Disco Elysium's devs might be heading into space with their next game
To hire, or not to hire, that is the question
Disco Elysium’s developers ZA/UM are looking for artists to work on their next game, which sounds very much like it could be heading to the stars. Whatever the project is, ZA/UM’s reference to Shakespeare’s play Hamlet in the job listing certainly suggests they’ll stick with the keen intellect of their last RPG. If you’re not familiar with Disco Elysium’s blend of ideology and role-playing then watch Astrid’s (RPS in Peace) video below.
The advert for an Environment Concept Artist stipulates that ZA/UM are seeking someone skilled in the “creation of non-earth environments” with an enthusiasm for sci-fi. “You can create and visualise new worlds and have a love for sci-fi and space,” it reads and, nodding towards Hamlet, adds: “You understand that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in philosophy.”
That’s from Act 1 Scene 5 of Shakespeare’s Danish play. I’m no scholar of the Bard, but my understanding of the line is that the human imagination is limited and can’t conceive of everything that might exist. It’s just one arresting line from a play packed with them. I’m intrigued by the possibility of a grandiose interstellar RPG that touches on the works of Earth’s most famous playwright now. Judging by another ad, for Lead Environment Artist, ZA/UM’s next game might be built in Unreal Engine 5 too.
Nic Reuben praised the new voice-over work in the revamped Disco Elysium – The Final Cut last year. “On the whole, having Disco’s luxury dialogue piped into your ears by a largely capable and understated cast is hard to complain about,” he said. “A chorus of folky, disparate dialects curled around prose that is itself at once folky and curated, fluttering between whimsical observations, apocalyptic visions and literary ornateness. T.S Eliot’s Prufrock turned pisshead-with-a-Twitter-feed.”
Disco Elysium – The Final Cut is on Steam, GOG and the Epic Games Store for £35/$40/€40.