-founded, and which was also sued for fraud by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2007. The company paid a hefty fine and settled without admitting wrongdoing.

Kulvitz and Rostov said they are considering their legal options but intend to file both civil and criminal lawsuits in Estonia and the UK." The company we have built has been looted, while our own earnings are insufficient to cover the legal costs."

According to the letter, the two have remained silent out of concern for those still remaining in ZA/UM and their own mental health. They wrote: "However, given the seriousness of our suspicions and the evidence we have, I think the time has come for people to know what happened at the company.

The letter does not address the various accusations of toxicity and irresponsibility against the two and concludes: we also believe in what Harrier Dubois calls "the law." It is not perfect, but it is there to protect the creator from the taker. And so it does."

"Disco Elysium," which still tops PC Gamer magazine's list of the 100 best games to play on PC, is particularly critical of greed, petit bourgeoisness, and the compromises we all have to make in our lives because of these systems It is a brilliant critique of capitalism. Needless to say, it is a brilliant critique of capitalism. It is a kind of cosmic irony that this creation is now the subject of claims, anti-claims, and lawsuits.