The expelled developers of Disco Elysium accused the studio of financial fraud and unfair dismissal, and the matter was taken to court. The lawsuits are now resolved, and the winner is pretty clear.
The drama between Disco Elysium’s former developers and the studio’s new owners has gotten ugly. After the hugely successful role-playing game designer Robert Corvets, writer Helen Hindberry, and art director Alexander Rostov were fired by new management, the developers sued Elmar Combos and Tunisia Havel, who acquired the company and assumed leadership positions. Those evicted claimed that the pair had purchased the studio through financial fraud, and were also sued for these allegations.
Meanwhile, another dismissed employee, Cor Kinder, brought charges against ZA / UM, because she, too, suffered the same fate as Korvitz, Hindberry and Rostov. According to the former executive producer at the studio, he was fired only because he dared to ask certain questions to the new management.
And what was the end of the above legal disputes? Well, apparently the fired ZA/UM employees couldn’t come up with enough evidence to win this delicate legal dispute. The case of Corvets, Hindbury, and Rostov had reached an impasse, and they could not find sufficient objective evidence to support their accusations, in short, their case was not on solid ground. So they dropped the legal dispute, and the court didn’t need to look further.
Core Kinder also withdrew from the lawsuit and later admitted that it had based its accusations on incorrect information. The former producer disposed of all his shares in the studio, paid off his debt to the studio and, pursuant to the court order, reimbursed Ilmar Kompus, CEO of ZA/UM, for his costs related to the lawsuit.
