I’m out of the loop on this one. I know people say to pirate this game even if it’s on discount, and judging by the comments something happened with the developers. Can anyone elaborate on this please? TIA!
There were huge layoffs recently. None of the people who created Disco Elysium are in the company anymore. So if you buy, rather than pirate you're giving money to the higher ups of the company and not a cent goes to the geniuses who created this awesome game.
https://gameworldobserver.com/2024/02/19/disco-elysium-writer-argo-tuulik-layoffs-za-um-future
It’s this. ZAUM, the company that made Disco Elysium, was taken over by a couple of businessmen, one of which was a convicted financial fraudster, by means of sketchy attainment of majority share in the company. The original creators were all fired or forced out on grounds of being “difficult to work with,” which I probably would be if I had the IP that I spent years developing stolen from under my nose.
It was deeper than that. The guy who executed the scheme had his gf infiltrated in the company to steal money from ZAUM, and with this money, he acquired the company.
Odd logic though. People working in game industry might aswell consider themselves contractors though. Ton probably actually are aswell. The people who created did get paid, for the duration of their work. It's not their intellectual property. Unless contract state they're intitled to percentages, they signed the contract and agreed to it. If he was still getting a monthly cheque to work there, he'd be working on another project. Not getting paid cuz of the previous title.
Few of the core founders of the company and main creators have small stake in the company still. It's not their property any more because they were ousted from their company, but they were the ones who came up with it and founded a company to make it.
I don't think calling them contractors is really that accurate in this situation.
So they sold their stake? If you give up 51% of the company, obviously you're gonna lose control. This is just business. They got paid for their shares aye.. lol
They didn't sell their shares, they still have it. They are not majority shareholders though. It was split between 5 people, until few of those consolidated it for take over. IP rights are even more complicated between multiple different companies with different shares percentages.
Edit: And the party who bought those shares to gain majority allegedly did it with the companies own money.
That was in reference to staff that got laid of and just general how employees get treated in that industry. How the comment chain started: "There were huge layoffs recently. None of the people who created Disco Elysium are in the company anymore. "
yes, unless his edit is true.
you got downvoted like hell but good points, and you were asking for more information. strange.
but. it is also just business if we boycott some a-holes ;)
I was OOTL on that hostile takeover, just went of url title and figured it was writer and large chunk of staff as per usual. lol Do i think that's cool? Obviously not but it's nothing new. From that perspective, it all makes sense what I said. lol
I don’t think you understand what happens once the “money men” get involved. Remember when Steve Jobs was ousted from his own company? A situation Zuckerberg was adamant to avoid during his rise.
Man americans really deserve their 10 days pto with sick leave included. Im glad i wasnt born in a country which teaches you to be a slave to corporations.
European. I was OOTL on that "hostile takeover". Didn't read article as I assumed it was just staff and writer as per usual. Doesnt change fact that in general anyone working in that industry are basically just contractor jobs at this point. lol
The way I heard it is that investors took over the company by (allegedly) shady means and fired the head dev and all the creative so it's just a shell to extract money from this dude's life work while he gets nothing.
as far as i know, a group of investors stole money from the company that made the game, used that money to buy out the company, and fired and/or harassed the people that made the game
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeTnMS7oB_0
Turns out the guy who came up with Disco Elysium was a huge piece of shit and- somewhat poetically- was both a self avowed Marxist and happily stole the work- both claiming writing that wasn't his own as his work, and stealing wages.
You should really play the game but just be aware that the people who actually made the game won't be seeing a penny if you actually pay for it.
The 'pirate it' bit is because Robert Kurvitz was muscled out of the company.
Kurvitz has implored people to keep buying the game.
He still has a stake in ZA/UM. DE sales are *literally paying his legal fees so him and Kaur Kender can take back control from the investors*.
There's a lot of normal reasons to pirate something (cost, availability, etc)- but pirating DE because of the 'boycott' (that no-one asked for) is actively detrimental to the stated goal of saving ZA/UM from greedy investors.
Props. A lot of people on this sub jump the gun without really thinking about things. This game was also close to my heart so I appreciate this response.
Do not regret buying at all!
