Disco Elysium

you can spend the entire game saying the most communist thing possible in every single dialogue, read communist books, show sympathy for the revolution, etc. and when you finally meet the most communist person in the game he just calls you a liberal

The greatest RPG of all time stolen by con artists releasing a meme update so that when you Google the game you don't see the headlines talking about how they stole it.
quoting from u/KermitTClog from the Disco Elysium Reddit, which can be found here
I saw a decent amount of comments on my last post about how the fans are overreacting when it comes to this photo mode, and I believe that this stems from a general confusion of why we're so against ZAUM, so I wanted to once and for all type up exactly what's been happening, from the beginning, especially given recent developments. Because I believe that ZAUM has worked to make this intentionally muddled when it's honestly as clear cut as can be. Keep in mind that I am more than a little biased and please tell me if I get anything wrong or leave out important details so I can correct them.
It started in October of 2022 when Martin Luiga made a medium post(1) saying the ZAUM cultural association had dissolved. This association is where the ZAUM company was born from, and in that article he makes it clear that neither he, Robert Kurvitz (Lead Writer), Aleksander Rostov (Lead Artist), and Helen Hindpere (writer) are working at ZAUM, and implies they left unwillingly. The next day the claim that they no longer work there is followed up with confirmation by Rostov(2). As of that point in the timeline this was the only statement ZAUM had made on the matter(3). People weren't happy.
Rostov makes his own comprehensive statement on Medium(4), giving everyone more detail on the situation. The current majority shareholder and investors of ZAUM fired them unfairly. They believe that they were being intentionally shut out once their old majority shareholder was bought out, as they had begun to get excluded from daily company operations. What's important is Rostov and Kurvitz believe that the two new majority shareholders in ZAUM, Ilmar Kompus and Tõnis Haavel, had obtained their majority share illegally. They did this by buying a majority stake with ZAUM’s own funds, which surprise surprise, is illegal. Kurvitz and Rostov claimed they were fired after asking for financial documents.
In response, ZAUM claimed that actually Kurvitz and Rostov and Hindpere were all fired for misconduct. Specifically, they were fired for(5):
● 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.
Obviously they deny all of these claims, but you should read the whole article on this one, it's so clear that they're lying it's almost funny. Rostov and Kurvitz made it clear they are intending to pursue legal action for both the fraud and the unfair termination.
This is where things get confusing and most fans fall off, I believe this is a result of Kurvitz and Rostov’s general lack of communication with the public due to ongoing litigation combined with ZAUM’s lame attempts to spin the story in their direction.
Karl Kender, who also left ZAUM in August, had filed a suit against Kompus specifically, stating that he believed they cheated him out of millions(6). This was quickly withdrawn, however with the withdrawn lawsuit, Kompus and Haavel quietly repaid 5.1 million dollars to ZAUM (not admitting that they stole it). This left us all confused as we didn’t know exactly what was happening in regards to Kurvitz’s game.
This exchange was the last real information we got until Tuesday, in which ZAUM suddenly released a statement saying that it was all over. Kender had repaid all the debts he owed to the company (while never directly admitting he stole them). This left everyone in a weird limbo, as we had no idea what would happen from here. All we knew was that Kurvitz’s suit was still ongoing.
We get no word until this Tuesday, March 14. ZAUM out of the blue claims that everything is now resolved(7). They said that the unfair termination suit by Kurvitz and Rostov was dropped due to lack of evidence, and that Kompus had paid the money back in full, and Kender had paid Kompus for all legal fees for his withdrawn suit back in December, resolving the situation.
It’s important here to talk about the news cycle. It’s generally important to a company that searching their name on google doesn't bring up hundreds of articles about how fraudulent they are, so for a few days, searches of their name were good for the first time. “Disco Elysium suit resolved, situation over”
This lasted all of two days, because yesterday on March 16th, Kurvitz and Rostov responded to that claim(8), saying that no they had not withdrawn the suit, and returning stolen money doesn’t fix anything, since he
Still committed the damn crime
Still has majority stake in the company
This, is when collage mode drops(9). On the exact same day Kurvitz and Rostov respond. Almost as if to lead away a google search for something like “Disco Elysium news” or “Disco Elysium update.” To be literally anything but the fact that they just unabashedly lied to the public. I think the feature is a gross misunderstanding of what DE is about and its general philosophy, but this aspect is what enrages me. It's not "just a photo mode" it's a lame diversion tactic, and what saddens me is that it seems to be working. So please, don't let it.
This ended up being way longer than I thought (so much for short recap), but I might as well close things off with talking about why Kurvitz can’t walk away. People were obsessed with DE for its amazing writing, so why can’t Kurvitz just make Pissco Pelysium 2 and keep going. Because he doesn’t want to write anything but stories in the world he has been crafting for 30 years. Elysium. I can’t explain just how much it means to him better than he can, so I urge you to please read this statement he made to celebrate the final cut release of the game, before it was taken from him(10).
This story is only going to get more muddled, so please keep following it. I urge all of you to read every article I linked in full, it's a sad story. But they're still fighting, and I believe they'll come out on top in the end. All we can do for now is wait, but let's not forget why we're angry in the meantime.
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:revolutionaryhat:

