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[LectureMaster]

Life Is Strange: Double Exposure Sales Were A "Large Loss" For Square Enix

That "Max Caufield will return" message is looking a little less likely now.

www.thegamer.com

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Square Enix's latest financial report has revealed that Life is Strange: Double Exposure was a "large loss" for the company, making a sequel look unlikely.

When Life is Strange: Double Exposure was first revealed as the long-awaited return of Max Caufield, it seemed like it'd be a slam dunk for fans of the series. Sure, there were questions about how it would handle the first game's big choice, but bringing back the heroine that started Life is Strange in the first place seemed like a surefire bet.

That wasn't exactly the case at launch, though. Double Exposure was met with mixed reviews from critics and faced even harsher criticism from fans of the series, who really hated how the game handled Max and Chloe's relationship and the series' overall tone and canon. It seems those marks against it have made a heavy impact on sales.

Another Life Is Strange Looks Unlikely, As Square Enix Admits Double Exposure Was A "Large Loss"​

According to Yasuda, the financial reports confirm that Life is Strange: Double Exposure's sales were a "large loss" for Square Enix, something that was only made up for by the Dragon Quest 3 remaster. Specific numbers for Life is Strange weren't revealed, but it is clear that it didn't sell all too well.

This doesn't come as much of a surprise considering the negative reception to the game from long-term Life is Strange fans, but there was clearly some confidence that the game would do decently. During the credits, a message popped up claiming that "Max Caufield will return", something that now seems a lot less likely.

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[LectureMaster]

Honestly, I never understood how the fuck they milked the series this much. The original game was obviously an one and done type.

 

[adamsapple]

Was is a "loss" loss, or was is a "Square Enix" loss, that's the question tho.

Honestly, I never understood how the fuck they milked the series this much. The original game was obviously an one and done type.

They have their audience, you don't make games like this expecting it to sell Madden numbers.

What's most surprising is that Square hasn't sold it off to someone else so far, of all the Western IP they clung onto, this is the least likeliest.

 

[Punished Miku]

I dont see how its a full priced game.

 

[jshackles]

That's a shame, I enjoyed the game quite a bit. However, the whole "Max Caufield will return" after the end credits made me cringe a bit, this should have been made as a one-off sequel.

 

[SimTourist]

They never really recaptured the magic of the first one

 

[touchfuzzy]

The original was a decent woke-ish game when that was still a novel idea.

This one was an average woke-ish game when people are sick of that idea and pushing back on it. No big surprise it was a sales dud.

 

[Kacho]

Life is Strange: Double Exposure's sales were a "large loss" for Square Enix, something that was only made up for by the Dragon Quest 3 remaster.

 

[winjer]

Probably another case of those ellusive modern audiences not showing up...

 

[Gamerfan81]

I'll buy it when it's 5 bucks and part of Steam's fall or winter sale.

 

[GymWolf]

Oh no.

 

[Team Andromeda]

So sad the game is wonderful and a nice change to the usual stuff

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

The original was a decent woke-ish game when that was still a novel idea.

This one was an average woke-ish game when people are sick of that idea and pushing back on it. No big surprise it was a sales dud.

What made the first game woke? The lesbian romance? lol

 

[Zacfoldor]

Where are all the game developers when it comes time to buy game developer targeted games?

 

[lmimmfn]

Damn those modern audiences!!!

 

[Agent_4Seven]

Honestly, I never understood how the fuck they milked the series this much. The original game was obviously an one and done type.

Before the Storm added a lot of depth to the whole story and context to what's going on in original game, so now you need to play that one first before the original, they're very strongly connected both narratively and character-wise.

But after that.... I bought the second game, but never played it.

 

[yogaflame]

Strange they made this game. They should have use the funds to revive great Square franchise like Chrono, FF tactics, Parasite eve, Vagrant story, etc.

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

guess we won't see the max caulfield avengers
also fuck chloe , you'd have to be deranged killing an entire town over her.

 

[xrnzaaas]

A unique case of alienating almost everyone - people who don't like woke writing, people who hate paid early access and also fans of Chloe with how that choice / relationship was handled. Well deserved, I would say.

 

[AmuroChan]

Loved the first game. Liked Before the Storm and True Colors. Double Exposure was awful and full of cringey writing and uninteresting characters.

