Zero Parades: For Dead Spies is the first new game from ZA/UM, the studio behind Disco Elysium since, well, Disco Elysium, which originally launched back in 2019. Since then, we've seen new editions of Disco Elysium with the release of The Final Cut, but it has not been able to get another project over the line, until now, and we finally have a release date to look forward to for Zero Parades.
If you've followed ZA/UM since the studio exploded onto the gaming scene with what is regarded as one of the best narrative experiences in video games, then you likely know exactly why the studio hasn't released anything new since 2019. The reason, of course, is the controversy and scandal revolving the departure of Robert Kurvitz, Helen Hindpere, Argo Tuulik, and Martin Luiga, all key creatives behind Disco Elysium, all of whom were seemingly ousted from the studio they built, initially as an art collective, before creating the video game that we know them for.
That scandal won't leave the minds of ZA/UM fans anytime soon, but in the meantime, the remaining developers at ZA/UM, who have nothing to do with what happened with their former colleagues, have been working away on what became Zero Parades, a game that we've seen and heard a lot about leading up to its release date, which is officially set for May 21, 2026.
We got our first proper look at Zero Parades back in September 2025, when Wccftech was selected, along with a few other members of the press, to check it out in a hands-off preview, digging into the game's setting, its mechanics, and hearing from project leads on what ZA/UM is hoping to accomplish with this game.
More recently, we got to go hands-on with the game with the release of its Steam Next Fest demo (which is still available until April 13, 2026), and even spoke to a couple of the developers behind it, one of whom has been with ZA/UM for several years and previously worked on Disco Elysium.
Everything, so far, has pointed to Zero Parades being a strong narrative experience that fans of Disco Elysium should not miss. It'll be interesting to see how the full game holds up, and how players respond to the full title, especially those who perhaps feel conflicted about playing ZA/UM's new game, when its corporate leadership are accused of treating the creatives that put ZA/UM on the map so poorly.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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