Disco Elysium is a 2019 role-playing video game created and published by ZA/UM. The game was written and designed by a team led by Estonian novelist Robert Kurvitz and executive producer Kaur Kender. It features an artistic visual style and music by the English band Sea Power. The game was released for Windows in October 2019 and for macOS in April 2020. An expanded version called The Final Cut, which includes full voice acting and new content, was released for consoles in 2021, along with a free update for PC versions. In August 2025, the game was made available for Android devices.
Disco Elysium follows a confused detective who does not remember his identity or the world around him. As he investigates a murder with a detective from another precinct, players can uncover the protagonist’s identity and learn what caused his condition. The game is not traditional, with little combat. Instead, players resolve events through skill checks and dialogue choices using a system of 24 skills that represent the protagonist’s different traits and personalities. Each skill can speak directly to the player, influencing decisions. The game is based on a tabletop role-playing game setting that Kurvitz created before forming ZA/UM in 2016 to adapt it into a video game. This is the second time the Elysium setting has been explored, following the 2013 novel Sacred and Terrible Air.
Disco Elysium received widespread praise when it was released, winning many awards, including Best Independent Game, Best Narrative, and Best Role Playing Game at the Game Awards 2019. It has sold more than five million copies and is considered one of the greatest video games of all time, as well as a strong example of video games as an art form. However, conflicts within ZA/UM around 2021 caused several lead developers and writers, including Kurvitz and Kender, to leave and start their own studios. As a result, by October 2024, at least four other studios, in addition to ZA/UM, had announced projects to create games inspired by Disco Elysium.
Gameplay
Disco Elysium is a role-playing video game with an open world and a focus on conversations. The game uses an isometric view, where players control a detective who has forgotten their memories due to alcohol and drug use. The detective investigates a murder case. Players move the detective around the screen to talk to other characters or interact with objects, and can move to different areas. Early in the game, the detective gains a partner named Kim Kitsuragi, who helps guide the player with advice and keeps the character professional during conversations.
The game does not involve traditional combat. Instead, players use skill checks and choose dialogue options. There are four main attributes: Intellect, Psyche, Physique, and Motorics. Each attribute has six secondary skills, totaling 24. Players earn skill points by leveling up, which they use to improve these skills. Skill checks involve rolling two six-sided dice, and success depends on the player’s skill level. However, improving certain skills can also cause negative effects, such as making the character more prone to nervousness or substance abuse. For example, high levels in the Drama skill help detect lies but may cause the character to act nervously or become paranoid. High levels in Electrochemistry help resist drug effects but may lead to drug use. The detective’s clothing choices can also affect skills positively or negatively.
The game includes a system called the "Thought Cabinet," which stores ideas gained through conversations or the detective’s internal thoughts. Players can "internalize" these thoughts over time, which gives benefits but may also cause drawbacks. For example, the "Hobocop" thought allows the detective to earn more money by collecting trash but makes the character less composed around others during the process. Once a thought is completed, it can be removed to make space for new ones, though this removes any benefits gained from it.
The 24 skills also influence dialogue choices, creating moments where the detective debates with different parts of their mind or body. These debates can offer suggestions or insights that help the player interact with other characters. For example, the Inland Empire subskill, part of Psyche, relates to the strength of the soul. If the player chooses to use this skill, it might help them convincingly pretend to be someone else during a conversation.
Synopsis
Disco Elysium is set in the imaginative but realistic world of Elysium, created by Kurvitz and his team over many years. This world has a history spanning more than six thousand years. The story follows the theory of historical materialism, which suggests that even if details differ, human history tends to follow similar patterns.
The game takes place in the year 51 of the Current Century. Elysium is divided into "isolas," which are large land and sea areas separated by the Pale. The Pale is a mysterious, mist-like region where the rules of reality do not apply. Spending too much time in the Pale can cause mental problems and even death. Traveling through the Pale, usually done with airships, is strictly controlled because of the dangers involved.
