According to the Japanese publisher, Deck Nine’s game failed to deliver the expected sales results, leaving Square Enix with a loss.

When Life is Strange: Double Exposure was released, fans and press alike had some pretty mixed opinions about the game. On OpenCritic (which, like Metacritic, aggregates press reviews and calculates an average score from the reviews), it currently has a score of 71 on a scale of 1-100, with only 54% of reviewers recommending it. Complaints about the game centered around the narrative. Many felt that it did not respect the “bae” ending of the original game (the one where Arcadia Bay is sacrificed for Chloe’s sake).

This was surprising, as the return of Max Caulfield was the focus of the marketing, in an attempt to appeal to older fans of the franchise. Others felt that Life is Strange: Double Exposure went too far with its “Marvel-style” approach to certain plot points, and for these reasons, it is perhaps not so surprising that after the divisive reviews, sales fell short of expectations and the game’s financial results were disappointing.

Hideki Yasuda, a Japanese financial analyst, confirmed to Kabutan that Square Enix’s latest financial results show that Life is Strange: Double Exposure has caused the company to make big losses, but the Japanese company can be happy with other titles, as Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake has strong sales (over 2 million). It seems that even the return of the popular Max Caulfield wasn’t enough to get fans excited about the sequel. Perhaps it’s not a coincidence that in December there were layoffs at Deck Nine, the company developing the game.

In January, Square Enix released a survey asking fans for feedback on the game, indicating that they were curious about what could be improved in future titles. But with the latest installment of Life is Strange failing to become a blockbuster, there’s little chance that the franchise will continue…

Source: GameRant, Kabutan