We're Entering a Dark Age for Choice-Based Games With DontNod's Possible Closure

Amidst the growing animosity within the video games industry, on one side, you have two of the biggest console market giants digging their own graves with some rather hideously questionable business choices. On the other, the developer studios themselves are on the brink. One of them just so happens to be a studio I heavily adored from my adolescent years.

DontNod are the creators behind the beloved first two Life is Strange games, and even besides that series, these guys have genuinely created a healthy list of intriguing games. Some of which aren't bangers obviously, but the point is that you could easily see the passion in them. You could play DontNod's more obscure titles like Twin Mirror and Remember Me—even if they don't hook you, it's hard not to admire the direction and presentation.

So when the news broke out from auditors that DontNod was seemingly going to run out of financial support by November 2026, with Tencent no longer wanting to front-end them with investments, that sort of lit an indication that this may be the last time we'll ever see this studio in its full glory, unless obviously someone decides to back them up here.

Whether through layoffs, restructuring, or financial struggles, the studio's recent troubles raise a much bigger question here: Is the industry slowly abandoning the kind of games that once made player choice feel meaningful?

Choice-Based Games Were Once One of Gaming's Biggest Trends

Allegedly, it looks like Tencent is making this whole call due to DontNod's string of underperforming titles—I know this is hard to hear for every Lost Records fan, or even for people who adored Jusant. But that just goes to show you how the current standards for video games among the higher-ups at the corporations in charge have changed drastically.

Let's peel the curtain back here a little. Back then, choice-based games proved that not every successful game needed bloated open worlds or hundreds of hours of content. I mean, they don't even need that right now, as evidenced by a recent hit like 007: First Light. Thanks to its laser-focused pacing, length, and creative gameplay elements borrowed from IO's own Hitman series, it has been a resounding success.

The mid-2010s were a major focal point for choice-based games, from Telltale's The Walking Dead, which moved the entire world to tears, to Heavy Rain, which (hilariously) gave you control of every in-game action. Some people might have a stroke upon seeing me mention a David Cage game alongside a Telltale title in the previous statement, but rest assured, it's not my intention to rage-bait anyone today. Also, you literally had YouTubers back then making a name for themselves with Telltale's TWD as their infamous Let's Play series.

And then there was Life is Strange, a game that instantly intrigued me from the moment I played the first episode as a freebie demo in late 2015, and one that went on to define the video games that influenced my teenage years of gaming. Fast-forward now, bidding farewell to Max and Chloe with Deck Nine's iteration of their last adventure in Reunion felt like a curtain call to that part of my life.

One of DontNod's new games last year, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, quite literally saved me from a disastrous heartbreak with its flawed yet charming storytelling and gameplay reminiscent of Life is Strange. That's probably oversharing, but the point is that DontNod is a studio that I'm ever so grateful for in the choice-based games landscape of champions, alongside the likes of Telltale and even modern ones like Supermassive.

The Economics Have Changed

This one builds on my aforementioned discussion, but the leveling field that choice-based narrative adventures occupy is (sort of) in an awkward middle-ground state. They aren't cheap enough to make quickly, but they also don't sell like big-name RPGs or blockbuster AAA titles. And no, this one isn't strictly relegated to DontNod.

Unlike multiplayer games, choice-based titles are usually enjoyed just once. They differ from roguelikes in that they have limited replay value despite featuring branching choices. Heck, I'll even go on a limb and note how stark a comparison it is to live-service titles: these games don’t generate recurring income like the latter.

Adhoc's workplace comedy game Dispatch might invalidate my point, but a counterargument to keep in mind is that although it sold a million units in the first ten days of release and proved to be a sleeper hit, Adhoc itself still had an absolutely wild 7-year development cycle with the game and almost went bankrupt prior to release.

I've seen a minority of people besides the cult-following playerbase think that these games don't require that much effort to develop, but several factors like multiple endings, performance capture, possible celebrity actors, extensive writing for the overall narrative, and cinematic animation to go along with it are all by no means a walk in the park to imagine and execute.

The Loss and Evolution of Narrative Choice Freedom

DontNod hanging on by a thread fits into a larger trend here because most of the champions I spoke of are pretty much a dying breed now. I mean Telltale's devastating collapse in 2018 all contributed to various factors, from their choice-based formula failing to keep up with the market's changing demand, as well as just general development crunch and overexpansion of multiple projects after the success of TWD. But hey, we got that miraculous revival soon later on and are now getting closer to Wolf Among Us 2 (any day now).

However, my point still stands; fewer AAA publishers are funding these interactive or choice-based dramas. Meanwhile, even studios that still make these games have shifted direction, such as Supermassive, which has diversified beyond simply making Until Dawn-style experiences. And obviously, DontNod shifted towards IPs like Banishers and Jusant because relying exclusively on narrative-driven adventures became difficult.

But there's another interesting argument to be made here: the evolution of this mechanic or sub-genre. One of which is how various kinds of RPGs (both new and old) and other big titles have implemented this in some form or way, even if it isn't perfect or is just an illusion of choice.

Games like Baldur's Gate 3, Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3 all offer this in such an ambitious manner, alongside everything else on their densely packed platter, including combat, exploration and a progression sandbox. And yes, BioWare's golden-age RPGs fall under this umbrella as well.

Expectations have also shifted. Generally speaking, it is difficult now to convince a casual player to dabble in these kinds of games, because they can just make the case to watch a TV show rather than be "involved" in a cinematic game in the first place. That, and modern audiences expect the utmost in facial animation, voice acting, and accessibility options, all of which have become much more expensive than they were when a game like Life is Strange first launched.

I'm not trying to end this on a doom-and-gloom note, but rather to say that the genre isn't disappearing. Instead, it's becoming more niche. Just as point-and-click adventures never truly died, choice-driven games may continue through crowdfunding, various forms of small-scale indie development, or simply by booming exposure from subscription services that put them there on day 1 of release. But as it stands, I just really, really hope someone decides to take the plunge and become a beacon of hope for DontNod.

Oh, and one last thing, please, please play Lost Records: Bloom & Rage.