Zero Parades: For Dead Spies should have been an easy win for fans of dense, strange RPGs. It is the new game from ZA/UM, the studio behind Disco Elysium, and critics have praised its writing, world, and spy-story ambition. On Steam, though, the response is far messier.
The game currently has mixed user reviews, and a large part of that reaction is not about bugs, combat, or performance. Many players are still angry about the long-running ZA/UM controversy that followed Disco Elysium, and that baggage has now landed on the studio’s next major release.
Zero Parades launched as a text-heavy espionage RPG about a troubled spy pulled back into a dangerous mission. It keeps the dice checks, internal voices, and political writing that made Disco Elysium so distinct, but shifts the focus from detective work to surveillance, paranoia, and broken networks.
Critics have been much kinder than Steam users so far. Reviews from outlets such as Eurogamer, PC Gamer, The Verge, Kotaku, and TechRadar describe a bold, difficult, and often impressive follow-up, even when they disagree on how well it escapes the shadow of Disco Elysium.
Steam players are more divided. Some reviews praise the writing and role-playing systems, while others are using the page to protest ZA/UM itself. Several negative reviews point directly to the studio’s past disputes, the departure of key Disco Elysium creatives, and the feeling that supporting the new game also means supporting the company that now controls the name.
The anger around ZA/UM did not appear overnight. After Disco Elysium became one of the most praised RPGs of the last decade, the studio was hit by public disputes involving former lead creatives, legal claims, ownership fights, layoffs, and canceled projects.
That history changed how many fans look at anything ZA/UM releases now. For some players, Zero Parades cannot be judged only as a new RPG because it comes from a studio tied to one of the ugliest creative breakups in modern game development.
That is why the Steam page reads less like a normal launch reaction and more like a fight over trust. Some players are reviewing the game in front of them. Others are judging the company behind it.
The strange part is that Zero Parades is not being dismissed as a weak game. Reviews have praised its painted visual style, sharp political writing, voice acting, strange humor, and new systems built around the main character’s mental state.
The criticism is more specific; some reviewers argue that its spy premise does not always work cleanly, especially when the game still feels so close to Disco Elysium in structure. Others say it starts slowly or struggles to make its espionage fantasy feel convincing.
Even then, the wider critical picture is far more positive than the Steam score suggests. That gap makes Zero Parades one of the more unusual RPG launches of the year: a game praised for its craft, but dragged down by years of unresolved studio resentment.
Zero Parades now has to do more than prove it is a good RPG. It has to survive being measured against Disco Elysium, judged through ZA/UM’s public history, and picked apart by players who may never separate the game from the studio drama around it.
For anyone only interested in the game, the early picture is clear enough. Zero Parades: For Dead Spies is a dense, political spy RPG with strong reviews from critics and a much colder Steam reception shaped heavily by ZA/UM’s past.
