Overview
- ZA/UM announced on Friday that it has served redundancy and at-risk notices to 32 employees across all departments and that it consulted representatives of the ZA/UM Workers' Alliance during the process.
- The studio said Zero Parades: For Dead Spies received strong critical reviews but its commercial performance did not generate enough revenue to support the company's previous size.
- If the union-reported headcount of roughly 100 employees still applies, the 32 notices would represent about one-third of the studio's workforce and follow earlier layoffs in 2024.
- ZA/UM appealed publicly for other developers to consider hiring the affected staff, said it will continue operating, and confirmed a planned PlayStation 5 release of Zero Parades later this year.
- The cuts follow a longer saga that began with the 2021 ouster of key Disco Elysium creators, subsequent legal fights and fan backlash that commentators link to weaker sales, highlighting risks for small narrative studios and the workers who rely on them.