Argo Tuulik

Estonian writer. One of the original ZA/UM cultural-association members from the early 2000s tabletop-Elysium era; long-time associate of Robert Kurvitz and Aleksander Rostov. Writer on Disco Elysium in both the original release and the Final Cut. Remained at ZA/UM after the 2021–22 ouster of Kurvitz, Rostov, and Hindpere, and has been one of the publicly-visible dissenting voices in the studio dispute.

Stake§

Tuulik's stake is creative and reputational, with the unusual position of being a longtime collaborator who has publicly distanced himself from the ousted creative leads' account of events. The 2023 People Make Games documentary features him heavily; his testimony there is one of the principal counter-accounts to Kurvitz's version of the conflict. Subsequent public statements have indicated that he felt Kurvitz's presentation in the documentary was dishonest and manipulative; collaborators have alleged retaliation against him after the documentary's release.

Tuulik's writing contribution to Disco Elysium is significant but harder to disaggregate from the collaborative house-style. The early-2000s tabletop-Elysium work he did with Kurvitz was part of the foundational worldbuilding the game later drew on; his subsequent professional writing role on the game and the Final Cut is documented in the credits. The locust-city spinoff content he led on (the abandoned spinoff project Rock Paper Shotgun covered in 2022) suggests the depth of his investment in the worldbuilding project independently of Kurvitz's authorial-vision frame.

The post-ouster public role has been more visible than the writing role. The People Make Games documentary positions him as the principal interview subject from the those remaining at ZA/UM side of the dispute; his account of Kurvitz's behaviour during the studio collapse provides the substantive counterweight to the the creative leads were ousted in an IP scheme framing the ousted leads have given. The subsequent retaliation allegations (made by Klindžić about ZA/UM executives' treatment of Tuulik after the documentary) complicate the picture further.

Tuulik is the figure whose long collaboration with Kurvitz and Rostov from the early-2000s tabletop era gives his counter-account of the studio collapse particular evidential weight, and whose subsequent treatment within ZA/UM suggests the what really happened question remains in dispute on more axes than the initial documentary surfaced. Read his contributions to the documentary alongside the Hindpere Platypus interview for the fullest picture; both are partial.