The story begins in the poor neighborhood of Martinaise within the city of Revachol on the isola of Insulinde, known as the "New New World." Forty-nine years before the game's events, communist revolutions occurred in several countries. The Suzerainty of Revachol, a powerful monarchy, was overthrown and replaced by a commune. Six years later, the commune was defeated by a group of nations called the Coalition, which are moralist-capitalist countries. Revachol became a Special Administrative Region and has remained under Coalition control for many years. One of the few responsibilities the Coalition allows Revachol to handle is policing, carried out by the Revachol Citizens Militia (RCM), a group of volunteers who later became a semi-professional police force.
The player character wakes up in a messy hostel room in Martinaise with a severe hangover and no memory of who they are, likely due to drug-induced amnesia. They meet Lieutenant Kim Kitsuragi, who tells them they are assigned to investigate the death of a man found hanging in an empty lot behind the hostel. The victim's identity is unknown, and early clues suggest he was killed by a group of people. The detectives explore the area, follow leads, and help residents with tasks. During the investigation, the player learns they are Lieutenant Harrier "Harry" Du Bois, a decorated RCM detective. Harry had a midlife crisis years ago and, on the night he was assigned to the case, drank heavily for three days. On the first night, Harry has a nightmare where he sees himself as the hanged man under a disco ball. In the dream, his dead body tells him everything is hopeless and he will fail to solve the case or fix his life.
Harry and Kim discover the murder is linked to a strike by the Martinaise dockworkers' union against the Wild Pines Group, a major logistics company. They interview union leader Evrart Claire and Wild Pines negotiator Joyce Messier. Joyce reveals the hanged man was Colonel Ellis "Lely" Kortenaer, a mercenary sent by Wild Pines to end the strike. She warns that other mercenaries may seek revenge for Lely's death.
Harry and Kim learn Lely was killed before being hanged. The Hardie Boys, a group of dockworker vigilantes who act as peacekeepers in Martinaise, claim responsibility. They say Lely tried to rape a hostel guest named Klaasje. Klaasje explains Lely was shot in the mouth during consensual sex. She could not find the bullet's origin and, fearing authorities because of her past as a corporate spy, asked a union supporter named Ruby to stage Lely's hanging with the Hardie Boys. The detectives find Ruby hiding in an abandoned building, where she uses a device that emits radio waves to disable them. She claims Klaasje planned the cover-up and does not know who shot Lely. Harry overcomes the device and considers arresting Ruby, but she believes Harry is corrupt and either escapes or kills herself, depending on the player's choices.
Returning to their hostel, the detectives stop a fight between rogue mercenaries and the Hardie Boys. A shootout occurs, and Harry is wounded, leaving him unconscious for several days. Depending on the player's actions, some or all mercenaries may die, and Kim might be hospitalized, with a street urchin named Cuno offering to replace him as Harry's partner. The detectives track leads to an old fortress on an islet near Martinaise's shore.
At the fortress, they find the shooter, a former commissar of the Revachol communist army named Iosef Lilianovich Dros, who deserted during the commune's collapse. Iosef admits he shot Lely out of anger and jealousy, fueled by his hatred of capitalism and his desire for Klaasje. The detectives arrest him. An insectoid creature called the Insulindian Phasmid appears, whose existence the player can explore. It is implied the Phasmid's chemicals affected Lely's mind, causing his actions. Harry has a psychic conversation with the Phasmid, which tells him it fears Harry's unstable mind but admires his resilience. The Phasmid suggests the Pale is a result of human thoughts and self-reflection, and it encourages Harry to move forward.
Upon returning to Martinaise, Harry and his partner are met by his old squad. They discuss Harry's actions, including whether he solved the case and how he handled the mercenaries. Lieutenant Jean Vicquemare, Harry's usual partner, explains Harry's emotional breakdown was caused by his fiancée leaving him years ago. In the best outcome, the squad hopes Harry will recover and invites him and either Kim or Cuno to join a special RCM unit.
