Summary
- ZA/UM has announced a mobile port of their hit game Disco Elysium.
- Fans are already upset considering how many core team members have left the studio.
- The mobile port is adjusted to be optimized for short play sessions.
While Disco Elysium is already portable on platforms like the Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck, a new full “re-imagining” of the project has now been revealed for mobile platforms.
Many recent announcements from ZA/UM, the “original” creators of Disco Elysium, have left fans with a sour taste in their mouths. Despite owning the rights to one of the greatest CRPGs of recent years, the company now lacks many original team members behind their most popular game.
Recent announcements, such as one for ZA/UM’s upcoming game Project C4, have thus been met with player scrutiny. After claiming in an announcement that, “we brought you Disco Elysium,” many fans retorted in the comments that the actual team behind Disco Elysium is long gone.
Microsoft Wants Copilot AI To Be Your “Ultimate Gaming Sidekick”
Microsoft’s continued AI projects move into their gaming department
Additionally, past team members hoping to keep the spirit of the original have announced three separate Disco-inspired projects divided by three separate teams, hammering home that the geniuses behind Disco are now fragments of their former self.
Given all of this, it’s no wonder that ZA/UM’s latest announcement of a Disco Elysium mobile port, which will be released on the Google Play store in summer 2025, has led to mass confusion.
Despite appearing as an arguably okay-looking port, fans and critics alike have thoroughly chastised ZA/UM for repurposing their most outstanding work and comparing it to short-form content like TikTok.
Mobile ports of massive indie games are often a route to success, with games like Balatro having wildly successful transitions to mobile platforms. In porting games to mobile, an entirely new audience gets their hands on experiences previously relegated to Consoles and PC.
Why Bring Disco Elysium To Mobile?
In a recent release shared through IGN, the studio’s head, Denis Havel, stated that the mobile port of Disco Elysium was created for a very similar reason to these other mobile ports.
We intend to captivate the TikTok user with quick hits of compelling story, art, and audio, ultimately creating an all new, deeply engaging form of entertainment.
To be fair, the game’s mobile port looks like a well-crafted “total re-imagination” of the game, with full character portraits and entirely new systems intended to give the mobile experience its own spin on Disco’s fantastic detective mystery.
Nonetheless, with the studio head saying that this new port was intended to attract TikTok users and the recent discrepancies within ZA/UM’s own studio, your average Disco fan is hardly excited, especially about a frankly unnecessary mobile port.
Disco Elysium is best known for its lengthy and detailed story. In it, the player makes constant decisions within a winding narrative filled with hours of voice acting and dialogue. In all honesty, that doesn’t sound like the best game to translate to mobile.
Games with the most successful mobile ports, such as the previously mentioned Balatro and others like Roblox, Mario Kart Tour, and Bloons TD6, all have gameplay loops that are basic enough to be experienced within a play session of a few minutes.
It’s hard to imagine lengthy Disco segments like the investigation of the body and long theoretical discussions with characters like Tommy Le Homme within a small mobile session. And with the new build advertised as “optimized for short play sessions,” it leaves many of us wondering what was changed, and even worse, what was potentially cut.
Saber Interactive Reloads Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine With Major Announcement
Space Marine 3 is “likely years away” from being released.
Deep discussions are such a crucial part of the game that it’s hard to imagine them keeping the same charm while reducing the game for this new platform. Fans seem to be in massive agreement, with typical comments asking if this is “an out-of-season April Fools joke.”
More importantly, with most fans now not considering ZA/UM the “true” creators of Disco Elysium, most commenters remark how this port is almost an unfaithful re-imagining, from the hands of the company that tore the IP away from those behind it.
That said, ZA/UM doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon, and whether these upcoming titles are authentic and worthy of being created under ZA/UM is still up for debate.
- Released
- October 15, 2019
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ due to Blood, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs, Violence
- Engine
- Unity
- How Long To Beat
- 23 Hours
- Metascore
- 89
- PS Plus Availability
- Extra & Premium
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
Helldivers 2 Will Soon Let You Dispatch Of Terminids Without An Internet Connection
Expect 1-4 player co-op and even friendly fire in the new version of Arrowhead’s hit game.
