The latest Life is Strange game did not perform well for publisher Square Enix, it’s been claimed.
Life is Strange: Double Exposure, which launched last autumn to a mixed response from fans, resulted in “large losses” for the company, Kabutan analyst Hideki Yasuda stated (thanks, ResetEra/TheGamer).
Officially, Square Enix is yet to comment on Double Exposure’s performance – and there’s been no word on Double Exposure’s sales figures pubicly at all. Deck Nine, the game’s developer, previously announced layoffs at the studio in the wake of the game’s launch, and it’s unclear what’s next for the franchise – despite Double Exposure ending with a message stating that protagonist Max Caulfield would “return”.
Last week, Square Enix issued its most recent financial results – which largely focus on the sales of Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake and the successful launch of Final Fantasy 14 expansion Dawntrail.
Perhaps tellingly, there’s no notice of how Life is Strange: Double Exposure sold. Instead, Square Enix simply says that its HD gaming division’s revenues had fallen due to the fact that unnamed “new titles generated lower sales” than Final Fantasy 16, Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster and Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince did over the same period during the previous year.
Square Enix doesn’t state what the new titles that underperformed were, but does say that the launch of Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D helped offset these losses, as it had performed better than initially expected.
Eurogamer has contacted Yasuda and Square Enix for more detail. The company is yet to release a transcript of the financial briefing that includes shareholder questions.
Life is Strange: Double Exposure launched amidst a major backlash from fans upset at how the game handled the ongoing storyline of returning protagonist Max Caulfield, and the impact of players’ choice at the beginning of Life is Strange 1.
The situation turned uglier when Square Enix removed leaked development material from a popular Life is Strange fan reddit, including posts by several anonymous commenters who provided proof they worked at Deck Nine, and who made a number of claims regarding how Double Exposure’s story had changed through development, shaped by feedback from Square Enix itself. In response, Square Enix said it had acted to remove the content based on “appropriate legal requirements” for “intellectual property violations”.
“Like its own hero’s dabbling with time travel, Life is Strange: Double Exposure highlights the troubles of trying to revisit old memories, while raising unanswered questions about the future,” I wrote in Eurogamer’s Life is Strange: Double Exposure review.