Don't Nod is delaying its spiritual successor to Life is Strange and being refreshingly honest about the reason

Don't Nod, the studio that created the Life is Strange franchise in partnership with Square Enix, has announced that it will be delaying its upcoming self-published title Lost Records: Bloom & Rage into 2025. Lost Records was initially announced at The Game Awards last year, with the release window at the time given as "late 2024".

If you're the gossipy type, it's probably not hard to speculate on why this might have happened, since Square and LiS's adopted step-developer Deck Nine recently announced a new game in the series. While a new Life is Strange was always understood to be a likelihood, few expected the fifth main game to return quite so strongly to the series' roots, with original protagonist Max Caulfield returning as the player character in Life is Strange: Double Exposure, due to release this October.

What's pleasantly surprising, though, is that Don't Nod hasn't taken the circumspect route with regards to their reasons for postponing Lost Records, with CEO Oskar Guilbert saying quite plainly: "We know that many of our fans are eagerly awaiting this game, just as they are the recently announced next instalment of Life is Strange. Let's give both games the space they need to shine. The wait will be worth it."

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage does indeed look like it will scratch the itches many LiS fans have been feeling since the series' last release all the way back in 2021, and Don't Nod has been quite transparent about the fact that it intends to take what it learned from LiS and apply it to its new, independent IP. And while Don't Nod's reputation as the original creator means that a new LiS doesn't automatically overshadow Lost Records in the eyes of many, there was a real risk of splitting fans' concentration if the two games launched up against each other — especially given that Max's return might well draw in some players who dropped off of Life is Strange's recent anthology-style follow-ups.

It's nice to see Don't Nod acknowledge the elephant in the room, as well as give its tacit support for Deck Nine's ongoing work on its baby. Previously, Don't Nod and Deck Nine handed off each LiS instalment alternately and pooled assets and ideas within the franchise, so it's heartening to know that Don't Nod hasn't disavowed its creation now that they've seemingly left it in other hands for good.

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is now expected in early 2025, and focuses on a group of four female friends across two time periods: during their high school years in the mid-'90s, and as middle-aged women in the modern day after a long estrangement. The trailers have also hinted at queer romance and supernatural elements, so the Life is Strange DNA is sure to be strongly felt.