Life Is Strange devs confirm which ending was canon, but you're not gonna like it

A new Life Is Strange game is coming, and with that news comes questions from the fandom regarding the ending to the original experience. Specifically, which ending is canon.

During the Xbox Showcase 2024, we saw the return of Max Caulfield in the trailer for Life Is Strange: Double Exposure.

In case you need your memory jogging, at the end of Life Is Strange, Max must make one of two choices, both of which offer no real comfort given the brevity of the situation she finds herself in.

Not watched the Life Is Strange: Double Exposure reveal yet? Well, you need to

Save Max’s best friend or Arcadia Bay; hardly the easiest of decisions to make.

As expected, given the grave consequences of either action, fans have been trying to figure out which is the canon ending, especially now Max is back.

Well, the developers have something to say on the matter, but we doubt many of you will like the answer: neither ending is canon.

“It was really important at Deck Nine that if we were to make another Max adventure that the game we'd have to respect both those endings, "Jon Stauder, the game’s director explains.

"There's no canon ending in our book to the first game. Double Exposure will respect both endings [...] it's all reflective of that final choice."

It’s rare for devs not to have some idea in their heads of what the “true ending” of a story is, even when they wish to respect either outcome.

However, while it's not the answer we’ve been expecting, it certainly means there’ll be no more hierarchy of who did what better... right? Right?

Probably not. Fandoms are hardly ever content unless debating the twists and turns of a narrative, and few narratives have as many plot twists as the Life Is Strange franchise.

Despite not being offered a canon ending, we’re still intrigued about where Max’s adult life will take her in Life Is Strange: Double Exposure. Thankfully, we don’t have long to wait, as the game is due to launch this 29 October.