Square Enix Picked Up Life is Strange After Rejecting a Different Dontnod Game

Before Dontnod Entertainment decided to show Square Enix its episodic, story-oriented game Life is Strange, it first pitched another idea that was rejected almost instantly.

Square Enix NA and EU CEO Phil Rogers explained that when Dontnod first met with Square, it presented a very different game, which Square decided to passed on. It was only after the game was rejected that Dontnod decided to show off Life is Strange.

Life is Strange came through a meeting set-up by that team. Dontnod visited us to show us a different project. We decided quite quickly that it wasn’t for us, and it was one of those great moments when they said – it was almost like a postscript to the meeting – ‘Ok, we are also working on this.’

You could instantly see the jaws drop, and the reaction and desire to start playing with it.

It was an almost fortuitous meeting. We love the storytelling element; we feel storytelling is one of our fortes, it is very important to us as a group.

The game came out of that encounter. We love what the team is doing, we feel we can help them and we are really pleased we got to work with Dontnod.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out review of Life is Strange.