Disco Elysium will now run on very low-spec machines

(Image credit: ZA/UM)

When I tried to boot Disco Elysium on my ye olde Dell XPS 13 9360, I didn't have any luck. It's the kind of RPG that is well-suited to playing on a laptop, but preferably not an over size gaming laptop. Developers ZA/UM seem to get this, because they've just patched the game so that it will run on basically anything.

And by basically anything, I'm not exaggerating. If you've got a low-spec work laptop that's just itching for some R & R, it can probably run Disco Elysium.

Here are the new minimum requirements:

OS: Windows 7/8/10
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory: 2GB RAM
Graphics: Integrated or dedicated card, with minimum 512MB memory
DirectX: Version 11

And here are the old minimum requirements:

OS: Windows 7/8/10
Processor: Intel i5-7500 or AMD 1500 equivalent
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: Integrated Intel HD620 or equivalent
DirectX: Version 11

As a bonus, if you use a Mac the game will now run on laptops dating more than a decade old. MacBook Pros, iMacs and Mac Minis from 2009 will run the game, while MacBook Airs from 2012 will run it, too.

If this still leaves you unable to run the game, there's still hope. "We're going to try to keep optimizing so low that we break through the crust on the other side of the planet," the ZA/UM's update reads. "Show us your scrapheap calculators and rusty adding machines and we'll give it a go. Disco Elysium for all!" 

This seems to be possible with the move to a newer version of Unity, which is mentioned in the patch notes. Most of these are optimisations and small bug fixes, but if you must read them, the update notes are here.

Shaun Prescott

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.