Zero Parades: For Dead Spies Sales Result In ZA/UM Layoffs

Published Jul 17, 2026, 1:53 PM EDT George is the Lead News Editor for TheGamer, and has been working in the industry since 2021 after graduating from the University of South Wales with a bachelor's degree in Journalism. He has also previously written for RPG Site, WhatCulture, and PlayStation Lifestyle. George is an expert on platformers, action games, and fighters, but tends to play as many releases as possible. This hands-on experience lets him dive into gaming communities and follow the latest trends. Some of the games George has extensively covered first-hand include Dead Rising, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero, Assassin's Creed Shadows, and Ninja Gaiden 4. Sign in to your TheGamer account This article covers a developing story. Continue to check back with us as we will be adding more information as it becomes available.Disco Elysium developer (well, kind of) ZA/UM has announced that the disappointing sales numbers for Zero Parades: For Dead Spies have resulted in 32 employees being laid off or at risk. It's easy to assume that the next game from ZA/UM would be an instant hit considering Disco Elysium is widely considered to be a masterpiece, but that really isn't the case. ZA/UM has gone through a frankly ridiculous amount of drama over the past couple of years, with multiple key developers behind Disco being ousted and going on to make their own tribute games. Although there are certainly still developers who worked on Disco remaining at ZA/UM, all of the changeover basically made Zero Parades: For Dead Spies a poisoned chalice, with many fans refusing to give it the time of day. That has clearly had an impact, as ZA/UM has confirmed that Zero Parades' apparent underperformance is resulting in layoffs at the studio. ZA/UM Confirms Layoffs As Zero Parades: For Dead Spies Underperforms "Their Work Has Made A Lasting Difference And Left Its Mark" Over on Twitter, the official ZA/UM account released a statement confirming that the studio has issued redundancy or at-risk notifications to 32 employees. This is due to the seemingly low commercial performance of Zero Parades: For Dead Spies not enabling ZA/UM to continue to "sustain a studio of our current size". ZA/UM points out that the low sales figures are despite Zero Parades launching to "critical acclaim". The studio notes that the 32 employees who are being affected by the layoffs made a "lasting difference" and that their work "left a mark" on Zero Parades and the studio as a whole. While ZA/UM hasn't shared any sales figures for Zero Parades, SteamDB confirms that it had a peak of just over 3,000 players. That's just one console base, but it does suggest that it reached nowhere near as many players as Disco Elysium did, likely due to all of the drama and boycotting that's gone on with the studio in recent years.