Life is Strange: True Colors devs want to do right by the queer community
Life is Strange: True Colors is set to release on September 10th this year, and we couldn’t be more excited about what that means for queer players who’ve been itching to play the next chapter in the Life is Strange series. Instead of meeting up with Sean, Daniel, Chloe, Max and Rachel again, however, the new game will be focused on Alex Chen and her powers of empathy.
Alex’s power lets her feel what other people are feeling, which some have criticized as being too much on the nose or too simple considering empathy is something that, you know, most people have. How developers Deck Nine will handle it remains to be seen.
One of the most talked-about things about Life is Strange: True Colors though is romance options, particularly when one romance option is Steph, a lesbian character introduced back in the prequel of the first game, Before the Storm. Already she’s become quite popular with queer fans of Life is Strange – us included, to be honest – but there’s also a niggling worry… Who will be writing Steph, and will she be portrayed in an authentic way?
According to an interview between NME and producer Rebeccah Bassell from Deck Nine, authenticity and drawing from one’s experience is one of the developer’s ‘core tenets.’
“We have a queer dev community within our studio, and if there are any gaps in our knowledge we reach out and make sure that we are speaking authentically and genuinely about any experience portrayed in the game.” Bassell told NME.
If they include something within the game, whether that be a story about an experience or an individual, they want to ensure that the voice of it is true and not something that’s been slapped together for the sake of entertainment. It’s this authenticity and respect that Deck Nine really want to show off in Life is Strange: Wavelengths, a DLC episode included with Life is Strange: True Colors that follows Steph and her life in Haven Springs.
The newest installment was shown off this week at E3 2021, focusing on Alex’s power of empathy and how that affects her decisions. To find out more, check out the preview below.
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