The original Life is Strange passes 20 million players after eight years
The game that started it all hits a big milestone
The original Life is Strange has surpassed 20 million players around the world since launch.
Earlier today, November 23, the official Life is Strange Twitter account celebrated Thanksgiving with something its thankful for: the original game having amassed 20 million total players. "We want to thank each and every one of you for playing," the account added.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!Something we are very grateful for - the original Life is Strange has hit over 20 million players! 🦋📷🌀🌪️🕒We want to thank each and every one of you for playing!What are you grateful for this year? pic.twitter.com/djfqI3Qr1VNovember 23, 2023
It's a little difficult to know what constitutes a "player" for the debut Life is Strange game. Is Dontnod counting all the players who played every episode in the five-episode series, or are they counting it by players accumulated across the five total episodes?
No matter the developers methods of counting, it's still a massive milestone for the original narrative-driven game. Life is Strange released throughout 2015 (wild to think it's pushing ten years old), with Episode One arriving in January, and Episode Five concluding the series later that year in October.
Life is Strange apparently hit one million players and one million copies sold that same year, according to Square Enix (thanks, Polygon). It hit three million unique players two years later in 2017 (according to GamesIndustry.biz), which means somewhere along the way, there's been a massive uptick in the number of players over the last six years for the original game.
Square Enix has been oddly secretive surrounding sales and player figures for the rest of the series - it's never given player counts for Before the Storm, Life is Strange 2, or True Colors in the years following their releases. At least we know the original game has been a certified hit over the eight years since it released.
Check out our best videogame stories guide if you're after other great story-driven experiences.
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Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.