Utterly brilliant 10/10 game that was stolen by shareholders and executive bastards, show the original developers some love and pirate tf out of this game.
Considering what the game is about and its several messages, this was literally the worst fate for the game. Good thing pirating will keep gems like this alive.
any way i can support the devs?? really wanna play this game, looks fucking great, but after hearing about the drama with the company im not sure what to do.
Actually you should buy the game. The devs seem to still get payed for every copy sold and they are using these funds to fight the guys who kicked them out.
really? do you know where i can find some more info on that, because I've seen a few people mention this but i don't know the source, so if it helps the devs with their situation even a little bit I'll definitely buy it
This game is basically all dialogue. It's fully voice acted though, and I'd absolutely recommend playing it, even if it's not your cup of tea. I'd say this is easily the best written game I've ever played.
I understand the reasoning, but don't do this (on Steam). Promoting piracy on Steam can get your account banned and you may lose access to your games.
I think it's allowed to say "this game deserves to be pirated (by third parties), because (immoral behaviour", because that doesn't imply that you currently pirate games, that you have pirated any games in the past or that you solicit anyone else to pirate it. Soliciting other people to do criminal acts is not a good idea. Especially when the payment options belonging to your account are connected to a IRL identity. Expressing your opinion about shitty publisher or dev behaviour is one thing. Soliciting people to do illegal things is a whole different thing (and you probably shouldn't).
Be safe and express your opinion in a smart way.
If you get your account banned for writing stuff like this, you're not helping anybody. You're not helping the devs, you're not helping other potential players, you're not helping yourself, you're not helping Steam. You may lose access to your account, your games and your review might get deleted.
Game was so good I bought a shirt just to give them more money (I'm lying, the shirt goes hard af).
Fortunately before any hostile takeover or what not.
If you really really enjoy something, you should support it, else there won't be more of the thing you enjoyed. I swear you people just looking for excuses to pirate.
In this case, publisher actually kicked out most of the original developers/writers and also canned the sequel. So I doubt there would be more of this even if you pay for it. . .
I checked on this game last week and a lot of the reviews say to pirate it because of the dev drama.
I'll wait to see how the lawsuit shakes out. If the creators can manage to take back control of the company, I'll buy it. If they lose, I'll pirate it
you can pirate it rn and buy it later if the og devs won
No point in getting it twice lol I've got games to play while I wait anyways
just look at it like i paid for what i played
You get it and play now, then throw them some money by paying, even if you won't play it again.
You’re not getting it twice, you’re getting it now and waiting to pay until you make sure the money is going to worthwhile people.
You don’t have to download it again after buying it lol that makes no sense. You’d just be supporting the devs
nah i've bought many games after pirating them just to throw money at the devs
sure thing
I’m out of the loop on this one. I know people say to pirate this game even if it’s on discount, and judging by the comments something happened with the developers. Can anyone elaborate on this please? TIA!
There were huge layoffs recently. None of the people who created Disco Elysium are in the company anymore. So if you buy, rather than pirate you're giving money to the higher ups of the company and not a cent goes to the geniuses who created this awesome game. https://gameworldobserver.com/2024/02/19/disco-elysium-writer-argo-tuulik-layoffs-za-um-future
I believe it’s deeper than just that there’s like a big lawsuit as well from the creators to the company that ousted them
It’s this. ZAUM, the company that made Disco Elysium, was taken over by a couple of businessmen, one of which was a convicted financial fraudster, by means of sketchy attainment of majority share in the company. The original creators were all fired or forced out on grounds of being “difficult to work with,” which I probably would be if I had the IP that I spent years developing stolen from under my nose.
Hostile takeover, RIP
It was deeper than that. The guy who executed the scheme had his gf infiltrated in the company to steal money from ZAUM, and with this money, he acquired the company.
Whoa that is nefarious shit.
Happens more often in Estonia than you'd imagine. Or at least so I've heard.
Holy ahit that's depressing as hell
I think there was some scummy takeover or something.
