“We think it really is going to lend itself very well to console play”.
Developer ZA/UM has revealed that it’s currently in the throes of porting its acclaimed detective RPG, Disco Elysium, to Xbox One and PS4, and that it’s due to launch next year.
Disco Elysium, which released on PC earlier this month, casts players as a less-than-upstanding detective, who begins the game in a dishevelled heap on hotel room floor with what rapidly turns out to be alcohol-induced amnesia – conveniently allowing for plenty of scene-setting exposition, and the opportunity for players to shape their anti-hero as they see fit.
What follows starts as a murder mystery and then rapidly explodes out into a sprawling open-world RPG – set in the dilapidated city district of Martinaise – that shapes and shifts depending on players’ abilities and the choices they make throughout the extremely conversation-heavy, and impressively expansive adventure.
It’s ambitious, inventive, but also messily unrestrained – too much so for Eurogamer contributor Malindy Hetfield.”There’s so much more to see of Disco Elysium, but as fascinating as that amount of interconnected content is,” she wrote in her review, “I’m starting to think there might be something like too much of a good thing.”
Disco Elysium has resonated more strongly with many others, however, so word of a console port has been in high demand. And now, speaking to Escapist Magazine, lead designer Robert Kurvitz has confirmed that it’s in the works and coming next year.
“The immediate plan, and this is why I won’t go on a holiday anytime soon,” Kurvitz explained, “is to get Disco Elysium to as many people as possible.”
He also revealed that the studio intends to be “very hands-on with the design” of Xbox One and PS4 versions. “We don’t want to hire a porting company. We think it really is going to lend itself very well to console play because you don’t need to go over minute tactics and use a mouse because it’s very narrative in its nature.”