 

[cormack12]

They never really recaptured the magic of the first one

Succinct and accurate.

I was a huge fan of the original LiS, it was quirky, a bit different but had so much heart and honesty in it that it was difficult not to like.

This one felt like it was put together by a group of current video game design undergrads who didn't really get why the first one was so well liked. There were some hughnpoints amongst the detritus though, and I'm sad this has killed the franchise.

 

[Flabagast]

Loved the first game. Liked Before the Storm and True Colors. Double Exposure was awful and full of cringey writing and uninteresting characters.

Yep you got it.

It as nothing to do with the "wokeness" or not. I really gave it a chance but the game really had a boring plot moving at a slow pace and on top of that played it very safe in terms of gameplay / interactions with zero new ideas for the formula.

In comparison, the recent Bloom & Rage, while not perfect and cringe in some areas, is trying a lot of new things and is innovative in its narrative set up even if not everything lands well (but it seems that it is also flopping hard so I dont know)

 

[LordCBH]

Another Life Is Strange Looks Unlikely

 

[LordCBH]

They never really recaptured the magic of the first one

This is accurate. The first one was charming. Absolutely hated all the ones after it.

 

[semiconscious]

This is accurate. The first one was charming. Absolutely hated all the ones after it.

agree that the first one was charming. didn't hate the ones after - i just never had any interest whatsoever in checking them out. the original was enough for me...

 

[Rush2112]

I actually played the original to the end but it all came down to two choices. So all those dialogue options were all worthless. I could have skipped everything and either picked outcome A or B in the end. So lame.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Honestly, I never understood how the fuck they milked the series this much. The original game was obviously an one and done type.

Crazy. The series has sequels every 1-2 years. Years back, it was annualized.

I doubt many people care for the series, but they seem to have enough people and budget to churn out these games fast.

 

[Putonahappyface]

 

[John Bilbo]

Franchising is the bad ending in Life is Strange.

 

[YeulEmeralda]

They never really recaptured the magic of the first one

The prequel came close IMO.

 

[Putonahappyface]

I've platinumed them all and enjoyed them immensely, but Double Exposure didn't feel quite right. From what I could gather fans (including myself) wanted Chloe Price back and Deck Nine failed to deliver. I personally hope they can bounce back from this as I enjoy these types of games.

 

[Effigenius]

I dont see how its a full priced game.

This is a big part of the problem. The original was like $30 brand new. They decided to double the price without upgrading the content and are surprised that didn’t work out for them.

 

[Flabagast]

I've platinumed them all and enjoyed them immensely, but Double Exposure didn't feel quite right. From what I could gather fans (including myself) wanted Chloe Price back and Deck Nine failed to deliver. I personally hope they can bounce back from this as I enjoy these types of games.

Did you try Bloom & Rage ? Very creative evolution of the formula imho

 

[Puscifer]

That's a shame, I enjoyed the game quite a bit. However, the whole "Max Caufield will return" after the end credits made me cringe a bit, this should have been made as a one-off sequel.

Ewww

This made me not want to pick it up lol. Life is Strange works for me as an idea of one-off events of normal people in crazy situations. Kind of why I like image comics more than any other, there's so many ideas going you never feel like you have to be "in the know" to keep up.

 

[Effigenius]

I actually played the original to the end but it all came down to two choices. So all those dialogue options were all worthless. I could have skipped everything and either picked outcome A or B in the end. So lame.

Then your memory is faulty. There were other consequences to your actions than just choosing who to save at the end. You could have kept he girl from killing herself or not, kissed Chloe, or not, etc.

 

[March Climber]

This explains why it's currently on sale on both PSN and Steam's spring sale events.

 

[Putonahappyface]

Did you try Bloom & Rage ? Very creative evolution of the formula imho

Edit: read that wrong. Not yet I'm waiting until the the summer when they'll be releasing a physical copy. I like what I've seen so far regarding trailers etc. Trying to avoid spoilers.

 

[jshackles]

Ewww

This made me not want to pick it up lol. Life is Strange works for me as an idea of one-off events of normal people in crazy situations. Kind of why I like image comics more than any other, there's so many ideas going you never feel like you have to be "in the know" to keep up.

It's particularly egregious in this game because

Spoiler: Double Exposure Exposed!

