Which is the best version of Disco Elysium? Switch 2, PS5 Pro, PC, Xbox, Switch, PS4, and Steam Deck compared

This week, Disco Elysium - The Final Cut celebrated its 5th anniversary. The landmark RPG from ZA/UM originally debuted on PC before seeing an enhanced version, The Final Cut, released for PlayStation alongside the PC version getting a major free update. To celebrate its 5th anniversary, I've put together a feature covering just about every version of the game going over visuals, performance, features, load times, and more. I adore Disco Elysium and it has been amazing to revisit it again after playing through it across multiple systems before. I'm also a bit disappointed that one bug is yet to be addressed all these years later. My aim with this feature is to help you find the best version to buy and play or even pick up a version you already own to revisit one of the greats. 

Disco Elysium and The Final Cut release timeline

Before getting to the versions and other differences, Disco Elysium has had quite a journey across platforms in the last five or so years.

• October 2019: Disco Elysium debuts on PC.
• April 2020: Disco Elysium launches for macOS.
• March 2021: Disco Elysium - The Final Cut launches for PS5, PS4, macOS, PC, and Stadia. This version added full voice acting, fast travel, higher resolution visuals, controller support, and more.
• October 2021: Disco Elysium - The Final Cut launches for Xbox One, Xbox Series, and Nintendo Switch.
• August 2025: Disco Elysium gets an Android release, but it isn't a port of the game as is. It features many changes to streamline the experience. It is yet to release on iOS.

In the opening, I mentioned covering just about every version of Disco Elysium and that is because I don't have access to Xbox One or Android hardware so my comparison will cover all other versions.

Disco Elysium - The Final Cut feature differences across platforms

While there are some platform-specific differences, Disco Elysium - The Final Cut itself brought in a ton of amazing voice acting, fast travel, controller support to PC, higher resolution visuals, and much more. This is the best way to play Disco Elysium across the board, but the experience you get will vary by platform. On consoles, Disco Elysium is only available as The Final Cut as with the current PC version. I will be referring to Disco Elysium - The Final Cut as Disco Elysium going forward. 

Disco Elysium on PS5 and Switch features DualSense haptics and HD rumble respectively. The Xbox and PC versions have rumble, but they aren't as good as the implementation of the PS5 and Switch controller rumble. Barring that, the Switch version features touchscreen controls as an option and the PC version of course has support for multiple input options in addition to ultrawide aspect ratios. 

Disco Elysium visual and performance differences across PS5 Pro, Switch 2, Xbox Series X, PS4, Switch, Steam Deck, and PC

Disco Elysium is a 30fps target game on Switch, PS4, and PS4 Pro. Even if you play those versions on PS5 or Switch 2, the frame rate is capped to 30fps. I say target for the older platforms because the Switch 1 has a lot of trouble holding 30fps and regularly dips well below. The PS5 and Xbox Series X versions target 60fps and hold the target quite well, but they do not deliver a 100% locked 60fps experience. I never really had any major issues in the dozens of hours I spent on Xbox Series X or in my time with the game across multiple playthroughs on PS5 and more-recently PS5 Pro today to retest it where I didn't notice any drops in the areas I replayed across different save files.

As for the PC release, not only does it support higher frame rate targets with multiple input options, but it also has ultrawide support as I mentioned above and I think Disco Elysium is amazing at 21:9. Barring those differences, Disco Elysium is the same across all platforms when it comes to in-game content and features.

The Switch version sees notable cutbacks to not just resolution, but also shadows and textures. The latter might not be visible in some locations, but it is very evident when outdoors. This is one of the main reasons I hope we see a Switch 2 native release in the future. It would not just help with performance, but also be a big boost to image quality.

There is one aspect I need to highlight before getting to performance for the console and the PC versions though. This has to do with camera movement and scrolling. When I first played Disco Elysium on PC, I thought it felt weird during character movement, but I thought it was because I was playing it on a laptop that wasn't powerful enough. When it released on PS5, it felt better, but I could still tell there was something that felt off about the camera movement. It wasn't until later on that I realized it was the Unity 50hz physics issue that Digital Foundry has covered in detail.

Because of this, the PC and console versions all have camera movement that feels off. It feels even worse on 30fps target platforms, but never feels smooth even if you play at 144hz on PC or 60fps on a PS5 Pro. The solution here is to play at 50hz or 100hz (and so on) where you limit the frame rate through your monitor or GPU settings. The end result here is finally smooth camera movement. The easiest way to do this on a Steam Deck is using the Quick Access Menu and setting it to 50hz and you instantly fix the poor scrolling. Thanks to this only being possible on PC, the Steam release is the only version of Disco Elysium I revisit on my own time to play and I keep hoping to see fixes to the game in general or the console versions. 

