A new Life is Strange is on the horizon.
Yesterday, video game publisher Square Enix announced an upcoming event. The event, titled “Square Enix Presents,” is an announcement party. At the 40-mintue event airing on March 18 at 10am PDT, Square Enix will update the press and gaming fans about upcoming projects under their wing. This includes the first announcement of a new Life is Strange game.
In the midst of the “Presents” announcement (yes, it’s an announcement for an announcement), Square Enix shared that they have news about the next game in the Life is Strange series.
“Be there for the World Premiere of the next game in the critically acclaimed series, where you’ll meet a new protagonist with a fascinating new power,” Square Enix wrote.
Life Is Strange is a popular series by indie developer Dontnod Entertainment. The episodic anthology series has had two full installments so far. While both games happened within the same universe, they both followed different characters and circumstances. The tie between the two games, however, was the inclusion of some sort of supernatural gameplay. One other important factor for LGBTQ gamers is the inclusion of same-sex romance options.
Previously, Dontnod has been praised for its LGBTQ inclusion in its games. Again, both Life is Strange and Life is Strange 2 included the option for players to pursue a same-sex romance with an NPC (non-playable character). The second game also includes several intractable queer characters outside of a romantic context. Due to this, the game franchise has been championed by LGBTQ gamers since 2015.
With the news of a new game on the horizon, there’s one question left on our mind. Will this new game include LGBTQ representation and options like its predecessors? While we’re hopeful, we can’t be totally sure. Maybe this “Presents” event will fill in some of the blanks. We’ll have to wait until March 18 to find out.
