GamesIndustry.biz (opens in new tab) reports that ZA/UM partner and Disco Elysium executive producer Kaur Kender has dropped her lawsuit against the company's majority shareholder and CEO. The move comes amid an ongoing struggle (open in new tab) between the founding members of ZA/UM and the current leadership, in which core members of the developer/art collective claim that Ilmar Kompus, ZA/UM's current CEO, has usurped their position through financial misconduct. Both Kender and Kompus, who have dropped their lawsuit, claim victory, but one of the ousted founding developers told PC Gamer that their battle is far from over.

In summary, Helen Hindpere, Alexander Rostov, and Robert Kulwitz, credited as writer, artist, and lead designer of Disco Elysium, respectively, were founding members of the artist collective turned game developer. This setting evolved from a friends group tabletop campaign, and the first commercial work published in this setting was Kurvitz's 2013 novel Sacred and Terrible Air; all three had left the company by the end of 2021.

All three, as well as Martin Ruiga (opens in new tab), who is credited as editor of Disco Elysium and appears to have parted ways early in development, were kicked out of the studio by investor Ilmar Combs, who is credited on the game as "corporate, finance, legal and accounting" (opens in new tab), the four claim that Kompus, now CEO of ZA/UM, used the company's own funds (€4.8 million) to buy himself a majority stake, allowing him to determine the studio's future.

Meanwhile, Ilmar Kompus claims "verbal abuse," "gender discrimination," and "attempts to illegally sell ZA/UM's intellectual property" on the part of Kulwitz and Rostov. Comps claims that the two were fired for these reasons and denies any financial wrongdoing.

Estonian outlet Eesti Ekspress (opens in new tab) (users may encounter a paywall) reports that Kompus "repaid" €4.8 million to ZA/UM in November. According to the paper, the €4.8 million was "received based on an invalid transaction," Eesti Ekspress notes that Kompus "controls both sides" of that invalid transaction.

The allegation against Kompus is that he sold the company's own property and used the illegal proceeds to purchase a majority stake. This time, by sending the company €4.8 million to repay the "invalid transaction," the message seems intended to be that he did not use the company's money to purchase the shares. But why did he have 4.8 million euros in the first place?

Kender had filed a lawsuit against Compass in an Estonian court based on alleged financial irregularities, but dropped the case. According to this chronology, Kender filed the lawsuit on October 25, after which OÜ Tütreke, a private company of Compus, paid ZA/UM €4 million on November 4 and €800,000 on November 11 to cover the funds in question.

Kender concluded that "insofar as Ilmar Kompus has returned the €4.8 million that it illegally took out, Kaulkender has achieved the purpose of the suit and the court proceedings in this case are concluded."

Meanwhile, Kompus told GamesIndustry.biz that "[Kender and his lawyer's] decision confirms that their accusations were unfounded and that I acted properly and responsibly, as highlighted by the corporate records I provided." He stated.

Robert Kulwitz told PC Gamer that he was aware of "Kompus' position" that the money taken from ZA/UM Studio had been "repaid." " Kurwitz says he has seen "partial bank statements that allegedly confirm such repayment," but remains uncertain about "the source and legal nature of this repayment and the further use of the funds that were allegedly repaid.

"Moreover, the 'repayment' of company funds used to fraudulently acquire a majority stake does not erase the primary result of the first fraud, namely, that Combs is still the majority owner, a position he could have obtained only by using company funds as his own. It doesn't erase the fact that Comps is still the majority owner and that its position could only be obtained by using company funds as its own," says Kulwitz. 'In light of this, our situation has not materially changed and we continue to explore our legal options. We are unable to comment on the decision that Kerr Kender has made regarding his claim.

The future of what we at PC Gamer continue to regard as one of the best video games ever made (opens in new tab) remains uncertain; Kompus has reimbursed ZA/UM €4.8 million, claiming the exchange was entirely legal and legitimate. In his statement, Kender continues to refer to the €4.8 million as "unlawfully taken" from the company, but has dropped the lawsuit and appears satisfied with its return.

Kulwitz and Rostov, on the other hand, claim that the money, whatever its movement and ultimate destination, was used to illegally seize a development company that at one time sprang from their art collective. Kulwitz and Rostov also claim that they helped Combs acquire a majority stake in the company, but do not appear to have taken a very active role in the proceedings. We will continue to follow and report as the legal battle over ownership of Disco Elysium develops.