A Fanzine for Disco Elysium Raises Over $20,000 for Anera

For us, a group of 49 volunteers – seven moderators, 32 artists, seven writers, and three translators – it started with a shared love of one game: Disco Elysium, an acclaimed 2019 role-playing video game that follows a detective with no memory of who he is.

The result is “After Death, Life Again”, a 120-plus-page hardcover fanzine (fan-magazine) exploring the pasts, presents, and futures of Revachol, the game’s fictional city. It includes original illustrations, comics, prose, and merchandise, plus a digital edition and Chinese translation to reach a wider audience. We began selling the zines online in late 2025 and were sold out by early 2026.

Proceeds from the zine were split evenly between the team of creators and Anera. In total, we raised $20,647 for Anera.

How it started

The project took shape at the intersection of a few things the team cared about:

• A growing appreciation for physical media in an age increasingly saturated by AI-generated content
• The game’s own themes about finding the courage to imagine a better future
• A simple desire to give back to a game – and a community – that had given us so much

That last point shaped more than just the art. Disco Elysium doesn’t shy away from difficult subjects – poverty, displacement, and the long aftermath of violence on a community. We wanted the project to reflect those themes in the real world, not just on the page.

We felt it was important for the project to support a cause connected to those themes.

So we structured After Death, Life Again as a split-profit project from the start – compensating the artists, writers, and translators whose labor built it, while directing a substantial share toward humanitarian work. A community copy initiative also ensured that anyone who couldn’t afford the zine could still receive one, through the support of others in the community.

Why Anera

Choosing Anera wasn’t incidental. We found the organization through community recommendations and our own research into nonprofits with a track record of both emergency response and long-term development work.

Anera stood out to us because of its focus on both emergency response and sustainable development for refugees and vulnerable communities.

The project’s timing also contributed to that choice. Work on the zine began in the fall of 2023, shortly after the war in Gaza began. Anera’s focus on Palestine, Lebanon, and Jordan felt especially urgent and meaningful to many members of our team and audience.

The response exceeded our expectations

The support we received for this project is beyond anything we could have ever imagined.

People bought the zine because they loved Disco Elysium – but just as often, because they cared about what the project stood for. Community members pitched in to fund copies for those who couldn’t afford one, and organized group orders to cut shipping costs for international fans.

In an unexpected full-circle moment, the creators of Disco Elysium itself reached out to express appreciation for the zine. That was something we never expected, and it meant a great deal to the whole team.

Advice for others

We see our project as proof of something bigger: that creative work can be a genuine entry point into causes that might otherwise feel distant or overwhelming.

Creative projects are powerful because they can gather people around something they already love, and then direct that energy towards mutual aid, fundraising, and awareness.

Our advice for anyone hoping to do something similar is simple:

• Start small. A project doesn’t need to be huge to make a meaningful impact.
• Communicate clearly and often about where the money is going.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Many people are happy to share what has or hasn’t worked for them, and there is much to learn if you’re willing to seek out that guidance.

After Death, Life Again is proof of what’s possible when a community rallies not just around a shared passion, but around a shared belief that they can make a difference.