ZA/UM's new spy RPG Zero Parades is coming this May

ZA/UM has set a May 21, 2026 release date for ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies, a new isometric espionage RPG coming to PC. The launch covers Steam, GOG, and the Epic Games Store, with a PlayStation 5 version planned for later in the year.

Players control Hershel Wilk, an operative known by the alias CASCADE. She is sent to the city-state of Portofiro on a final assignment five years after a disastrous previous mission. The game uses an isometric perspective and relies entirely on dialogue and skill checks rather than traditional combat.

You navigate conversations and investigations using a split psyche mechanic. Different parts of Wilk's mind act as distinct skills that chime in with advice during interactions. The system tracks fatigue, anxiety, and delirium. Failing conversations or digging into bad memories can permanently lower your stats.

The ship of Theseus, but isometric

This is ZA/UM's second game following 2019's Disco Elysium. The studio went through a highly public and litigious restructuring in 2022 that resulted in the termination of original creators Robert Kurvitz and Aleksander Rostov. The current team includes writers Siim "Kosmos" Sinamäe and Honey Watson, who have shifted the focus from a detective story to a cold war spy thriller.

The tabletop RPG influences remain intact. You roll dice for skill checks during encounters, and you can choose to exert yourself to push past physical or mental limits. The user interface includes inventory management for items like "Rumbal Canned Coffee" alongside deep dialogue trees.

ZA/UM is launching the game with full English voice acting and text localization for five languages on day one. Eight more languages will roll out via free updates through 2027. Studio head Allen Murray said the team wants to avoid the five-year localization timeline of their previous release.

Skill checks and high wires

The spy genre gives the developer a framework where right and wrong answers are rarely clear. Wilk has to manipulate informants and agitators to untangle her broken network, and the mechanics actively punish you for asking the wrong questions. Elongating an early phone call by asking too many probing questions will cause your anxiety levels to soar.

Zero Parades carries an M rating for violence, drug use, and strong language. The art direction maintains the dark, painted aesthetic of the studio's previous work. Surreal imagery of skulls manipulated by mechanical hands breaks up scenes of characters balancing across high wires in trench coats.

The shift to espionage allows the developers to lean into the paranoia of their mechanics. When your own skills talk to you, you have to decide whether to trust your inner voices or ignore them to get the job done. It is a system built around human frailty, and it fits a protagonist who is already haunted by her past failures.

A playable demo is currently available on the game's GOG page and Steam. The demo covers the opening hours of the campaign. It introduces Wilk's unresponsive partner Pseudapod and the initial mysteries of Portofiro.

The PC release is verified for Steam Deck at launch. Console players will have to wait until the end of the year for the PlayStation 5 port, and there is currently no word on an Xbox version.

The real test for ZA/UM will be proving they can write a compelling narrative without the original architects of their breakout hit. The mechanics are familiar, but the tone of a spy thriller demands a different kind of tension than a murder investigation.