Summary
Longdue,one of the studios making a game that’s being described as a spiritual successor to Disco Elysium, had no idea thattwo other projects would be revealed on the same day.
Speaking with me at Game Industry Conference in Poland, creative director Grant Roberts gives us some more details on Longdue’s own game. He also explains that the team was just as surprised as we were to see two other studios revealDisco Elysiumsuccessors on the same day, although he’s looking forward to seeing what they’re working on too.
Longdue Game Studios On Disco Elysium’s Legacy - And The Announcement Of Three Spiritual Successors
“I woke up that morning and I was like, ‘Oh, man, I can’t wait’,” he says. “Then at the same time, there was already an announcement from Dark Math Games, one of the other studios. I’m like, ‘What? What’s happened? What happened there?’
“And then by the end of the day, Summer Eternal announced as well. It’s like, wow, it’s a cornucopia of studios. But no, we had no idea that they were both going to announce as well”
Despite this, Roberts holds no ill will against the other studios. “There’s no competition there. I am super excited to make something new with this studio, and to watch other people make something new in a different way. It’s going to be super cool.”
I don’t want to necessarily recreate the spirit of ZA/UM, because that’s their thing.
He also doesn’t feel that any one project could perfectly recapture Disco Elysium, and how it was made. “I don’t think it’s necessarily a thing where people are trying to lay claim to the legacy or anything,” he explains. “I think it’s just more that the game and the politics that it had, and the spirit in which it was developed - when it was being developed in a healthy way - is super inspiring for people, and they want to continue that on.
“I don’t want to try to recreate what happened behind the scenes there. I don’t want to necessarily recreate the spirit of ZA/UM, because that’s their thing. They all knew each other from a young age, and they formed this thing together. […] I’ve been working in this business for 25 years, it’s very different for me.”
As for what Longdue’s game will look like, Roberts is passionate about classic cRPGs and is eager to feed the audience that he feels has always been there.
“I think of it sometimes like there’s a spectrum, andBaldur’s Gate 3is on one side, and Disco Elysium is on the other,” he says. “There’s so much room for other studios to come out and make something on that spectrum.
“We’re not going to be all the way over here [like] Disco Elysium, because I think that that kind of spirit and the way that they made it, and the politics behind the game and behind the studio - I think Summer Eternal is pretty is filling that space. But we’re not over here [like] Baldur’s Gate 3, because we’re not that size of a studio.Larianis doing incredible stuff, but we’re not going to make a Larian-sized game. We’re going to make something closer to Disco.”
Summer Eternal hasn’t actually announced its game yet, but the studio reveal came in the form of a manifesto about the state of the gaming industry. Yes, it was very Disco Elysium.
We’ll have to wait and see what Longdue’s game ends up looking like. In the meantime, Dark Math Games has revealed its own game, XXX Nightshift, with a trailer. On top of this, two Disco Elysium leads, Robert Kurvitz and Alexander Rostov, have formed a studio. Then, there’s whatever is going on at ZA/UM,which is still operating despite layoffs.
Disco Elysium
WHERE TO PLAY
Disco Elysium first launched in 2019 and sees you play the role of a detective investigating a murder. Critically acclaimed for its themes, art style, and largely combat-free gameplay, with a more complete version of the game, The Final Cut, launched in 2021.
