In the latest in a long litany of insults and injuries fans of Disco Elysium, perhaps the most masterfully written game ever made, have been forced to endure, developer ZA/UM wants to “reimagine” the game for mobile, intended to “captivate the TikTok user”.
Completely missing the point and flying in the face of why Disco Elysium remains so beloved to this day, ZA/UM studio head Denis Havel said words in sequences that belong in the saddest ending of its beautifully bleak game: “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.”
While the end product may be wonderful in its own way, we simply cannot imagine experiencing what has firmly become one of our all-time personal favourites and most beloved games on a phone, let alone in the frenetic form of “quick hits” designed to capture the attention of modern social media users. It would be hilarious, if it wasn’t so sadly ironic, to see the developer become what the game itself so artfully skewered.
