Dark Math Games recently secured a seven-figure investment towards developing one of several projects considered spiritual successors to Disco Elysium.
The undisclosed sum, GamesIndustry.biz reported on Thursday, was provided by MM Grupp, an Estonian firm that was also a majority investor in Disco Elysium developer ZA/UM.
Founded in 2024, Dark Math Games is currently working on XXX Nightshift, a “true detective role-playing game” set during a holiday weekend at a ski resort in Antarctica. Kaur Kender, the executive producer on Disco Elysium who encouraged designer and writer Robert Kurvitz to turn the setting of his novel Sacred and Terrible Air into a video game, is apparently part of the dev team, according to CEO Mikhel Oja. Kender’s sibling Heiti, a playtester on Disco Elysium, is named as a Dark Math Games director alongside Oja in official company filings.
“We’re thrilled to include an experienced investor that understands and appreciates art as well as the video game industry specifically,” Kender said. “MM Grupp’s backing will bring stability and long-term vision. We have done something great together in the past and are positive that we’ll do it again.”
Kender previously sued ZA/UM alongside Kurvitz and Disco Elysium artist Aleksander Rostov over ownership of the game’s intellectual property and misuse of company funds after the pair were allegedly forced out of the company in Oct. 2022. The lawsuit was withdrawn in Dec. 2022, with Kender saying it was “misguided.” Kurvitz and Rostov pushed back on Kender’s statement and accused him of “participat[ing] in the looting of ZA/UM.”
Source：https://www.polygon.com/news/491756/xxx-nightshift-disco-elysium-successor-dark-math-games-investment
