Bad news for all “Life is Strange” fans. Developers have been laid off just before Christmas.
Just a few weeks ago, the latest installment of the “Life is Strange” series was released. But no less than six weeks after the release of “Double Exposure,” the developer has issued a sad announcement: some developers must leave and have been fired.
What happened? Via X, the developer Deck Nine Games announced that they are “sharing the sad news” that they “have to say goodbye to some of our talented team members.”
They want to help those affected find new work and are proud of what they created together.
This dismissal is particularly bitter because it happens just before Christmas, and many fans see it in the comments as heartless. Because now the affected employees have to struggle with job loss and existential fears during the reflective holiday season.
Is this due to the failure of the new Life is Strange? Many suspect that the layoffs are related to the performance of the latest “Life is Strange” installment. The newest release “Double Exposure” received very mixed reviews. While the first episodes are praised, many seem particularly dissatisfied with the last third of the game. Also, the fact that one of the most popular characters from part 1 does not appear has caused a lot of discontent in the community.
On Metacritic, this has led to rather mixed results. While the press gives the game a score of 73 / 100, users rate it only 4.1 / 10. Even if some obvious “review bombing” posts were to be excluded, the newest installment still performs relatively poorly.
Especially on the platform X, there are increasingly snarky comments in the style of “Go Woke, Go Broke,” referring to the fact that Life is Strange: Double Exposure places a great emphasis on inclusion, LGBTQ+ issues, and emotional storytelling. However, this argument seems a bit strange – after all, that has been a hallmark of the “Life is Strange” games since the first part.
Ultimately, Deck Nine Games is just the latest case of the crisis currently facing gaming companies worldwide. Almost all major game developers have had to lay off many employees in recent months. A trend that has been ongoing for almost two years and apparently shows no signs of ending.
A few months ago, there was also an unpleasant incident at Deck Nine Games. At that time, it was discovered that employees had attempted to smuggle clearly far-right symbolism into one of the games – which, however, was uncovered.
