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 a painterly art style and music by the English band Sea Power. The game was released for Windows in October 2019 and for macOS in April 2020. A version with full voice acting and new content, called The Final Cut, 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 detective who has no memory of who he is or the world around him. As he investigates a murder with a detective from another precinct, players can uncover the detective’s identity and learn what caused his amnesia. The game is not traditional, with little combat. Instead, players use a system of 24 skills that represent the detective’s different traits and personalities. These skills influence decisions through skill checks and dialogue choices. The game is based on a tabletop role-playing game setting that Kurvitz created before forming ZA/UM in 2016. This is the second time the Elysium setting has been explored, following the 2013 novel Sacred and Terrible Air.
Disco Elysium received high 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. It is also seen as a strong example of video games as an art form. However, disagreements at ZA/UM around 2021 caused several lead developers and writers, including Kurvitz and Kender, to leave and start their own studios. 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 gameplay that focuses on talking and making choices. The game uses an isometric perspective, which means the player controls the character from a 3D-like view. The player takes the role of a detective who has forgotten important details due to alcohol and drug use and must solve a murder case. The player can move the detective around the screen to interact with other characters, objects, or travel to different areas. Early in the game, the player gains a partner named Kim Kitsuragi, another detective who provides professional advice and support during conversations.
The game does not involve traditional combat. Instead, players use skill checks and dialogue choices to handle challenges. There are four main attributes: Intellect, Psyche, Physique, and Motorics. Each attribute has six secondary skills, totaling 24. Players earn skill points as they level up, which can be used to improve these skills. Better skills help the player succeed in skill checks, which are determined by rolling two six-sided dice. However, improving certain skills may also cause negative effects, such as increased paranoia or substance abuse, discouraging players from focusing too much on one skill. For example, a character with high Drama may lie well but might also become overly emotional. A character with high Electrochemistry may resist drug effects but could develop a habit of using them. The detective’s clothing choices can also influence skills, sometimes positively or negatively.
The game includes a system called the "Thought Cabinet," which allows players to unlock thoughts through conversations or internal dialogues. Players can "internalize" these thoughts by spending time in the game, which grants benefits but may also cause drawbacks. This system is similar to how traits work in the Fallout series. At the start, the Thought Cabinet has limited slots, but more can be added as the player gains experience. For example, a thought called "Hobocop" lets the character consider living on the streets to save money. While this thought is being processed, the detective may act less confident around others. Once completed, the thought allows the player to earn more money from recycling trash. Players can later use a skill point to "forget" completed thoughts, removing them permanently and their effects.
The 24 skills also influence dialogue choices, creating situations where the player debates between different parts of the character’s mind or body. These debates may offer suggestions or insights that help the player interact with other characters. For example, a subskill called Inland Empire, part of Psyche, relates to the strength of the soul. If the player chooses to accept a suggestion from Inland Empire, they may be able to convincingly pretend to be someone else during a conversation.
Synopsis
Disco Elysium takes place 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 idea of historical materialism, which suggests that even if details change, human history tends to follow similar patterns.
The game is set in the year 51 of the Current Century. Elysium consists of "isolas," which are large land and sea areas separated by the Pale, 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 aerostatics, is strictly controlled because of the danger.
The story begins in the poor district of Martinaise, located in 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 monarchy that had been Elysium's leading superpower, was overthrown and replaced by a commune. Six years later, the Commune of Revachol was defeated by an alliance of moralist-capitalist nations called "the Coalition." Revachol became a Special Administrative Region and remains under Coalition control. One of the few responsibilities the Coalition allows Revachol's government to handle is policing, carried out by the Revachol Citizens Militia (RCM), a group of volunteers who have become a semi-professional police force.
The player character wakes up in a ruined 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 initial clues suggest he was lynched by a group of people. The detectives explore the district, following leads and helping residents with tasks. During the investigation, the player learns they are Lieutenant Harrier "Harry" Du Bois, a decorated RCM detective. Harry experienced a midlife crisis years ago and, on the night he was assigned to the case, had a three-day drinking binge in Martinaise. On the first night of the game, Harry has a nightmare where he sees himself as the hanged man under a disco ball. When he talks to his own dead body, it tells him everything is hopeless and he will fail to solve the case or fix his life.
