Don't Nod's journey from Life Is Strange to Lost Records: Bloom and Rage

gamesindustry.biz:

Four years ago, Don't Nod Montréal opened its doors to produce its first title outside the Life Is Strange franchise.

Work immediately began on what would become Lost Records: Bloom and Rage, created by the team that brought the first two Life Is Strange games to life.

GamesIndustry.biz caught up with creative director Michel Koch, studio executive producer Luc Baghadoust, and producer Cathy Vincelli at Gamescom to talk about how Lost Records marks a new direction for the developer, but continues its tradition of producing narrative-driven games centred around choices and consequences.

Initially set to launch in late 2024, Don't Nod pushed the release of its new IP to early 2025 to avoid clashing with the next instalment of Life Is Strange, Double Exposure, now developed by Deck Nine.

"We talked about it, and thought the best solution was to give [Lost Records] more space," studio executive producer Luc Baghadoust explains. "We know that a big part of the audience knows the Life Is Strange name, but they might not know that the original team of the first two games is creating a new game, and there needs to be room for two."

Baghadoust says that overall, it was a "good outcome" for them.

"On our end, it gives us more time to polish the content to make sure it's great when it's released," he continues. "Being too close to each other, people might not have the budget to buy two games, so giving us more space was the best solution."

There is added pressure on Lost Records following Don't Nod's latest financial results, in which the company paused two projects after Jusant and Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden "performed well below expectations."

With Lost Records now the firm's crucial next release, we reached out for additional comment from Don't Nod, but the request was declined.

Production on Lost Records began in 2020, but the concept came to creative director Michel Koch while presenting Life Is Strange 2 at Gamescom in 2019.

"We started to talk not only about [a group of]