Robert Kurvitz says repayment of €4.8 million to ZA/UM changes nothing, still considers his legal options
The battle over Disco Elysium continues. The game’s lead game designer Robert Kurvitz has now confirmed that he is still seeking legal options against ZA/UM’s new majority shareholder, who ousted him from the studio.
As Eesti Ekspress reported at the end of November, ZA/UM was paid back €4.8 million by Tütreke. The Estonian firm’s head Ilmar Kompus illegally took this money from the studio to buy a controlling stake in it (we reported on this scheme in detail last month).
Kurvitz recently told PC Gamer that he saw a partial bank statement regarding the alleged repayment. However, the “source and legal nature of this repayment, and the further use of the allegedly repaid funds” are unclear.
The Disco Elysium creator added that Kompus remains ZA/UM’s majority shareholder, a position he obtained by illegally taking the studio’s money. And the repayment of this sum “does not erase the main consequence of the initial injustice,” which resulted in an illegal takeover of the studio.
In light of this, there has been no material change in our situation, and we continue to consider our legal options. We cannot comment on the decisions taken by Kaur Kender with regard to his claim, to which we were never a party.
writer and lead designer of Disco Elysium
Robert Kurvitz and Alexander Rostov, art director of Disco Elysium, accuse Kompus of taking over ZA/UM and kicking them out of the studio. They think the businessman obtained the stake by fraud and plan to sue him in both Estonian and UK jurisdictions.
Another key party in this case is Kaur Kender, Estonian novelist and executive producer of Disco Elysium. He also tried to sue Kompus and Tütreke but withdrew his lawsuit shortly after the €4.8 million were paid back to ZA/UM.
ZA/UM is now working on its next game, which is probably going to be a Disco Elysium sequel. However, the game’s original creators, Kurvitz and Rostov, won’t be involved in the project as they were ousted from the studio.
