Dont Nod director hits out at “hateful” comments about Life is Strange: Double Exposure

Dont Nod’s studio creative director has hit out at “hateful” comments about Deck Nine’s take on the Life is Strange franchise.

Talking on X/Twitter, Michel Koch said that whilst he hadn’t played the game yet and “have no idea where [Deck Nine] are taking the story”, “nothing justifies hating on people”.

“Since the release of [Life is Strange: Double Exposure] I’ve seen a lot of tension and hateful messages against Deck Nine devs,” Koch said.

“I didn’t play the game yet, and I have no idea where they are taking the story. But what I know is that nothing justifies hating on people for how they wrote their game!

“You can be disappointed, you can want other narratives for those characters you love, or different stories… but ultimately creation is hard and very subjective and if [Double Exposure’s] story does not please you, it does not erase what you imagined.”

When challenged by someone insisting it should be okay for players to feedback “healthy criticism”, Koch agreed that whilst “constructive criticism and civil disagreement is good”, he was specifically “talking of violent messages and harassment I’ve seen”.

“I know how bad it feels to be on the other end (when we announced Sean and Daniel we got our share of toxicity for not bringing back Max and Chloe).

“From what I read I think we would not have written things the same way,” he added. “But I felt the same with the comics and Before the Storm, and I kind of accepted it. I’m pretty sure when I play the full game I won’t recognise my characters, but that’s also inevitable with different writers.”

“I think there’s a solid game here, underneath this Advanced Access nonsense – but like many players, I’m waiting for the game’s full launch to talk about it,” our Tom said, sharing his thoughts on Life is Strange: Double Exposure thus far.