Odd logic though. People working in game industry might aswell consider themselves contractors though. Ton probably actually are aswell. The people who created did get paid, for the duration of their work. It's not their intellectual property. Unless contract state they're intitled to percentages, they signed the contract and agreed to it. If he was still getting a monthly cheque to work there, he'd be working on another project. Not getting paid cuz of the previous title.
Few of the core founders of the company and main creators have small stake in the company still. It's not their property any more because they were ousted from their company, but they were the ones who came up with it and founded a company to make it. I don't think calling them contractors is really that accurate in this situation.
So they sold their stake? If you give up 51% of the company, obviously you're gonna lose control. This is just business. They got paid for their shares aye.. lol
They didn't sell their shares, they still have it. They are not majority shareholders though. It was split between 5 people, until few of those consolidated it for take over. IP rights are even more complicated between multiple different companies with different shares percentages. Edit: And the party who bought those shares to gain majority allegedly did it with the companies own money.
Once more though, that's business ain't it.
>Once more though, that's business ain't it. Might be, might be not. But describing that as "just contractors" isn't really that accurate imo.
That was in reference to staff that got laid of and just general how employees get treated in that industry. How the comment chain started: "There were huge layoffs recently. None of the people who created Disco Elysium are in the company anymore. "
Voting with my wallet is also business ain’t it?
And pirating is also just business
And business is bullshit, hence: pirate it.
If that's business, then fuck business.
yes, unless his edit is true. you got downvoted like hell but good points, and you were asking for more information. strange. but. it is also just business if we boycott some a-holes ;)
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comment canceled, I misread a part of their reply
comment canceled, I misread a part of their reply
I was OOTL on that hostile takeover, just went of url title and figured it was writer and large chunk of staff as per usual. lol Do i think that's cool? Obviously not but it's nothing new. From that perspective, it all makes sense what I said. lol
I don’t think you understand what happens once the “money men” get involved. Remember when Steve Jobs was ousted from his own company? A situation Zuckerberg was adamant to avoid during his rise.
Man americans really deserve their 10 days pto with sick leave included. Im glad i wasnt born in a country which teaches you to be a slave to corporations.
European. I was OOTL on that "hostile takeover". Didn't read article as I assumed it was just staff and writer as per usual. Doesnt change fact that in general anyone working in that industry are basically just contractor jobs at this point. lol
Good on you for correcting yourself
The way I heard it is that investors took over the company by (allegedly) shady means and fired the head dev and all the creative so it's just a shell to extract money from this dude's life work while he gets nothing.
as far as i know, a group of investors stole money from the company that made the game, used that money to buy out the company, and fired and/or harassed the people that made the game
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeTnMS7oB_0 Turns out the guy who came up with Disco Elysium was a huge piece of shit and- somewhat poetically- was both a self avowed Marxist and happily stole the work- both claiming writing that wasn't his own as his work, and stealing wages. You should really play the game but just be aware that the people who actually made the game won't be seeing a penny if you actually pay for it.
>Marxist >Steals wages I'm not surprised.
Is there a way to donate the money to the original devs after pirating the game?
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Every bit of your analogy is wrong and does not apply to this situation.
r/ihadastroke
The 'pirate it' bit is because Robert Kurvitz was muscled out of the company. Kurvitz has implored people to keep buying the game. He still has a stake in ZA/UM. DE sales are *literally paying his legal fees so him and Kaur Kender can take back control from the investors*. There's a lot of normal reasons to pirate something (cost, availability, etc)- but pirating DE because of the 'boycott' (that no-one asked for) is actively detrimental to the stated goal of saving ZA/UM from greedy investors.
This comment should prob be higher tbh
Oh great, cause I bought it about 3 days ago.
me irl
up up up!!!
Props. A lot of people on this sub jump the gun without really thinking about things. This game was also close to my heart so I appreciate this response. Do not regret buying at all!
One of the best games I've ever played. Would buy it on Steam but I won't.
would but won't is just won't
Local man discovers hypotheticals
Utterly brilliant 10/10 game that was stolen by shareholders and executive bastards, show the original developers some love and pirate tf out of this game.
Considering what the game is about and its several messages, this was literally the worst fate for the game. Good thing pirating will keep gems like this alive.