Harry and Kim discover the murder is connected to a strike by the Martinaise dockworkers' union against the Wild Pines Group, a major logistics company. They interview union boss 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 break the strike. She warns that the remaining mercenaries have gone rogue and may seek revenge for Lely's death.
Harry and Kim learn Lely was killed before the hanging, and 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. When questioned, Klaasje says Lely was shot in the mouth during consensual sex. Unable to find the bullet's origin and fearing authorities due to her past as a corporate spy, Klaasje asked a union supporter named Ruby to help stage Lely's hanging with the Hardie Boys. The detectives find Ruby hiding in an abandoned building, where she disables them using a radio wave device used to travel through the Pale. Ruby says the cover-up was Klaasje's idea 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 happens, and Harry is wounded, leaving him unconscious for several days. Depending on the player's actions, some or all of the mercenaries may die, and Kim may be hospitalized, with street urchin Cuno offering to replace him as Harry's partner. The detectives chase remaining clues and discover the bullet that killed Lely came from an old fortress on an islet near Martinaise's shore.
The detectives explore the ruins and find the shooter, a former commissar of the Revachol communist army named Iosef Lilianovich Dros, who deserted during the collapse of the commune. Iosef admits he shot Lely out of anger and jealousy toward the capitalist system Lely represented and his jealousy of Klaasje. The detectives arrest him for the murder. At this point, an insectoid cryptid called the Insulindian Phasmid appears, whose existence the player can investigate. It is implied the Phasmid indirectly caused the events leading to Lely's murder, as its psychoactive chemicals affected a man's mind for years, fueling his fanaticism. Harry may have a psychic conversation with the Phasmid, who tells him it fears his unstable mind but is impressed by his ability to survive. The Phasmid also suggests the Pale is a result of human perception and self-reflection that threatens the world. Before leaving, it tells Harry to move on from his broken life.
Harry and his partner are confronted by his old squad upon returning to Martinaise. They reflect on Harry's actions during the game, particularly whether he solved the case and how he handled the mercenaries. Lieutenant Jean Vicquemare, Harry's usual partner, confirms Harry's emotional breakdown was caused by his fiancée leaving him years ago. In the best outcome, the squad expresses hope Harry will improve and invites him and either Kim or Cuno to join a special RCM unit.
Development
Disco Elysium was created by ZA/UM, a company started in 2016 by Estonian writer Robert Kurvitz. Kurvitz was the main writer and designer of the game. In 2005, while playing in a band called Ultramelanhool, Kurvitz listened to Tiësto’s song “Adagio for Strings” and imagined a fictional world. He then formed a group of artists and musicians, including Aleksander Rostov, the lead artist of Disco Elysium, to build on this idea. The group made a tabletop role-playing game inspired by Dungeons & Dragons and a steampunk-like setting. During this time, Kurvitz met Estonian author Kaur Kender, who helped him write a novel called Sacred and Terrible Air, published in 2013. The book sold only about 1,000 copies, and Kurvitz struggled with depression and alcoholism for three years after its release. These experiences, along with his and Rostov’s childhood memories of playing Dungeons & Dragons, influenced the game’s design, which focuses on themes of failure. This is shown in the game’s main character, Harrier Dubois, the story’s tragedies, and the RPG’s pass-fail dice system. A scrapped tagline for the game was “A Roleplaying Game About Being a Total Failure.”
Kurvitz eventually recovered from alcoholism and helped Kender with his recovery. Kender suggested Kurvitz try making a video game instead of writing a novel to share his world with more people. Kurvitz had no video game experience, but he noticed that the game’s artwork could fit into an isometric format, and Rostov agreed to continue working on the project together. Kurvitz described the game as “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 in the game’s development, with support from friends and family. The game was first announced as No Truce With the Furies, a title taken from a poem by R.S. Thomas. The name was later changed to Disco Elysium.
