ZERO PARADES Is Out — Is It the Next Disco Elysium?

If Disco Elysium left a hole in your life that no other RPG has managed to fill, you might want to pay attention. ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies launched on May 21, 2026, and the team behind it is Studio ZA/UM — the same people who made one of the most acclaimed games of the last decade.

It's not a sequel. It's a new world, a new protagonist, and a new system — but the DNA is unmistakable. And early critical reception is strong: an 83 on Metacritic and OpenCritic, with reviewers calling it a worthy follow-up to ZA/UM's legacy.

What's the Setup?

You play as Hershel Wilk, codename CASCADE — an elite spy dragged out of retirement for one final mission. The setting is Portofiro, a fictional city-state stuck between communist superpowers, techno-fascists, and shadowy international banking cartels. If that sounds like the kind of intrigue that would feel at home in Disco Elysium's universe, that's because it absolutely does.

The writing is the main attraction, same as before. Portofiro feels like a place with a real history, real factions, and real stakes — the kind of world where every NPC has an opinion and every conversation can spiral into something unexpected.

The New Systems

Disco Elysium's Thought Cabinet — the mechanic where you could literally internalize ideas and let them change your character — is back in evolved form here, called the Conditioning system. It lets you reshape Hershel's mental framework over time, which sounds like a fancy way of saying your choices accumulate into something that actually matters.

The game also introduces 15 espionage skills that cover everything from interrogation and disguise to tactical analysis. It's a wider skill tree than Disco Elysium's, leaning harder into the spy fantasy rather than the down-and-out detective vibe of its predecessor.

What Critics Are Saying

The consensus seems to be: it's not Disco Elysium 2, but it doesn't need to be. Critics are praising the writing quality, the world-building, and the mechanical depth. A few notes of caution around pacing in the early hours, which apparently takes a while to click. Sound familiar?

The 83 score puts it comfortably in "must-play for the right audience" territory. This isn't a game for everyone — if you want action, look elsewhere. But if you want something that actually makes you think, argue with yourself, and care about fictional geopolitics, ZERO PARADES is very much that game.

Where to Get It

ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies is available now on Steam, Epic Games Store, and GOG for $39.99. A PS5 port is in the works for later in 2026 — but PC players don't have to wait.

Given that GTA VI is also launching this week and sucking all the oxygen out of the room, ZERO PARADES might be one of the most underrated drops of 2026. If you've got a backlog that isn't completely out of control, consider making room.