Life Is Strange Developer Partners With Bandai Namco To Make New Narrative Adventure

Life is Strange developer Dontnod Entertainment has partnered with Bandai Namco on a new IP. Playing to Dontnod's strengths, it will be a narrative adventure experience, reports MCV.

Hervé Hoerdt, Bandai Namco's VP of marketing and digital, told MCV: "Dontnod was a kind of rough diamond--very much a rising star, I would say--and with the success of Life is Strange, it's the first big player in terms of quality business model, vision, and we think that's a good strategy that fits. It was the right moment, so we decided to partner [with them]."

Details are still slim on the new IP, which has reportedly been in production since 2016, but it will be set in a fictional city in the US (pictured above) and includes "a fair dose of investigation." Hoerdt also said it's a completely new story with original characters, and will not affect the development of Life is Strange 2, the sequel to the original Life is Strange, which is being worked on by a separate team.

"Obviously, with a studio like Dontnod, you can expect triple-A quality; you can expect a very emotional experience, and this is what we were looking for, like with some kind of investigation and going deep into the psychology of the characters, and giving emotion to the player," he said.

More details about the new game, including will be released in 2018, and in the meantime you can check out the original game's prequel, Life is Strange: Before the Storm, due out at the end of August.