Kurvitz formed the ZA/UM team to make the game. The name “ZA/UM” comes from a Russian language called Zaum, used by avant-garde poets in the early 1900s. In Russian, “za um” means “to take hold of one’s mind,” similar to the English phrase “bootstrapping.” The use of all capital letters and a slash symbol was to show the team as something real and strong. Work on the game began around 2016, with the team living in a former gallery in Tallinn, Estonia. They secured 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 for better resources. During development, some team members moved from Estonia to London and Brighton, while others worked from Poland, Romania, and China. By the time the game was released, ZA/UM had about 20 outside consultants, 35 in-house developers, and eight writers helping Kurvitz with 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 the team focused on “microreactivity”—small decisions, like an embarrassing comment, that could have bigger effects. The game’s dialogue helped players understand how these choices impacted the world. Kurvitz and his team also recognized that the game’s story had no clear solution, similar to the setting of Revachol. They created a character named Kim to help players stay on track and accept that some story threads could not be resolved.
Originally, the game was planned to be set in one 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: “disco” can refer to trends that fade quickly, like disco music, and also means “I learn” in Latin, reflecting the protagonist’s journey to learn about Elysium. Kurvitz intended No Truce to be a working title for a future game bundle. ZA/UM initially planned to publish the game through Humble Bundle but chose to self-publish instead.
In March 2025, ZA/UM announced a mobile version of Disco Elysium for Android devices, targeting casual players. The mobile version was released on Google Play on August 5, 2025.
The game’s art was created in a painterly style by Aleksander Rostov. The soundtrack was written and recorded by British Sea Power, a band ZA/UM fans approached directly. The band contributed original songs and remixed tracks from their discography. For example, “Smallest Church in Sussex” became “The Smallest Church in Saint-Saëns,” and “Fire Escape in the Sea” became “Whirling-In-Rags, 8 AM.” The in-game hostel-cafeteria named “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 was released on April 27, 2020. One of the first translations ZA/UM published was the Chinese version, which came out in March 2020. This release had to avoid the usual approval process needed for games in China because the game's content did not meet China's standards due to its violence and sexual content. After its release, reviews from Chinese players showed they were interested in the game because they liked its ideological themes. In May 2020, ZA/UM released an update that improved the game's performance on lower-end hardware and added support for more language translations, which are being created by the community and the translation company Testronic Labs.
After its original release, Kurvitz announced plans for an expansion and a full sequel for the game. A tabletop RPG based on the game’s systems, tentatively named You Are Vapor, was also 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 develop 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 rating by the Australian Classification Board because it was only released digitally for personal computers. However, the planned console release of The Final Cut required a Board review. The game was initially refused classification in Australia because of its depiction of sex, drug misuse, crime, cruelty, and violence, as well as showing "revolting or abhorrent phenomena" that offended accepted standards of morality and decency. The ban was appealed by ZA/UM and later dropped. The game was reclassified to an adults-only R18+ rating and allowed to be sold after the Board acknowledged that the game showed negative consequences for regular drug use, which affected player progression. Disco Elysium 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 the ways players interact with characters. PC Gamer said the game has deep content, many choices, and strong storytelling, calling it one of the best RPGs on PC. IGN praised its open world and compared it to popular games like The Witcher 3 and Red Dead Redemption 2, even though it is smaller in size. The Washington Post called the game "conspicuously well written." GameSpot gave it a perfect score of 10 out of 10, the first time they did so since 2017. PCGamesN said the game set new standards for exploration and conversation systems. However, Eurogamer criticized it for limited role-playing choices and a lack of clear focus.
In a review for Black Gate, Joshua Dinges wrote that the game’s world is well developed, characters are realistic, and storylines are engaging. He said players might not always know what to do, but they will still enjoy exploring the game’s beautiful, colorful environments.
Disco Elysium: The Final Cut was praised by IGN and Game Informer for adding voice lines and new quests. However, early PlayStation versions had major bugs that made some quests impossible to complete.
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. It was also nominated for the 2020 Nebula Award for Best Game Writing.
