Sad: ZA/UM Lays Off a Third of Staff Following Zero Parades' Commercial Failure

ZA/UM, the development studio behind the critically acclaimed RPG Disco Elysium, has issued termination notices to 32 employees, roughly a third of its workforce of around 100 developers. The layoffs come just two months after the May launch of the developer's new title—Zero Parades: For Dead Spies, an isometric spy RPG released on PC, with a PS5 version planned for later.

Despite receiving fairly good reviews (including from us), Zero Parades failed to meet commercial expectations, leading to the studio's decision. In a statement it published, the developer acknowledged the gap between reviews and actual sales: "While Zero Parades: For Dead Spies launched and received critical acclaim, its commercial performance has not allowed us to sustain a studio of our current size."

The layoffs affect 32 employees across all departments, and the developer has called on other studios to consider hiring the laid-off workers. "This changes the face of ZA/UM, but not its purpose. Our artistic standards remain unchanged; we will continue forward."

This marks the studio's second major round of layoffs in recent years. ZA/UM previously laid off 25% of its staff in February 2024, following the highly publicized ousting of two of the original creators, who later founded competing studios. The studio's turbulent history continues to cast uncertainty over its future projects, and only time will tell if we'll see another game from them.