Development
Disco Elysium was created by a company called ZA/UM. The company was started in 2016 by Robert Kurvitz, an Estonian writer who also worked as the game’s main writer and designer. In 2005, Kurvitz was part of a band named Ultramelanhool. During one evening, while listening to a song by Tiësto called "Adagio for Strings," he imagined a fictional world. The band then formed a group of artists and musicians, including Aleksander Rostov, who became the lead artist for Disco Elysium. Together, they developed a tabletop role-playing game inspired by Dungeons & Dragons, based on this imagined world. During this time, Kurvitz met Kaur Kender, an Estonian author who helped him write a novel called Sacred and Terrible Air. The book was published in 2013 but sold only about 1,000 copies. After this failure, Kurvitz struggled with depression and alcoholism for about three years. This experience, along with his and Rostov’s early interest in Dungeons & Dragons, influenced the game’s design philosophy, which focuses on themes of failure. These ideas are shown in the game’s main character, Harrier Dubois, the challenges faced by characters, and the game’s pass-fail dice system. One of the game’s early ideas was a tagline: “A Roleplaying Game About Being a Total Failure.”
Kurvitz eventually recovered from his alcoholism and helped Kender with his own recovery. Kender suggested that instead of writing a novel, Kurvitz should try making a video game to share his world with more people. Kurvitz had no experience in video games, but he noticed that the game’s artwork could fit into an isometric format, which shows the world from a side view. Rostov agreed to take the risk of making a video game together. Kurvitz wrote a description of the game: “D&D meets ‘70s cop-show, in an original ‘fantastic realist’ setting, with swords, guns, and motor-cars. Realised as an isometric CRPG – a modern advancement on the legendary Planescape: Torment and Baldur’s Gate. Massive, reactive story. Exploring a vast, poverty-stricken ghetto. Deep, strategic combat.” Kender was impressed and invested money into the game’s development, with additional support from friends and family. The game was first announced as a 2017 release under the title No Truce With the Furies, taken from a poem by R.S. Thomas. Later, the name was changed to Disco Elysium.
Kurvitz formed the ZA/UM team to create the game. The name “ZA/UM” comes from a constructed language called Zaum, used by Russian poets in the early 1900s. In Russian, “za um” means “to take hold of one’s mind,” similar to the English phrase “bootstrapping.” The name in all capital letters with a slash shows the team’s identity as something strong and real. Work on the game began around 2016, with the team living in a former gallery in Tallinn, Estonia. They received venture capital funding, which allowed Kurvitz to hire the English band British Sea Power for the game’s soundtrack. Kurvitz later moved the main development team to England, where there were more resources for game development and voice-overs. During development, some team members worked from Estonia, London, Brighton, Poland, Romania, and China. By the time the game was released, ZA/UM had about 20 outside consultants and 35 in-house developers, with eight writers helping Kurvitz with the game’s dialogue. Most of the game’s funding came from Estonian businessman Margus Linnamäe. The game uses the Unity engine.
Kurvitz aimed to create a game with many choices and outcomes, but he knew they could not cover every possibility. Instead, the team focused on “microreactivity,” small decisions that affect the game world, such as a character making an embarrassing comment. The game’s dialogue helps players understand how these small choices have larger effects. Kurvitz also noted that the game’s story has no clear solution, similar to the setting of Revachol. A character named Kim was added to help players stay on track and recognize that some story threads cannot be fixed.
Originally, the game was planned to focus on a single city for a 2017 release. However, ZA/UM told investors the game would cover a larger world, which delayed the release and changed the title to Disco Elysium. The name has multiple meanings. One refers to the short-lived popularity of disco music, seen in the main character’s clothing style. Another meaning is Latin for “I learn,” reflecting the character’s journey to recover from amnesia and learn about the world of Elysium. Kurvitz intended the No Truce title to be a working name for a future game. Though ZA/UM planned to publish the game through Humble Bundle, they chose to self-publish it.
In March 2025, ZA/UM announced a mobile version of Disco Elysium for Android devices, targeting casual players. The game was released on Google Play on August 5, 2025.
The game’s art was created by Aleksander Rostov in a painterly style. The soundtrack was written and recorded by the English band British Sea Power. Members of ZA/UM were fans of the band and asked them to contribute music. The band agreed, creating original songs and remixing some of their previous tracks for the game. For example, the song “Smallest Church in Sussex” from their 2003 album was adapted into “The Smallest Church in Saint-Saëns.” Other tracks were also remixed for the game’s soundtrack. The name of the in-game hostel-cafeteria, “Whirling-in-Rags,” comes from a lyric in the band’s song “Hail Holy Queen.”