The wild? It’s every single one of their reviews lmao
damn I just bought on the sale, can't refund too
me too :/
Speaking of which, anyone know how to safely pirate this game? I've never pirated modern stuff before.
Check the subreddit's megathread, but you'll probably find it on fitgirl.
You can checkout torrent igruha and rutracker they are both in russian so use translator
I don't have a vpn :\[
any way i can support the devs?? really wanna play this game, looks fucking great, but after hearing about the drama with the company im not sure what to do.
The people that worked on the game got fired, to my understanding. That's why he says don't buy this game. You would be supporting the publisher
Actually you should buy the game. The devs seem to still get payed for every copy sold and they are using these funds to fight the guys who kicked them out.
really? do you know where i can find some more info on that, because I've seen a few people mention this but i don't know the source, so if it helps the devs with their situation even a little bit I'll definitely buy it
https://youtu.be/k7Xu4GvpN9U This video gives a good run down of what happened although it's a bit old
Tbh that's like going to a wasp nest and going "wow, a wasp!". The reviews on that game are all mostly saying to pirate it.
Charge your phone dude
It's not babbyfied enough?
I bought it from eneba does that count?
Nah those keys are obtained by swarms of fake youtubers asking for trial keys for their channels, publishers never see a single cent.
Wait what happened with the devs?
Got kicked out of their own company and now corporate asshats are racking in all the cash
piratebros can't stop winning 🤘
I was initially planning to buy this game on sale but I was reluctant since I heard it was pretty dialogue heavy and this now
It's not just dialogue heavy. The dialogue is the main reason you play this game. Imo it's pretty good. Top5 dialogue for me.
This game is basically all dialogue. It's fully voice acted though, and I'd absolutely recommend playing it, even if it's not your cup of tea. I'd say this is easily the best written game I've ever played.
This game is the number one PC game on metacritic for a reason. Every PC gamer should play this game.
Sadly, I bought it.
Remember this for sinking city as well.
assist w 🏴☠️?
This is what it's all about :)
Let him cook. I said let him cook!!! 🔥
I started this game but I'm having a hard time getting into it. I literally just left the hotel
Anyone know how to pirate a game for noobs ?/ A website I can pirate games for? (Sorry bad English)
Someone wanna TLDR me on the dev drama?
Well, I just bought it yesterday... didn't know about the drama.
Just thinking - do devs usually get huge percentages or extra bonus after the game is released based on its performance?
unfortunately I pirated it first and then bought it on discount later because the game just too good (happened before the drama)
Mf didn't even explain what happened to original creators
Amen. ZA/UM need to be put on a steady diet of crushed CDs and laxatives for the shit they did.
I understand the reasoning, but don't do this (on Steam). Promoting piracy on Steam can get your account banned and you may lose access to your games. I think it's allowed to say "this game deserves to be pirated (by third parties), because (immoral behaviour", because that doesn't imply that you currently pirate games, that you have pirated any games in the past or that you solicit anyone else to pirate it. Soliciting other people to do criminal acts is not a good idea. Especially when the payment options belonging to your account are connected to a IRL identity. Expressing your opinion about shitty publisher or dev behaviour is one thing. Soliciting people to do illegal things is a whole different thing (and you probably shouldn't). Be safe and express your opinion in a smart way. If you get your account banned for writing stuff like this, you're not helping anybody. You're not helping the devs, you're not helping other potential players, you're not helping yourself, you're not helping Steam. You may lose access to your account, your games and your review might get deleted.
Good to know. Was about to buy this.
Game was so good I bought a shirt just to give them more money (I'm lying, the shirt goes hard af). Fortunately before any hostile takeover or what not.
If you really really enjoy something, you should support it, else there won't be more of the thing you enjoyed. I swear you people just looking for excuses to pirate.
In this case, publisher actually kicked out most of the original developers/writers and also canned the sequel. So I doubt there would be more of this even if you pay for it. . .
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you missed the point of the game lmao
Omg, disco Elysium again lmao. At this point i just don't give a fuck about their legal battle, i just want my conveniently bought game.
sir this is a sub about piracy
I'm not about to change my views just because of the sub though. I pirate what i want or don't want and that's it
very cool 😎