ZA/UM Studio is planning layoffs after Zero Parades: For Dead Spies failed to sell well enough to support the developer’s current size. The Disco Elysium studio has issued redundancy or at-risk notices affecting up to 32 employees across all departments.
The announcement comes about two months after Zero Parades launched on PC. The espionage RPG received positive reviews from critics, but ZA/UM said its commercial performance was not enough to keep the studio operating at its current headcount.
ZA/UM has served redundancy or at-risk notices to up to 32 workers. The cuts are not limited to one team, with the studio saying they affect employees across all departments. The affected developers left a mark on Zero Parades and ZA/UM as a whole. The studio’s artistic standards remain unchanged, even as the business now moves to a smaller structure.
Zero Parades: For Dead Spies launched in May 2026 as ZA/UM’s first new RPG after Disco Elysium. The game follows Hershel Wilk, an aging spy who returns to the field for one last mission in Portofiro.
The game was praised for its writing, political tension and strange espionage world. That praise did not lead to enough sales. ZA/UM’s layoff announcement makes the reason clear. Critical acclaim was not enough to support the studio’s current size.
Zero Parades always had a difficult job. It arrived from the studio name tied to Disco Elysium, one of the most acclaimed RPGs of the last decade, but it also came after years of public conflict around ZA/UM.
That history shaped how players viewed the new game before it launched. Former Disco Elysium leads had already left the studio, legal disputes and public accusations had followed, and several new studios formed around ex-ZA/UM talent. Zero Parades had to prove itself as a new RPG while carrying all of that baggage.
ZA/UM still owns the Zero Parades intellectual property, including its characters, audiovisual assets, music and story content. That means the studio keeps control of the project even as it cuts staff.
The company has also continued supporting the game after launch, including recent patch notes and player support updates. The layoffs now raise questions about how much long-term support the game can receive, especially if fewer people remain across production, design, QA and community roles.
Zero Parades: For Dead Spies remains available on PC, where it launched through Steam. The game is a narrative-heavy espionage RPG built around dialogue, choices, investigation and political intrigue rather than traditional combat systems.
ZA/UM has not announced console versions or a major expansion plan for Zero Parades. For now, the game’s next phase depends on post-launch support from a smaller team while the studio moves through the redundancy process.
