Former developers of the acclaimed RPG Disco Elysium have established a new studio, Summer Eternal, centered around a unique player and developer-owned structure. The studio's first project, an "incendiary RPG" tentatively titled Red Rooster, aims to blend elements of text-heavy isometric role-playing games with the world-building and player agency found in immersive sims.
Central to Summer Eternal's philosophy is the creation of the Players Non-Profit community organization. This entity will own five percent of the studio's shares and participate directly in its governance. As explained by the studio, this structure is an "experimental attempt to formalise community decision-making in game development," with the Players Non-Profit acting as the "voice of the gamers."
Membership in the Players Non-Profit is granted to anyone who purchases from the studio, including its recently announced 500-page Anthology. This publication serves as a treatise on Summer Eternal's development ideas and the current state of game creation, featuring contributions from economists like Yanis Varoufakis and Richard Wolff, science fiction author Ted Chiang, and Bioware veterans Mark Darrah and David Gaider, alongside worker-run organizations.
While the five percent stake may seem small, Summer Eternal states it is sufficient for the player pool to convene a general assembly to discuss studio matters. The organization can also utilize game revenue for events or support for union work, as determined by its membership. This approach offers players a direct channel to influence game features, mechanics, and content, providing transparency and a means of intervention that deviates from the typical closed-door development cycles.
The Anthology is available for purchase, with a Standard edition priced at €69 and a Deluxe Firestarter bundle at €99. Purchasing the book also grants membership in the Summer Eternal Players Non-Profit organization.