Disco Elysium load times compared across PS5 Pro, Switch 2, Xbox, PS4, Steam Deck, PC, and Switch 1

For testing Disco Elysium's load times, I installed the PS4 version on my PS4 Pro, the PS4 version on my PS5 external hard drive, the PS5 version on my PS5 internal storage, the PS5 version on my PS5 Pro internal storage, the Xbox version on my Xbox Series X internal storage, the Switch version on my Switch OLED SD card, the Switch version on my Switch 2 internal storage, the Steam version on my Steam Deck internal storage, and the Steam version on my ROG Ally internal storage. 

I measured the time taken to load the dashboard from the title screen and also loading an early game save in the same location across all platforms. All the load times below are in seconds. For the results with a range, I included the upper and lower end of my test results across multiple tests in the last few weeks. The game on ROG Ally sometimes took a lot longer to load. I didn't notice this in other games during the same test period. 

As expected, the PS5 consoles have the fastest initial load with the older consoles taking the longest time to load. For loading save files, The Switch version on Switch 2 is a good improvement over the Switch version played on Switch hardware while I hope the ROG Ally load issue can be sorted out. If you play on any current console, you won't have a bad experience when it comes to load times in Disco Elysium.

Disco Elysium tested on Nintendo Switch 2 handheld boost mode

Since Nintendo recently pushed out the Switch 2 Handheld Boost Mode update, I've been testing every Switch 1 game I play using it to see how things improve. Disco Elysium on all consoles could use better anti-aliasing, but playing the Switch version on Switch 2 handheld is quite rough. Thankfully with handheld boost mode, you get a much nicer visual experience and it runs a lot better than the Switch port across the board. If you don't have a PC handheld, it is now in a better place on Switch when played using Switch 2's handheld boost mode with the clarity increase as you can see in the comparison below:

Just note that enabling boost mode will disable the touchscreen so you will not be able to use touch controls when playing handheld. I hope it gets a Switch 2 native release that runs at 100fps handheld or just gets one that addresses the camera issue with higher resolution support when played docked.

Disco Elysium PS5 Pro impressions

Disco Elysium is a PS5 native game with no bespoke PS5 Pro enhancements, and I didn't notice any visual difference when playing the opening hour side by side. The load times are also the same when played on the internal SSD on both consoles. Performance is better though with less drops in a few areas I tested across save files. Despite no official enhancements, Disco Elysium on PS5 Pro is easily the best and most stable console version.

Which is the best version of Disco Elysium?

In its current state, the best portable version of Disco Elysium is on Steam Deck and the best version to play on TV or a monitor is the PC release in general. Being able to fix the camera movement issue and get a stable experience with support for ultrawide screens and use any input option definitely elevates the Steam release above all console versions. When it comes to the console versions, the PS5 and PS5 Pro are by far the best with Xbox following thanks to slower load times.

My favorite version out of them all is the game on Steam Deck OLED where I get to play it without the camera issues and have one of the best screens out there with touch and button support.

Which version of Disco Elysium should you buy to play today?

Everyone has their own priorities for what they want, so I'm going to list the advantages and disadvantages of every single version (that I own) of Disco Elysium as a conclusion to this feature below in addition to some notes about the physical versions:

• Disco Elysium on PS4 and PS5: If you want to play on your TV and don't care about portable play (unless you stream to a PlayStation Portal or phone), this is the version to get and the best console version. It has the fastest loading and is solid across the board especially on PS5 Pro. The PS4 version is available physically at retail while the PS5 version was not released outside select stores and locations if you care about that.
• Disco Elysium on Switch: If you value portability above everything and don't own a PC handheld, this is the one to get, but it is not a stable experience on Switch 1. When played via boost mode on Switch 2 handheld, it is a better experience, but I still wouldn't recommend it here unless you have no other platform or version of the game. The Switch physical release is available in many parts of the world. 
• Disco Elysium on Xbox: If you have access to a PC handheld or play on Xbox Series consoles and PC, the Play Anywhere feature is a big selling point in addition to the Quick Resume feature on Xbox, but the longer initial load time holds this one back a bit. The Xbox physical seems to be harder to find now so I would grab it sooner than later if I were you and wanted to own this version physically.
• Disco Elysium on Steam: This is my favorite version and what I consider the best with how you can easily fix the scrolling issue and also get the best portable experience on Steam Deck or play it on an ultrawide or just higher resolution display at home on your main PC or Mac.

Hopefully this helped you decide where you should get Disco Elysium and if you already own it, gets you to finally play or revisit it. It would be great to see fixes for the camera issue, but I imagine that isn't in the cards. Disco Elysium is still an essential RPG and one that we will be talking about for decades to come. 

Disco Elysium is now available on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC (Steam, GOG, Mac App Store).