LogIn
The company detailed reasons behind recent dismissals saying that former employees created a toxic environment and tried to illegally sell ZA/UM's IPs to other gaming companies.
In early October, ZA/UM, the developer behind 2019's RPG Disco Elysium, revealed that Robert Kurvitz, Aleksander Rostov, and Helen Hindpere had left the studio at the end of 2021. According to Martin Luiga, a co-founder of ZA/UM cultural association and former editor of Disco Elysium, the three members of ZA/UM left the company in an "involuntary" manner.
The news was followed by Disco Elysium designer Robert Kurvitz filing a lawsuit against ZA/UM via his company Telomer OÜ. It was reported that Telomer filed an application to "obtain information and review documents", however, no additional details were given.
Now, a new report from Estonian Ekspress suggests that ZA/UM was suffering from a "toxic environment", with ZA/UM CEO Ilmar Kompus telling the outlet that Robert Kurvitz and "Saandar Taal" (an alias of Aleksander Rostov) were "humiliating colleagues and intending to steal IP." According to Kompus, Kurvitz and Rostov "treated their co-workers very badly" and talking to them did not improve the situation.
"Despite talking to them repeatedly, things did not improve. Therefore, the company was forced to fire them," Kompus told Estonian Ekspress. "Robert [Kurvitz] is said to have been known for belittling women and co-workers in the past, but this was previously unknown to the company. It would be very short-sighted of a growing international company to tolerate such behavior."
In addition, Kompus said that Kurvitz and Rostov had plans to take control of the company's IPs, including Disco Elysium, something that Kompus described as "delusions of grandeur."
ZA/UM has confirmed the report from Estonian Ekspress. In a statement to GamesIndustry.biz, the company gave several reasons for employees' dismissals, although it didn't name any specific individuals.
"For clarity and accuracy, we are sharing the reasons for the justified firings of some former ZA/UM Studio team members:
- Limited to no engagement in their responsibilities and work – including not working at all for almost two years while still being paid by the studio – and forcing colleagues to compensate for their lack of effort.
- Creating a toxic work environment that is antithetical to the ZA/UM culture and team productivity.
- Misconduct in interacting with other colleagues that includes verbal abuse and gender discrimination.
- Attempts to illegally sell to other gaming companies ZA/UM’s intellectual property with the aim of undermining the rest of the team."
Aleksander Rostov and Robert Kurvitz later shared a post claiming that they were excluded from ZA/UM's daily operations and terminated following Tütreke OÜ, the company which the post called a "vehicle for Ilmar Kompus and Tõnis Haavel", purchasing the majority stake in the studio.
The two former employees further claimed that Tütreke OÜ "must have obtained control over Zaum Studio OÜ by fraud."
"We believe the money used by Tütreke OÜ to buy the majority stake was taken illegally from Zaum Studio OÜ itself, money that belonged to the studio and all shareholders but was used for the benefit of one," Rostov and Kurvitz wrote.
"The rumour that our decision to terminate the contracts of these individuals was taken for financial gain is entirely unfounded and does not in any way reflect the facts. It was a decision that had to be taken for the wellbeing of the collective," the company wrote.
You can find the full ZA/UM statement here. Also, don't forget to join our Reddit page and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram and Twitter, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.