Square Enix

How many copies did Life is Strange sell? — 2023 statistics

No stranger to success.

Fact-checked
First Released
January 30, 2015
Genre
Graphic adventure
Developer
Deck Nine
Publisher
Square Enix

Something that makes gaming appealing, in general, is the way certain games can tell a story. Action-packed games are sometimes story-driven, but you also have games that focus exclusively on the story to create something memorable, something that leaves you wanting more. The games that fall into this category are anything from the Telltale franchise and Life is Strange, developed by Square Enix. We will discuss the latter today and display some Life is Strange statistics to see how this series has performed over the years and if there are new games on the horizon! These games are adventure-oriented where you play as different characters and explore the world while solving puzzles. We talk about a wide range of topics here, and if you’re interested in learning more, aside from single games, why not check out how big the esports industry is?

Life is Strange key stats

This section serves to just provide you with an outline of what to expect in the rest of what we have to say. It will examine the entire Life is Strange series from total sales and revenue to important viewership statistics as well as anything else we can find about the series. It has been around since 2015 and the standards for what games focus on has shifted to something more inclusive, so difficult or controversial themes are more widespread, leading to more awareness of them.

The Life is Strange series has sold over 7.5 million copies on Steam.

(Source: VG Insights, Game Developer)

  • Life is Strange sold 3 million copies within 2 years.
  • The original game sold 5.7 million copies on Steam.
  • Life is Strange 2 sold 647,000 copies on Steam.
  • Life is Strange: Before the Storm sold 787,000 copies on Steam.
  • Life is Strange: True Colors sold 346,000 copies on Steam.
  • Life is Strange Remastered sold 56,010 copies on Steam.
  • Life is Strange: Before the Storm Remastered sold 26,730 copies on Steam.

Yes, we’re just as surprised to see so many Life is Strange games available to pick up, given that it is a relatively niche franchise that doesn’t perform as well as other big-name games out there. Nevertheless, we can see that the games sold progressively fewer and fewer copies as new games came out, which can likely be attributed to a loss in appeal as the original fanbase got smaller.

The Life is Strange series has grossed over $85 million on Steam.

(Source: VG Insights)

  • Life is Strange grossed $56.8 million on Steam.
  • Life is Strange 2 grossed $2 million.
  • Life is Strange: Before the Storm grossed $8.9 million.
  • Life is Strange: True Colors grossed $14.9 million.
  • Life is Strange Remastered grossed $1.6 million.
  • Life is Strange: Before the Storm Remastered grossed $786,000.

Despite the relatively low sales of the series compared to other similar games, we can see that it still generated a considerable amount of revenue across all of the games, with the breadwinner being the original Life is Strange, as it was the first game to break the scene and establish the Life is Strange franchise. The rest of the games have varying revenue, but nothing out of the ordinary, except for Life is Strange 2 grossing considerably less money than its predecessor.

Life is Strange: True Colors grossed $5 million in its first month.

(Source: GameSensor)

  • The game sold approximately 100,000 copies in its first month.
  • The game had an aggregate score of 81/100.
  • Before True Colors, the most successful Life is Strange game was Before the Storm.
  • True Colors was almost 2x as successful as Before the Storm.

The popularity of Life is Strange: True Colors is nothing new in the series, as it has been described as having an incredibly immersive story that seems like a high-budget TV show’s narrative is unfolding in front of you. True Colors was quite successful as we know that the game sold at least 350,000 copies on Steam alone, so the total profit the game generated must have been quite high.

Life is Strange: True Colors won three awards at the 2022 Gayming awards.

(Source: TheGamer)

  • It won Game of the Year.
  • It won the Authentic Representation Award.
  • It won the Best LGBTQ Character Award (Alex Chen).
  • The game also won at the Accessibility Awards for allowing players to skip over scenes portraying graphic content.
  • Aside from that, the game won Best Camera Direction in a Game Engine at the NAVGTR Awards.
  • It got a Games for Impact award at the Game Awards.
  • It won Best Storytelling at the 2021 Golden Joystick Awards.

