We asked how the studio culture changed at ZA/UM after the departure of most of the original writing team and the airing of the People Make Games documentary looking into the legal battle that ensued afterward. “It’s like transitioning from the Soviet Union to the fascist Russian Federation,” Tuulik said. “Wearing the dead cultural movement like a skin costume, roleplaying communism, lying for dollars and yen. PMG doc changed lots of things in the studio. Personal dynamics. None for the better.”

— Last Disco Elysium writer laid off by ZA/UM speaks out

besides their video about ZA/UM, i'm not familiar with People Make Games. they might do good reporting on other subjects, i wouldn't know.

but i'll always be wary of people who jump at the chance to document current and contentious topics for the sake of "journalism" or wanting to find out "the truth"—particularly when their findings are published as a youtube video, which is fundamentally more entertainment-driven than, say, a written article or podcast. there's a certain sensationalism and opportunistic sheen that's hard to shake from the platform.

publishing a youtube documentary about an ongoing legal dispute—where every person interviewed cannot be candid because of pending lawsuits or potential loss of employment—was incredibly naive and misguided at best. it's even more naive to believe that such a documentary wouldn't affect the situation going forward (again, it's an ongoing legal dispute!). i see a tendency in investigative journalists to throw their hands in the air whenever they're criticized for potentially exacerbating an issue: don't blame me, i'm just reporting the facts, and so on.

of course, the work culture at ZA/UM would still have "crunch, burnout, and conflict" with or without the documentary. but, according to the above quote, it seems like it didn't help.

edit: tuulik directly refuted that the PMG documentary was harmful to the workplace on twitter. i still question the doc's objective (again, considering how everyone involved can't be forthright due to pending lawsuits or potential loss of income), but it's good to have additional context for the quote.