A conflict has erupted between the management of Summer Eternal and Longdue Games—studios launched this fall by former members of ZA/UM. Argo Tuulik, co-founder of Summer Eternal, has been issued a court order preventing him from developing games at his studio until April 2025.
Disco Elysium
Tuulik wrote about the event on the social network X. He explained that the ban was instituted after a lawsuit was filed against him at the end of October. Notably, the plaintiff wasn't Longdue Games itself, but GoGrammar, a tech company acting on its behalf. Tuulik identified Riaz Moola—the founder of GoGrammar, and also an investor and chairman of Longdue Games—as the initiator of the whole process.
Tuulik attached several photos of court documents to his tweet. According to these, Tuulik is accused of breaching legal obligations, though the specifics of these obligations are not disclosed.
Tuulik also stated that a week and a half before the lawsuit from GoGrammar, he received "unfounded legal threats" from ZA/UM, accusing him of contract, copyright, and confidentiality breaches. To recall, Tuulik was one of the writers for Disco Elysium. In the letter, ZA/UM's lawyers strongly advised him to seek independent legal counsel and hire an attorney.
In a statement to PC Gamer, representatives of Longdue Games claimed that between leaving ZA/UM and founding Summer Eternal, Tuulik had worked at Longdue Games. He also worked at Dark Math Games, another studio founded by former Disco Elysium developers. Since neither Longdue Games nor Dark Math Games developed as the writer wanted, Tuulik eventually decided to establish Summer Eternal with some other ZA/UM veterans. It is asserted that after leaving Longdue Games, Tuulik violated several agreements and refused to amicably resolve the claims privately, leaving the studio with no choice but to take legal action. Longdue Games representatives emphasized that their lawsuit and Tuulik's legal disputes with ZA/UM are separate, unrelated cases.
In response, Tuulik stated on X that he "never worked a day at Longdue Games and didn't sign any papers with them." He claims this is why GoGrammar was the plaintiff in the lawsuit.