The Making of Disco Elysium - Part One: Foundations

Quick Overview

The creation of Disco Elysium originated from years of collaborative, high-fantasy pen-and-paper role-playing sessions among a disorganised group of Estonian artists searching for acknowledgment, which gradually evolved their world concept, Elysium, from a knock-off Dungeons & Dragons system into the core setting for the eventual video game after Robert Kurvitz shifted focus from his unsuccessful novel to game development.

Key Points: Robert Kurvitz started evolving the core world of Elysium between ages 15 and 22 after finding a minimal Finnish knock-off of Dungeons & Dragons and deciding they needed to create a better system. The early Elysium campaigns included 'Maailma Sügis' ('World Autumn') and 'Riget' ('Kingdom'), which established worldbuilding elements like the city Revachol and featured core players Martin Luiga and Argo Tuulik. The third campaign, 'Torsen and McLaine,' heavily influenced by the TV series 'The Shield,' established the identity of Revachol, Jamrock, and the cop procedural elements that became central to the final game concept. Robert Kurvitz's first novel, 'Sacred and Terrible Air,' written in the Elysium world, was not a huge hit, selling only 1,500 copies, leading Kurvitz to pivot, stating, 'I let everyone know that I'm not a novelist anymore, and that I'm trying to make video games.' The foundational concept for the game, initially called 'The Return,' was a giant police procedural that incorporated combat inspiration from games like Pillars of Eternity, forming the essential concept of Disco Elysium. Kaur Kender secured the initial investment, around €700,000, from Estonian investor Margus Linnamäe, which allowed Robert Kurvitz and Kaur to open an office and begin building the development team. Aleksander Rostov developed a distinct artistic style used for illustrations for Kurvitz's novel and later became key to the game's look, as Kurvitz felt Revachol was 'custom-made for a pre-rendered background' utilizing Rostov's abilities.