Post-release
After the success of the game Disco Elysium, work on a direct sequel and other related projects began immediately. The direct sequel, called Y12, was led by Kurvitz, Rostov, and Hindpere. Another project, P1, was led by Kender. In October 2022, Martin Luiga, a member of ZA/UM, said that Kurvitz, Rostov, and Hindpere, along with him, had "involuntarily left the company" in late 2021. He claimed ZA/UM no longer reflected its original values. Luiga also said the ZA/UM cultural group had been dissolved. He added that Kurvitz, Rostov, and Hindpere were fired unfairly. A ZA/UM spokesperson denied these claims.
In early November 2022, different accounts of the events were shared. Kurvitz said Zaum Studio OÜ, the development studio, was originally owned by Margus Linnamäe but was bought in 2021 by Tütreke OÜ, a company owned by studio CEO Ilmar Kompus. Kurvitz and Rostov claimed the money used for the purchase came from the studio itself, making it a fraudulent transaction. They challenged the purchase and tried to reclaim their intellectual property rights. They also said Kompus bought four sketches from Zaum for £1 and later sold them back for €4.8 million, which they believed helped Kompus recover money spent on buying Zaum. Kurvitz and Rostov said they were fired after they raised questions about the change in company structure and their demotions. They claimed they still had control over Disco Elysium rights and should have had a say in the sale. Zaum Studio denied these claims, saying Kurvitz and Rostov were fired for creating problems at the studio and for not doing their jobs well. Other employees said the situation was not clear-cut.
Kaur Kender, the executive producer of Disco Elysium, started legal action against Kompus, claiming he owed him €1 million. Kender also said Kompus was helped by Tõnis Haavel, an Estonian investor with a criminal record and a large debt. Haavel owns a UK company that holds Disco Elysium rights. A court hearing in October 2022 included statements from Kurvitz. By December 2022, Kender dropped his lawsuit after Kompus returned €4.8 million to ZA/UM. Kurvitz and Rostov still said the takeover of the studio was illegal and led to their firing.
In March 2023, the studio said all legal actions from former members were finished. It said Kender had sold his shares, repaid his debts, and paid the studio’s legal fees. It also said Kurvitz and Rostov’s lawsuit was dropped because there was not enough evidence. Details of the cases remain private. Kurvitz and Rostov later said the studio’s statement was "wrong and misleading" and claimed they were being unfairly treated as disgruntled employees. They said their employment lawsuit was dismissed as part of a larger effort 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 it in mid-2022. Soon after, Tuulik and Klindžić were asked to create a "standalone expansion" to Disco Elysium, called X7, later named Locust City: A Disco Elysium Story. The project focused on characters Cuno and Cunoesse. Management approved the project without a planning phase. Production began before Tuulik and Klindžić had a full plan for the game. They later got more staff after Kender’s project P1 was canceled. In May 2023, People Make Games published an investigation into ZA/UM’s legal issues, featuring interviews with Tuulik. Klindžić said company leaders isolated Tuulik after he made negative comments in a documentary. The team created a well-received demo for X7 by the end of 2023.
In February 2024, Sports Illustrated’s gaming publication GLHF reported that ZA/UM laid off about 25% of its staff, including Tuulik and Klindžić, and canceled X7. Tuulik said the layoffs mainly affected women and employees who had raised concerns about working conditions. PC Gamer reported that ZA/UM’s only remaining projects were M0, a mobile version of Disco Elysium, and C4, an unrelated RPG.
ZA/UM’s C4 project was later named Zero Parades: For Dead Spies, an RPG with the same style as Disco Elysium. The game involves a female spy convincing former colleagues to regroup for a mission. Previews showed the game shared visual elements and design with Disco Elysium. It is planned for release in 2026.
Conflicts at ZA/UM led to four separate projects by former members aiming to continue the Disco Elysium legacy, in addition to 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 by separate studios:
– Longdue includes Martin Luiga, Disco Elysium narrator Lenval Brown, and developers from Bungie and Rockstar Games. Their game, Hopetown, was funded through a Kickstarter campaign in April 2025.
– Dark Math Games, founded by investor Linnamae, includes Kender and other ZA/UM developers. They are making Tangerine Antarctic, a murder mystery set in an Antarctic ski resort. The game uses 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 unique approach of Disco Elysium inspired at least one developer to create Esoteric Ebb, a game influenced by both Disco Elysium and Planescape: Torment.