Release
Disco Elysium was first released for Windows on October 15, 2019. The macOS version came out on April 27, 2020. One of the first translations ZA/UM published was the Chinese version, released in March 2020. This release had to skip the usual approval steps required for games in China, because the game's content did not meet Chinese government standards due to its violence and sexual themes. After its release, reviews from Chinese players showed they were interested in the game, as they liked many of its ideas and themes. In May 2020, ZA/UM released an update that improved the game's performance on older computers and added support for more language translations, which are being created by the community and the localization company Testronic Labs.
After the original release, Kurvitz shared plans for an expansion and a full sequel. Also, a tabletop role-playing game based on the game's systems, named You Are Vapor, was announced. Kurvitz also planned to translate his novel Sacred and Terrible Air into English, which takes place 20 years after the events of Disco Elysium. In June 2020, ZA/UM partnered with the production company dj2 Entertainment to create a television series based on the game. In March 2021, ZA/UM launched a limited edition clothing and artwork line called Atelier, featuring designs inspired by the game.
The Final Cut was released on March 30, 2021, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Stadia as a free update for existing PC and macOS copies. Versions for Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S were released on October 12, 2021. The original game was not submitted for approval by the Australian Classification Board because it was only available digitally for computers. However, the planned console release of The Final Cut required a review by the Board. The game was initially refused classification, making it illegal to sell in Australia, due to its portrayal of sex, drug use, crime, cruelty, and violence, as well as showing "revolting or abhorrent phenomena" that offended general standards of morality and decency. ZA/UM appealed the ban, and it was later dropped. The game was reclassified as adults-only (R18+) and allowed to be sold, as the Board noted the game included consequences for drug use that discouraged such behavior. The game was released in Japan by Spike Chunsoft on August 25, 2022.
Reception
Disco Elysium received "universal acclaim" from Metacritic, a website that collects game reviews. It was praised for its story and ways to talk with characters. PC Gamer said the game has deep content, freedom to choose actions, customization options, and strong storytelling. It called Disco Elysium one of the best role-playing games on the PC. IGN said the game's open world is similar to The Witcher 3 and Red Dead Redemption 2, even though it is smaller. The Washington Post said the game is "very well written." GameSpot gave it a 10 out of 10, the highest score they have given since 2017. PCGamesN said the game created new standards for exploration and conversation systems in its genre. Eurogamer criticized the game for not giving players enough choices in role-playing and for lacking a clear focus.
In a review for Black Gate, Joshua Dinges said the game's world is very detailed, the characters are well developed, and the many storylines are engaging. He said players might not always know what to do, but they will still enjoy exploring and completing tasks. He added that the game's visuals look like expressionist watercolors.
Disco Elysium: The Final Cut was praised by IGN and Game Informer for adding voice lines and new quests. The PlayStation versions had serious bugs at first, making some quests impossible to finish.
As of September 2025, Disco Elysium sold more than five million copies.
In June 2020, ZA/UM and dj2 Entertainment announced a television series based on the game was being developed.
The game was nominated for four awards at The Game Awards 2019 and won all of them, the most at the event. Slant Magazine, USGamer, PC Gamer, and Zero Punctuation named it their game of the year. Time listed it as one of the top 10 games of the 2010s. The game was also nominated for the 2020 Nebula Award for Best Game Writing.
Post-release
After the success of the game Disco Elysium, work began immediately on a direct sequel and several other projects. The sequel, named Y12, was led by Kurvitz, Rostov, and Hindpere. Another project, named P1, was led by Kender. In October 2022, Martin Luiga, a member of ZA/UM, announced that he and Kurvitz, Rostov, and Hindpere had been forced to leave the company in late 2021. He said ZA/UM no longer represented its original values. Luiga also said the ZA/UM cultural group had been dissolved. Luiga claimed the others were fired unfairly. A ZA/UM spokesperson denied these claims.
