Something is rotten in the state of Levachol. The creators of perhaps the greatest PC game of all time (opens in new tab) have been cut off from the Disco Elysium studio ZA/UM that they co-founded and are fighting in court.

According to one side, the answer is simple: four concept sketches of a man in a scarf, the first glimpse of the "Disco Elysium" sequel, were bought last year by a paper company controlled by ZA/UM executives for just over €1 and immediately sold to ZA/UM for €4.8 million for They were allegedly resold.

The first players in the battle include Robert Kulwitz and Alexander Rostov, the principal creators of Disco Elysium, and Kerr Kender, the game's executive producer and marketing manager. All are partners in Studio ZA/UM.

The other two are Ilmar Kompus, director and largest shareholder of Studio ZA/UM, and Tonis Havel. Estonia's Ekspress newspaper (opens in new tab) describes Haavel as "a well-spoken former banker who was convicted of investment fraud in 2015 and given a seven-month suspended prison sentence." He was also the executive producer of Disco Elysium."

The allegations surrounding Disco Elysium and ZA/UM stem from an October hearing in Harju County Court, Estonia's largest county court. At this time, there are claims and counter-claims, none of which have been settled.

According to the Estonian Ekspress (opens in new tab), the issue began when Margus Linnamae, who had a majority stake in Disco Elysium and was ZA/UM's largest shareholder, decided to sell his shares in 2021. Linnamae was expected to split his holdings with his partners, but he reportedly sold everything to Combs.

Kurwitz and Rostov did not know this at the time. Their suspicions were aroused when, after being demoted internally and checking the Estonian company registry, they realized that control of ZA/UM now belonged to Combs The two allegedly began demanding answers and were fired shortly after The two still hold a small stake in ZA/UM They still own a small stake in ZA/UM.

At the hearing, Kulwitz and Rostov alleged that Combs used money that should have gone to the studio and shareholders to buy a $4.8 million sketch to fund a sequel to Disco Elysium. This was the alleged modus operandi.

Tütreke, a paper company controlled by Kompus, somehow obtained these four sketches (described as being for a game called Pioneer One) and allegedly paid ZA/UM exactly one pound before reselling them for €4.8 million. This sum appears to have been used to purchase a large stake in Linnamae and place it in the hands of Compus.

Compus allegedly wanted an early resale of ZA/UM and Disco Elysium. At the hearing, we heard that Microsoft and Tencent were tempted, and that an Amazon studio was interested in producing a TV series set in this world.

But a problem remained: Robert Kulwitz is the creator of "Disco Elysium" and still owns part of it, and has the right to block any acquisition. However, the entirety of these IP rights are owned by a subsidiary of ZA/UM UK, and ZA/UM UK is represented by Ilmer Combs (he owns one-fifth of this company).

By this stage, Kender, the executive producer of Disco Elysium, had also begun asking difficult questions, which Combs allegedly dealt with by putting him on leave and then firing him.

Kender claimed in court that Combs had defrauded him out of just under €1,000,000. He argued to the court that Kompus' ZA/UM shares should be seized in order to prevent ZA/UM from being sold during the ongoing litigation and the funds from being diverted abroad. The court agreed and seized them.

Kender's lawsuit also targeted Tonis Habel, alleging that Kompus was acting under his direction. To cut to the chase, ZA/UM UK owns a subsidiary called Yessirnosir Ltd, which is the IP rights holder for "Disco Elysium" and this company was supposedly owned by Kompus. In fact, the director is Anu Reiman, who also owns "over 75%" of it (open in new tab) and is a partner of one Tonis Havel.

Kender claims that Haavel's role is being kept secret because Haavel is bankrupt for an astonishing €11.2 million. That is because it is obligated to pay compensation for the infamous scandal known as the Baku land case. This was the cause of Havel's conviction in 2015.

Ilmar Kompos denied the existence of a lawsuit against him to the Estonian Express. The paper then sent him a legal document. He saw it and did not respond further.

Haavel told the Ekspress that the allegations were "absolutely ridiculous" and that he would not comment on orders he had not seen. He was sent the order again, but again was silent.

This is the financial aspect of the battle for the soul of Disco Elysium, but it could get even more serious. Kulwitz and Rostov believe that the new owners of ZA/UM should be held criminally liable.

On November 9, Studio ZA/UM provided PC Gamer with a statement (opens in new tab) detailing the reasons for firing Kulwitz and Rostov. According to the statement, Kulwitz and Rostov had demonstrated "limited or no responsibility and involvement in the 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."

The next development will be a general meeting of Studio ZA/UM, where, surprisingly, small shareholders (such as Kulwitz and Rostov) will vote on whether the studio should file its own lawsuit against Compus. Compus will not be allowed to participate in the vote.

To summarize: the main creators of Disco Elysium owned a minority stake in ZA/UM, but while they were concentrating on game production and other activities, the largest share of the company was allegedly acquired by financial fraudulent means, with the studio itself paying a share holding fee on behalf of one individual

The purpose of the acquisition was to "create a new game.

The goal was not necessarily to milk the creators, but they were fired not because of any professional misconduct, but because they realized what was going on. The alleged aim was to use the success of Disco Elysium to sell the rights to the giant tech company for tens of millions of dollars and get rich before the Anarcho-Commie designers realized what was happening.

In other words, Compass and Havel want to sell the rights, but cannot do so under the current circumstances because Kulwitz can block any deal. Similarly, Kulwitz has spent over 20 years creating this incredibly rich setting, but will never be able to work with it again because the rights are with ZA/UM UK.

What a surprise. It should be kept in mind that the court may have taken action to seize the Comps holdings, but has yet to make any findings. There are sure to be more twists and turns in the dispute over the future of Disco Elysium. What is worrisome is that if no definitive settlement is reached, there may be no future for Disco Elysium.

Studio ZA/UM has been contacted for comment.