LogIn"Both civil claims and criminal charges are on the table."
Robert Kurvitz and Aleksander Rostov – the Game Director and Art Director of Disco Elysium, who were recently ousted from ZA/UM, have shared an in-depth open letter concerning the situation at the studio, claiming that ZA/UM's new majority shareholder Tütreke OÜ, an Estonian company led by Ilmar Kompus and Tõnis Haavel, obtained control over the studio by fraud.
According to the devs, back in 2021, Tütreke OÜ bought the shares initially held by Margus Linnamäe, an Estonian businessman and investor who provided the initial capital for the development of Disco Elysium, becoming the majority shareholder and changing the balance of power within the company.
"As soon as they became majority shareholders, we were quickly excluded from daily operations, our employment was terminated, and our access to the company’s information was shut off," write Robert and Aleksander. "Our firing came weeks after we started asking for documents and financial data, which is still being kept from us."
The letter alleges that the money Tütreke OÜ used to buy Linnamäe's shares was taken illegally from ZA/UM itself, meaning the shareholder obtained control over the company by fraud. The devs accused Kompus and Haavel of stealing the money that "should have gone towards making the sequel" and commented that they are now reviewing their legal options.
"We believe that these actions – which in our view, and the view of our lawyers, amount to criminal wrongdoing punishable by up to three years imprisonment – were perpetrated by Ilmar Kompus and Tõnis Haavel with support from Kaur Kender, another minority shareholder," commented the duo. "We are now in the process of reviewing our legal options. Both civil claims and criminal charges are on the table."
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