Developer ZA/UM could have had an enormous hit with 2019’s Disco Elysium, nevertheless it’s nonetheless a reasonably small studio. And that ought to stay the best way it’s, at the very least so far as author/audio director Jim Asilevy is anxious.
“I hope we by no means change into a triple-A studio,” he mentioned in a current interview with videogameaddicted.
ZA/UM at present employs slightly below 100 employees, lots of whom work remotely from varied places around the globe. We now have an workplace in Tallinn, Estonia. London, UK. and Porto, Portugal, the corporate stays independently owned. That is actually bigger than many indie builders take pleasure in, nevertheless it’s nonetheless small. That is what Ashilevi likes.
“I believe we’re all the time deeply inspired and impressed by the indie scene, as a result of that is the place recent concepts come from,” he mentioned. “I hope that the avant-garde all the time occurs on the fringes and by no means leads to a triple-A studio. Actually, even when ‘Zero Parade’ sells 4 billion copies, I hope we’re clever to remain true to our core sensibilities and values as artists and storytellers.”
As a part of that dialog, Ashilevi shared his evaluation of the gaming atmosphere. “I believe it’s a troublesome scenario on the market,” he mentioned. “I believe the trade is in a extremely powerful spot. Everyone knows that. However I do not suppose the trade is in a troublesome spot creatively. I believe in some methods it is higher than ever. It is higher than ever as a result of anybody could make a recreation that touches a whole bunch of tens of millions of individuals.”
The remark was in reference to the success of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which was developed on a a lot larger finances than any of ZA/UM’s tasks, however confirmed that in 2025 there’s a enormous demand for single-player, story-driven video games created exterior of the mega-publisher’s circle.
“I believe the trade is changing into much less gatekeeper-like in some methods,” he says. “However that additionally brings up one other query, which is how do you begin selling a recreation or really ensuring that you just discover an viewers for that recreation? I believe the one factor you’ll be able to actually management is whether or not you keep true to your imaginative and prescient and your voice.”
After I investigated earlier this week, When it got here to Zero Parade, that imaginative and prescient was ZA/UM’s “North Star.”. “So I am already actually proud and proud of what we have accomplished,” says Asilevy. “The response from the gamers will hopefully be optimistic, virtually optimistic, however for the time being it is just about an added bonus. The actual worth I received from it as a storyteller was having the ability to get to know my buddies and colleagues a bit bit higher and discover out extra about what was happening of their hearts and minds and souls.”
For extra on ZA/UM, take a look at the studio’s stance on using AI and why its new RPG is so much like Disco Elysium. Additionally, for those who’re all in favour of taking part in Zero Parades, a free demo will probably be accessible as a part of Steam Subsequent Fest.
Matt Purslow is videogameaddicted’s Options Editor.