10 novels worth of political commentary and existentialism packed into an exceptionally crafted environment. God bless Kim Kitsuragi my little turnip.

One of the best games ive played in so long that being said....
DO NOT BUY THIS GAME.
This is one of the best RPGs ever made, but its original writer, director and artist were kicked off ZA/UM by external shareholders driven by greed.
You can find and play the game through other means. Go do it.

STEAM - You hover your mouse over the "Add to Cart" option of the store page
1. Purchase the heavily discounted game
2.
STEAM - The game now sits in your Steam Library, eagerly waiting to be binged to completion
VOLITION - Do not spend 40 hours playing this game.
CONCEPTUALISATION - Even if it is a work of visual art.
DRAMA - With excellent characters.
ENCYCLOPEDIA - And pseudo-historical political commentary.
SHIVERS - Topped off by an impending sense of dread.
HORRIFIC NECKTIE - JUST PLAY THE DAMN GAME! QUIT YOUR JOB. STOP CLEANING THE HOUSE. THOSE ARE ALL *RESPONSIBILITIES*. YOU DON'T LIKE THOSE.
PAIN THRESHOLD - Just play the game you poverty stricken fuck.

DON'T BUY THIS GAME!
This is one of the best games I've ever played. It is quite possibly the best and most detailed Choose-Your-Own-Adventure novel ever written and if you buy it now the creators will receive *NO COMPENSATION* for their work. I am thankful i bought it when I did, while they were still involved, but due to contracting and political differences (ironically fitting for the content of the game) the 2 or 3 writers who pioneered this project were cut out and can't receive royalties anymore.
This is a game about the inherent flaws in dogmatic political ideologies, all ideologies including centrism and being a moderate, and it was essentially stolen by capitalists.
I love this game with all my heart. It is a beautiful story about loss, depression, and finding meaning in a chaotic and absurd reality. Anything more is kinda spoilery so I'm gonna stop myself there. It is all narrated so you dont have to read the enormous amount of text on your own and it is HILARIOUS. Depressing at times but always that spark of humor lingers.
DON'T BUY THIS GAME. And *DEFINITELY* don't *PIRATE THIS GAME*. Even though it is totally in line with the messaging of the game, would be a HUGE middle finger to the corporation that cut the writers out of their own creation, and is super easy to do with like an an hour of searching Reddit or something, *YOU SHOULD* not *PIRATE THIS OUTSTANDING GAME*. Thank you for reading this, I hope you do the right thing, and you should totally hit on that girl at the beginning she is super into you and there will be no repercussions. Peace.

! DO NOT BUY THIS GAME !
This is one of the single greatest games I have ever played, and I thank my girlfriend for recommending it to me. It is what I can only describe as a fucking masterpiece. However, the creators of this game are no longer receiving money for it, and have been ousted from ZA/UM. I highly recommend you *play*, but do *not buy*, this game.
As far as my review of the actual game goes, there are so many things I could say, but they've been echoed by everyone else that has played this before. In as few words as possible- play this game, you will not regret it.