In early November 2022, conflicting reports about the events were shared. Kurvitz said Zaum Studio OÜ, the development studio, was originally owned by Margus Linnamäe. In 2021, Tütreke OÜ, a company owned by studio CEO Ilmar Kompus, bought Zaum Studio OÜ. Kurvitz and Rostov claimed the money used for the purchase came from the studio itself, making the transaction unfair. They challenged the purchase and tried to recover their intellectual property rights. Kurvitz and Rostov also said Kompus bought four sketches from Zaum for £1 and later sold them back for €4.8 million, which they believed helped Kompus recoup money spent to buy Zaum. Kurvitz and Rostov said they were fired after raising questions about these actions. They claimed they still had control over Disco Elysium rights and should have had a say in blocking the sale. Zaum Studio denied these claims, saying Kurvitz and Rostov were fired for creating problems and not fulfilling their responsibilities. Other employees, speaking anonymously, said the situation was complicated.
Kaur Kender, the executive producer of Disco Elysium, started legal action against Kompus, claiming Kompus owed him €1 million. Kender also said Kompus was helped by Tõnis Haavel, an Estonian investor and Kompus’ brother-in-law, who had a criminal record for fraud and owed €11.5 million. Haavel owns a UK company where Disco Elysium rights are held. A court hearing in Kender’s case took place in October 2022. By December 2022, Kender dropped his lawsuit after Kompus returned €4.8 million to ZA/UM. Kurvitz and Rostov still said the studio was taken over illegally, leading to their firing.
ZA/UM released a statement on March 14, 2023, saying all legal actions from former members were finished. It said Kender had sold his shares, paid his debts, and covered the studio’s legal costs. It also said Kurvitz and Rostov’s lawsuit was dropped due to lack of evidence. Details of these cases remain private. On March 17, 2023, Kurvitz and Rostov said the statement was misleading and claimed they were still minority shareholders in ZA/UM. They said their employment lawsuit was dismissed as part of a campaign against them and that they would pursue legal options.
After Kurvitz, Rostov, and Hindpere left, work on Y12 continued for several months under Argo Tuulik and Dora Klindžić until management canceled the project in mid-2022. Tuulik and Klindžić were later asked to create a standalone expansion, X7, later named Locust City: A Disco Elysium Story, focusing on characters Cuno and Cunoesse. Management approved the project without a planning phase. Production began before the writing team had a complete plan. They gained more staff after Kender’s project P1 was canceled following his firing. In May 2023, People Make Games published an investigation into ZA/UM’s legal issues, featuring interviews with Tuulik. Klindžić said executives isolated Tuulik for making negative comments in a documentary. The team created a well-received demo for X7 by the end of 2023.
In February 2024, GLHF, a gaming publication, reported that ZA/UM laid off about 25% of its staff, including Tuulik and Klindžić, and canceled X7 and Y12. Tuulik said layoffs targeted women and employees who raised concerns about working conditions. PC Gamer reported that ZA/UM’s remaining projects were M0, a mobile version of Disco Elysium, and C4, an unrelated RPG.
ZA/UM’s C4 project, later named Zero Parades: For Dead Spies, is an RPG with a similar style to Disco Elysium, featuring a female spy working with former collaborators. The game includes visual and design elements similar to Disco Elysium and is planned for release in 2026.
Conflicts within ZA/UM led to four separate projects by former members aiming to continue the Disco Elysium legacy, including Zero Parades. Kurvitz and Rostov started Red Info in June 2022, a studio working on a spiritual successor to Disco Elysium. Red Info received at least $10 million in funding from NetEase and hired writer Chris Avellone.
Three other spiritual successor projects were announced in October 2024:
– Longdue, led by Martin Luiga, Lenval Brown (Disco Elysium narrator), and developers from Bungie and Rockstar Games. Their game, Hopetown, was funded through Kickstarter in April 2025.
– Dark Math Games, founded by Linnamae, includes Kender and other ZA/UM developers. They are making Tangerine Antarctic, a murder mystery set in an Antarctic ski resort. The game will use a third-person camera instead of the isometric view of Disco Elysium.
– Summer Eternal, founded by Argo Tuulik and Dora Klindžić, includes Olga Moskvina and other senior ZA/UM developers.
The non-traditional approach of Disco Elysium inspired at least one developer to create Esoteric Ebb, a game influenced by Disco Elysium and Planescape: Torment.