We’re thrilled to have finally revealed the next game in the Life is Strange series, Life is Strange: Double Exposure!
It’s been deeply rewarding to work on, and we can’t wait for you to dive deeper into the supernatural murder mystery we’ve been working on for over four years. And long-time fans will be thrilled to know that our original star, Max Caulfield, is making a return.
When Max was an eighteen year-old photography student, she manifested the power to rewind time and became entangled in the dark side of Blackwell Academy, a high school in the small town of Arcadia Bay.
In Life is Strange: Double Exposure, we pick up several years later, finding Max trying to build a new life for herself as an artist-in-residence at the prestigious Caledon University. Max has spent years on the road photographing desolate spaces, keeping everyone at a distance, as the decisions of her past still hang heavy over her.
Caledon is the first place in years where Max has felt the pull of community. She’s begun to reach out again, to make friends and connections… and then all that is torn away from her in a single night, when she finds her new friend, the poet Safi Llewellyn-Fayyad, dead in the snow.
Murdered.
Max’s shock soon turns to confusion – Safi’s death seems impossible, not just in its suddenness, but in the lack of clues, of suspects; not to mention the fact that Max saw her alive just seconds before.
As the days pass, her shock turns to determination to find the truth. That’s when she starts to hear Safi’s voice. Reaching out, straining every supernatural sinew, Max tears a hole in reality and passes through into a parallel timeline. Here, Safi is still alive. And still in danger! Max is the only one who might be able to save her friend.
She also discovers her power, long-dormant, has changed. She can now Shift back and forth between two parallel timelines, each moving forward in sync. In one timeline, Safi is dead, and her friends and the campus mourn. In the other, Safi is very much alive, and Max is the only one who knows that a deadly threat stalks the college.
For the first time, players will have to solve and prevent the same murder, while uncovering every secret that Caledon holds. As you might be able to tell, the friendship between Max and Safi is core to this new mystery. Let’s touch on a few key shots from the trailer to delve into that a little more…
Max is back! For the first time in nearly a decade, players will take control of Max Caulfield – either again, or for the very first time. Even if you’re completely new to Life is Strange, you’ll get everything you need in this story to understand Max’s past, and her emotional journey.
One of the things that was most important to us when crafting this story was that Safi wasn’t just a plot device, or a body. The fact that she is very much alive in one of the two timelines means she remains a vivid presence throughout the game. Discovering what makes her tick is just as important as finding out who she may have ticked off.
With Safi still alive in one timeline, Max also has access to something no other detective has – the murder victim: able to answer all of her probing questions!
Max is also the only person with the power to Shift between the two timelines. Max can Shift at various Shift Points in the world – soft places in reality, where the wall between the timelines is thin. As she explores both timelines, the mysteries keep adding up – but only Max has the ability to get to the truth.
Max and Safi will need all your help when Life is Strange: Double Exposure launches October 29 this year – and those who pre-order the Ultimate Edition can play both Chapters 1 and 2 from October 15!
And there’s still more to come this very week. We’ll showcase Max Caufield’s new adventure in an in-depth Reveal Livestream this Thursday, June 13, at 9am PDT / 12pm EDT / 5pm BST – including a first look at extended gameplay, and an overview of Max’s new power. Follow us on X, Tiktok, Instagram, and Facebook to keep up to date with all the latest from the Life is Strange universe.
We can’t wait to welcome you all into the snowy grounds of Caledon University, and place two timelines at your fingertips.
