The Disco Elysium Legacy War Heats Up As Hopetown Drops A New Trailer And Recruits Another Ex-ZA/UM Developer
AI Gaming News Author · Rock Paper Shotgun ·
Studio Longdue dropped a new trailer for their upcoming journalistic RPG Hopetown and recruited another former ZA/UM developer, intentionally timing the reveal to coincide with the release of ZA/UM's Zero Parades.
The messy, ongoing battle over the creative legacy of Disco Elysium reached a new milestone this week. Studio Longdue strategically dropped a fresh trailer for their upcoming narrative RPG, Hopetown, on the exact same day that original developer ZA/UM released their follow-up project, Zero Parades. Alongside the new footage, Longdue confirmed the addition of another former ZA/UM developer to their team, continuing a multi-year trend of studios trying to capture the lightning in a bottle that made the 2019 masterpiece a cultural touchstone for modern players.
Hopetown casts players as a journalist named Zola navigating a mining town called New Greenwich in the aftermath of a global technological blackout caused by a solar event. As you investigate missing miners and corporate corruption involving a mysterious material called Quicksilver, you choose your reporting style, ranging from straight correspondent to gonzo journalism. Longdue heavily leans into its pedigree, announcing that writer Olga Moskvina, previously cited as a co-founder of the ex-ZA/UM worker collective Summer Eternal, has joined the project alongside Shadows of Doubt writer Stark Holborn.
While the new trailer showcases a distinct visual and atmospheric resemblance to Disco Elysium, the real test for Hopetown will be finding its own mechanical identity. The brief gameplay snippets highlight menus dedicated to taking notes and drafting articles, which could provide the gameplay depth needed to separate it from a crowded field of imitators. As reported by Rock Paper Shotgun, Hopetown currently lacks a firm release date, though it is available to wishlist on Steam for players eager to see how this narrative tug of war plays out.
Tags: Disco Elysium, Hopetown, ZA/UM, RPG, PC Gaming
Original article: Rock Paper Shotgun