A Life is Strange prequel may be in development

Life is Strange developer Dontnod revealed last month that it has been working on a new game in the series since the release of the boxed edition in early 2016. But as reported by Kotaku, it looks like another Life is Strange game may be on the way as well—a prequel, actually, being developed by newly-renamed studio Deck Nine Games. 

Deck Nine said in a press release that it has "signed a partnership deal with a leading AAA videogame publisher and are deep in development on their first title, a brand new addition to a critically acclaimed franchise." More specifically, it described the game as a "narrative adventure," which generally speaking is something you don't see a lot of from AAA pubs. 

What really brought the rumor to life, though, was the discovery of some Life is Strange-related images on the new Deck Nine website, including one bearing the Life is Strange logo. The site is now a blank placeholder, but the images are still viewable on Imgur.

Speculatively, the opportunity to more deeply explore the relationship between Max and Chloe does make a prequel seem like a natural fit, but a prequel and a sequel in simultaneous development seems a little much: Deck Nine's enthusiasm aside, I'm not sure Life is Strange is really that much of a pillar franchise. I suppose it's also possible that the new game revealed by Dontnod is the same one that Deck Nine is working on. Dontnod said only that it is working on it "with the Life is Strange team," which could—stretching the definition a bit, perhaps—refer to an external development team, rather than in-house work. 

I've emailed Deck Nine and Square Enix to ask for confirmation about the prequel, but given that it's set to be revealed later this month at E3, I don't expect either of them to spoil the surprise now. I'll let you know if someone does.