I really don't understand. Can someone divulge the circumstances or is this all just hearsay? IP law really isn't all that complicated. Its been in practice for a long time, and generally things only need to go to court when one of the parties didn't do some basic homework. If the court didn't rule in the author's favor I find it hard to believe the author didn't legitimately give up their rights to that IP.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Four prominent members left at once, including the lead designer and the game's artist. They claimed the studio was acquired through a fraudulent purchase and went to court (and the suit was dismissed). There are many more details, look it up if you want to know more.

The studio has since laid off 25% and cancelled a standalone expansion to Disco Elysium and and its sequel.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

People Make Games did a 2.5 hour deep dive on it. https://youtu.be/JGIGA8taN-M I'm blown away by the amount of work they put into it. Just finished watching it. What a mess. I'm going to need some sleep while I process all of that.

eventually ...

So after having watched that, I'm convinced that Robert Kurvitz and Aleksander Rostov were defrauded. I take what the studio employees are saying with a grain of salt. I mean, they are still employed so how can they possibly be trust worthy. Even if Argo wrote Cuno (god bless him). If Kurvitz was difficult to work under, it has nothing to do with the alleged theft of his share in the company. That People Make Games really leaned into his toxicity at the end of this doc kinda ticked me off. Like yeah he shouldn't have to answer to that. That's not the story. That's a distraction. If the Estonian court doesn't rule in Kurvitz's and Rostov's favor, they better have a damn good explanation.