When a game is best known for its narrative and gripping story, it is no surprise that it would win so many awards surrounding the characters and the story. Aside from story-driven awards, we also see that the game had an impact on the representation of the LGBTQ community in an extremely good way, as there is essentially no controversial news about the series that would paint it in a poor light.

Life is Strange is the most popular game in the series on Twitch with 4.2 million hours watched in 2021.

(Source: SullyGnome)

  • The game had 186,107 broadcasting hours in the same year.
  • It had 478 viewers on average.
  • There were, on average, 21 channels streaming the game.
  • It had a viewer ratio of 22.5.
  • Its peak player count was 119,098.
  • 25,149 broadcasters streamed the game.

Although you would expect one of the newer games to have more Twitch viewers as they cover more touchy topics and appeal to a wide audience, it is actually the first game in the series that managed to acquire the most hours watched in its lifetime, and six years after it came out, to boot! This just goes to show how well the games are made when all of them can fairly closely compete in terms of Twitch viewership.

A new narrative game by the Life is Strange developers is in the works.

(Source: GaymingMag)

  • Don’t Nod Entertainment posted a job ad asking for new developers to work on a new game.
  • They shared a screenshot of what seems to be a room from the 80-90s, complete with a gaming console.
  • If it’s a Life is Strange game, it will not be set in the same era as the current games.
  • It is most likely a new series as Don’t Nod Said that they would be moving on from Life is Strange after 2021.

And finally, we can see that there is either a new Life is Strange game or an entirely new series from the developers at Don’t Nod Montreal. In either case, this is more of an indication of how well narrative games work, so much so that it warrants developing even more games in the genre, so we’re going to be on the lookout for news about this mysterious new game.

To sum up

Alright, so that’s all we have about the Life is Strange series for now! As you can see, the games had a very colorful past and they remain one of the cornerstones of the narrative gaming genre, which allows anyone, no matter their gaming experience, to pick them up and immerse themselves in a story that they’ll never forget. There might just be some new content surrounding the Life is Strange series in the future, so make sure to check back for any updates. We hope that you’ve enjoyed what we’ve had to say so far and that you’ve learned something new!

Sources

  • Life is Strange has sold over 3M copies”. Game Developer, 2017, https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/-i-life-is-strange-i-has-sold-over-3m-copies
  • “Life is Strange™ – Steam Stats”. VG Insights, 2023, https://vginsights.com/game/319630
  • “Life is Strange 2 – Steam Stats”. VG Insights, 2023, https://vginsights.com/game/532210
  • “Life is Strange: Before the Storm – Steam Stats”. VG Insights, 2023, https://vginsights.com/game/554620
  • “Life is Strange: True Colors – Steam Stats”. VG Insights, 2023, https://vginsights.com/game/936790
  • “Life is Strange Remastered – Steam Stats”. VG Insights, 2023, https://vginsights.com/game/1265920
  • “Life is Strange: Before the Storm Remastered – Steam Stats”. VG Insights, 2023, https://vginsights.com/game/1265930
  • “About $5 million in sales of Life is Strange: True Colors on Steam during the first month of release”. GameSensor, 2021, https://gamesensor.info/news/life_is_strange_true_colors
  • “Life is Strange: True Colors Awards”. IMDb, 2022, https://m.imdb.com/title/tt14278238/awards/?ref_=tt_awd
  • “Winners Named At The 2021 Video Game Accessibility Awards”. TheGamer, 2022, https://www.thegamer.com/2021-video-game-accessibility-awards-winners/
  • “Life Is Strange: True Colors Wins Big At The 2022 Gayming Awards”. TheGamer, 2022, https://www.thegamer.com/life-is-strange-true-colors-2022-gayming-awards/
  • “Life is Strange”. SullyGnome, 2021, https://sullygnome.com/game/Life_Is_Strange/2021
  • “Original Life is Strange team teases new narrative game”. GaymingMag, 2023, https://gaymingmag.com/2023/01/original-life-is-strange-team-teases-new-narrative-game/
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