Ex-ZA/UM developers reveal Red Rooster, an “incendiary RPG” that is very intentionally not trying to be a “Disco Elysium successor” or “Disco-like”

Former Disco Elysium developers from ZA/UM have established Summer Eternal, a new worker co-operative studio, and announced their debut project: Red Rooster, an ambitious RPG intentionally positioned as distinct from their creators’ celebrated previous work.

The studio was founded by key ZA/UM veterans including writer and world-builder Argo Tuulik, alongside developers Dora Klindžić, Anastasia Ivanova, and Michael Oswell. The team also includes Disco Elysium’s narrator Lenval Brown and Aleksandar Gavrilović from the Croatian Game Development Alliance.

Red Rooster is a 3D, real-time, third-person RPG drawing inspiration from classic immersive sims and narrative-driven games including Planescape: Torment, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, Baldur’s Gate 3, and Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. The game is set in Arta-Trantor, a magic realist “our-world-adjacent” river city exploring themes of fire, water, and alternate selves.

Notably, Summer Eternal has been explicit that Red Rooster is not intended as a Disco Elysium successor or “Disco-like” experience—instead positioning it as a distinct “incendiary RPG” with its own identity rooted in immersive sim design and player agency.

What distinguishes Summer Eternal is its organizational model. Operating as a non-profit worker co-operative, the studio grants both players and developers direct voice in company decisions—described as “an experimental attempt to formalise community decision-making.” This structure represents an unusual approach in game development. Summer Eternal has released a 500-page anthology introducing the project, with the game remaining in active development.

Ex-ZA/UM developers reveal Red Rooster, an “incendiary RPG” that is very intentionally not trying to be a “Disco Elysium successor” or “Disco-like”

Sources