ZA/UM Studio, the developer behind Disco Elysium, has revealed its next project, Project C4. Rather than following up with Disco Elysium 2, the studio is shifting direction with a new original IP described as a psychological espionage RPG, a genre in desperate need of big titles.
Project C4 is designed around themes of surveillance, identity, and power. Players will assume the role of an Operant, an agent working under the influence of a morally ambiguous global power, sent on a dangerous mission where the threat isn’t just physical harm, but personal exposure. The game features systems that rely on dice rolls for outcomes, suggesting a mix of narrative choice and chance similar to traditional tabletop RPGs.
ZA/UM says the game will explore altered states of mind, allowing players to use mind-affecting substances to influence how their character perceives and interacts with the world. The setting is described as a covert battleground where hidden factions and political forces are constantly in play, pushing the player into difficult decisions.
While Project C4 is the next major title from ZA/UM, it appears to have little involvement from the original team behind Disco Elysium. Following a highly public internal dispute in 2022, several key developers, including Robert Kurvitz and Aleksander Rostov, were removed from the company. They later claimed that the studio’s controlling interest had been acquired under fraudulent circumstances and that they were excluded from operations before being formally dismissed. The studio refuted the claims and attributed the departures to misconduct.
In the months since, reports surfaced that ZA/UM had cancelled several in-development projects, including a standalone Disco Elysium expansion, Disco Elysium 2 (or an untitled sequel), and a separate sci-fi game. The company also underwent staff reductions, reportedly cutting around 25% of its workforce.
We don’t have much information about when the game will come out or on what platforms for now. But Disco Elysium slowly made its way onto Xbox and Mac as well down the road, the new title might get similar treatment.
