The creator of Disco Elysium is looking for artists with 'a love of sci-fi and space'

pcgamer.com:

Punk developer and former industry underdog Studio ZA/UM continues to expand and hire new talent for a follow up to PC Gamer's 2019 Game of the Year(opens in new tab), Disco Elysium. The details in these job posts might just shed some light on the studio's anticipated next project.

Several months ago, ZA/UM brought on new writing talent, and the latest job posts, spotted by user An_Italian_Meal on Reddit(opens in new tab), are for an environment concept artist, lead environment artist, as well as a sales and monetization specialist.

Arguably the most eye-catching thing here is both artistic positions' mention of «sci-fi,» and the environment concept artist post includes «new worlds,» «space,» and the arresting declaration that any new hire should «understand that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in philosophy.»

The knee-jerk conclusion might be that ZA/UM is going in an entirely different direction in its next game than the mid-20th century alt historical setting of Disco Elysium, but I don't think it's that clear cut. Creatively named Reddit user TheFrankofTurducken points out that ZA/UM is highly invested in the world of Elysium⁠—the core team has been constructing it on and off for 20 years or so now. 

What's more, good Frank points out the figurative potential of the language: «The sci-fi, non-earth stuff seems to imply they want somebody who is imaginative/creative in environment creation⁠—not necessarily that the game will be interstellar in nature.» They continue, «I take it more as a… design philosophy, if that makes sense?»

That's a sentiment I can definitely get behind, and it also lines up with ZA/UM's tantalizing public statements about its future endeavors. In a great 2020