GAME · 2015
Life Is Strange
- Developer
- Don’t Nod
- Publisher
- Square Enix, Feral Interactive
- Platforms
- Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, macOS
- Original title
- Life is Strange
15 archived facts 3 topics 1 source Last reviewed Sep 2026
All facts (15)
- #001
Development of Life Is Strange started in April 2013 with a team of 15 people, and the team grew once work with Square Enix began.
- #002
Life Is Strange was first conceived as a full-length game that Dontnod would self-publish, but the publisher concluded it would fare better as an episodic title.
- #003
Dontnod only told Square Enix London about Life Is Strange after the studio had rejected a pitch for a larger game.
- #004
Life Is Strange carried the working codename What If, which was dropped because of a film bearing the same name.
- #005
According to a developer diary published before Life Is Strange was released, most prospective publishers were unwilling to publish a game unless it had a male protagonist. The developers said most publishers raised the same objection to Dontnod's earlier project Remember Me, which also featured a female protagonist.
- #006
Dontnod CEO Oskar Guilbert also challenged the idea of a female protagonist at the start of Life Is Strange's development, according to a developer diary published before release.
- #007
The developers of Life Is Strange said Square Enix was the only publisher with no intention of changing the game's female protagonist.
- #008
Life Is Strange originated from the rewind mechanic concept that its developer had previously tested in Remember Me, and the lead character Max was designed around the ability to rewind time to support that mechanic.
- #009
The studio chose an episodic release format for Life Is Strange for creative reasons, financial restrictions and marketing purposes, which allowed the story to be told at its preferred slow pace.
- #010
The Pacific Northwest setting of Life Is Strange was selected to convey a nostalgic and autumnal feel, and the development team visited the region, took photographs, examined local newspapers and used Google Street View to portray the environment accurately.
- #011
Life Is Strange's original story was written in French by Jean-Luc Cano and turned into a game script by the co-directors and design team before Christian Divine and Cano fine-tuned it in English; most of the budget was allocated early to writing and voice actors.
- #012
Life Is Strange was compared to Remember Me, a game with significant differences that nonetheless addresses similar themes of memory and identity. The game was described as an analogue look at human identity, in contrast to Remember Me's digital view of the same theme.
- #013
Life Is Strange runs on an improved version of Unreal Engine 3 and uses tools and special effects such as lighting and depth of field that were engineered for Remember Me. Its textures were entirely hand painted, an approach art director Michel Koch called "impressionistic rendering".
- #014
Life Is Strange drew inspiration from The Walking Dead, Gone Home, Heavy Rain and the visual novel Danganronpa, the last for balancing gameplay and story. The novel The Catcher in the Rye was another influence, its protagonist Holden Caulfield sharing a surname with the game's lead, Max.
- #015
The score for Life Is Strange was composed by Jonathan Morali of the band Syd Matters, with a soundtrack inspired by modern indie folk music and intended to inform the mood. It blends licensed tracks and composed pieces, featuring artists including José González, Mogwai, Breton, Amanda Palmer, Brian Viglione, Bright Eyes, Message to Bears, Local Natives, Syd Matters, Sparklehorse, Angus & Julia Stone, alt-J, Mud Flow and Foals.
Sources & editorial notes
Sources for the entries on this page
- Wikipedia Life Is Strange (video game) — Wikipedia
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