It's obvious in the post-credits scene that they are trying to set up an "Avengers" style storyline, where one of the new characters in this game (who has powers, different from Max's powers) is trying to assemble a group of people with powers. Which might be a fun idea, Max meeting up with Alex from True Colors, for example, but the whole thing just felt so "why bother?" with me.

 

[Fake]

Tired of another incel victory.

 

[Physiognomonics]

Yes for most the above replies but the first game was really nice, I liked it. They would have a some success with a well done remake.

 

[touchfuzzy]

What made the first game woke? The lesbian romance? lol

Yes?

I mean, I'm not an anti-woke zealot that automatically thinks "woke=bad", but it's undeniable that Life is Strange from the start has been a series about pushing liberal progressive ideas and themes. But the original is actually a pretty good game and came out at a time when that didn't turn a lot of people off. Even if this newest Life is Strange isn't annoying forced woke, there's enough similar type of games on the market that are that it just blends in with those and people avoid it -- even more so if the game isn't even that good.

 

[daxgame]

Congrats to Square for milking another IP down to the ground.

 

[Denton]

I liked original Life is Strange a LOT, it had amazing atmosphere and music and the mystery was well written. Ending with that Spanish Sahara song was heartbreaking and memorable.

I also liked Before the Storm, which was basically a perfect prequel, as good as one could reasonably hope for.

I also liked Life is Strange 2, it had a completely different dynamic and some of it was a bit cringe, but there were some memorable moments and relationship of Sean and Daniel was great.

I also liked True Colors, it was fun enough to play through and looked beautiful, but overall it was least memorable. I do not really remember much from it. It was on gamepass, so it immediately made me decide to play any future games from the franchise on gamepass too.

And so now I am waiting for Double Exposure to be on gamepass, humble or similar service. Same with Bloom and Rage. I like these types of games if done well, but at the same time I don't love them enough to want to pay full price day one.

I knew Double Exposure was a flop the moment I saw Steam CCU numbers.
Bloom and Rage is also a flop.

The market is saturated.

 

[Boss Mog]

Well at least SE didn't get suckered into publishing that Lost Records game cause it would've been more like Lost Revenue.

 

[Humdinger]

With Bloom and Rage flopping, too, things are not looking good for this franchise.

I enjoyed the first LiS, but that was 10 years ago. It felt fresh at the time, but after BtS, I had enough.

 

[AmuroChan]

Yes?

I mean, I'm not an anti-woke zealot that automatically thinks "woke=bad", but it's undeniable that Life is Strange from the start has been a series about pushing liberal progressive ideas and themes. But the original is actually a pretty good game and came out at a time when that didn't turn a lot of people off. Even if this newest Life is Strange isn't annoying forced woke, there's enough similar type of games on the market that are that it just blends in with those and people avoid it -- even more so if the game isn't even that good.

I would argue that the original LiS handled it tastefully. Double Exposure though on the other hand? It's completely immersion breaking because the writing is so in your face about it.

 

[Certinty]

The first three episodes of the game are actually fairly good.

Then chapter four becomes a mess with the final one being by far and away the worst in the franchise.

Hate to say it but the game deserves to fail.

 

[hemo memo]

The series should have concluded after the first game. Subsequent games took a significant woke turn, which detracted from the original's charm and storytelling.

 

[Edder1]

There just isn't enough of a woke crowd to buy a niche game like this. Original did well financially, but that was back when you didn't need to invest crazy money to make a game like you do now with all the fancy graphics, mocap, etc. No way is "modern audience" gonna give you back return on investment, not with a niche product like this. Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is another example of this.

In an age where even big AAA IP with proven name are failing because of wokeism and chasing the illusive "modern audience", it's hard to see games like this being made anymore, unless of course devs are given money with no expectation on return.

 

[RaptorGTA]

I would argue that the original LiS handled it tastefully. Double Exposure though on the other hand? It's completely immersion breaking because the writing is so in your face about it.

I never played the other games..But I agree that the first did everything within reason. I had friends that cited its 'liberal agenda,' but it all fit well within its world. I love the first game very deeply...i still recall the emotional discussions between episodes back after each episode was released..the hype..the fan theories...so fun. I did not trust them to maintain that limit throughout the series.


I think the Life is Strange franchise could and was going to move past the first game...but to be successful, the dev team would really need to plan out a compelling story..and nothing I have seen has pulled me in like what was shown off for the first title.