Developer ZA/UM has announced that its narrative RPG, ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies, is getting a Director’s Cut release. Along with this, the title now also has a release date for its PS5 version – November 3rd. As caught by GameSpot, the studio hasn’t made any announcements regarding a potential release on Xbox Series X/S or Nintendo Switch 2. The Director’s Cut is slated for release on October 1st.
The Director’s Cut release is meant to be a free update for all owners of ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies, and the studio has said that it will include “substantial new material” that feels “tangibly different” from the base game, giving players more of an incentive to revisit Hershel Wilk’s adventures in Portofiro. This also involves the addition of a new Dramatic Encounter to the game – the Quisach Roundabout.
“Hershel Wilk and her old friend Ramses find themselves stoned out of their minds, behind the wheel of a hijacked tuk-tuk and seemingly unable to escape the Quisach Roundabout late at night. The objective seems simple enough. Take the right exit and head home. Fail to do so, and well… things might get existential. And possibly fatal,” explains ZA/UM.
While the studio hasn’t confirmed how much time the new content will take players to get through, it has noted that it added around 40,000 words’ worth of new material to the game.
With Director’s Cut, ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies will also offer a behind-the-scenes peek at the development of the RPG with its new Backstage feature. It essentially allows players to look at versions of the game’s world from various points of its development period. The studio has confirmed that there will also be examples provided of the “technical steps and creative processes” involved in the making of the game.
Backstage will also include a developer commentary system through the addition of in-game orbs that can be interacted with to get stories from various members of the team, including art director Kaspar Tamsalu.
Outside of gameplay and story additions, ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies – Director’s Cut is also bringing in some technical enhancements, like support for ultrawide displays at 21:9 and 32:9 aspect ratios. It will also offer controller remapping, a Photosensitivity mode, and even the ability to better sort through your in-game inventory.
ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies was released on PC back in May. As you can see from our review, we quite enjoyed our time with the game thanks to its fantastic setting, world-building, and premise. Our only criticism was that its unguided nature could lead to some frustration.
However, despite a solid release, things haven’t quite gone smoothly for ZA/UM. Just a couple of days after ZERO PARADES’ release, the studio announced that it was laying off 32 of its employees.
In the meantime, you can check out more details about the RPG in our interview with the developers, where we discussed topics like how Disco Elysium served as its inspiration, how Pressures and Exertions were designed from a gameplay and narrative standpoint, and the three-way power struggle that defines much of the title’s core narrative.
