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[LectureMaster]

Double Exposure Won GDC Award for Social Impact, But Layoffs Meant Nobody Collected It

Life is Strange: Double Exposure won a Social Impact award at the GDC Awards, but thanks to layoffs, nobody was there to pick it up.

insider-gaming.com

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Life is Strange: Double Exposure was released in October 2024, offering fans of the franchise another shot at Max Caulfield’s story after almost a decade. It saw Hannah Telle return to the role of the game’s protagonist, but this time around, she’d acquired an entirely new set of skills (read: magical powers).

Unfortunately, Double Exposure wasn’t the hit everyone was looking for and it ended up being a sales pitfall for Deck Nine Games. Sadly, the company underwent a second round of layoffs weeks after the game was released, with the company being stripped down due to ‘challenging times’.

At GDC, Double Exposure won an award for ‘Social Impact’, but as the story goes, nobody was there to collect because nobody was left.

What Now?​

In December 2024, we covered the news that Deck Nine had made more layoffs – the second round in a 12-month window and the third in two years. It capped off a year of studio closures, redundancies, and cancellations, but it was far from being the last we’d see of these dire situations.

At the GDC Awards, Life is Strange: Double Exposure was recognised in the Social Impact category, but nobody from Deck Nine was there to collect the award. On social media, the narrative designer of Double Exposure, Elizabeth Ballou, explained that nobody even knew they’d been nominated.

It’s fitting that nobody was there to accept the GDCA award that Double Exposure won because we all got laid off, lol. A bunch of us are at GDC, but we didn’t know we were even nominated, so nobody was prepared to accept anything.

(Thanks to Kotaku for the quote)

It was later confirmed that the team was able to collect the award later in the day, but they weren’t there for that purpose.

I sat down with Hannah Telle, Double Exposure’s lead and the ten-year veteran voice behind Max Caulfield, to learn about the future of the series. The game ends with a nod to a follow-up title being in development, but the hope of that game surfacing are becoming slimmer all the time.

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[Zacfoldor]

Well it definitely had a social impact when it didn't sell many copies.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

If there's a piece of news that exposes the miserable state of the gaming establishment is this one.

 

[Alandring]

Sad, I really liked their games.

 

[rkofan87]

i am a lis die hard and even i am like lmao.

 

[panda-zebra]

What an unfortunate situation.

Life is strange.

 

[John Bilbo]

 

[rkofan87]

Sad, I really liked their games.

same still need to play 4 i love max

 

[digimaster7]

The true “magical powers” is how they haven’t gone bankrupt yet and still has money left to develop lost records ep 2… I mean the company already lost -96.14% of its value

 

[KimDongHwan]

I was feeling bad about it until I looked up what type of award this is. This is GDC social impact page: https://gdconf.com/news/heres-how-gdc-2024-working-improve-its-environmental-and-social-impact

One day humanity will look back at this times and just plainly laugh at our generation

 

[LectureMaster]

I was feeling bad about it until I looked up what type of award this is. This is GDC social impact page: https://gdconf.com/news/heres-how-gdc-2024-working-improve-its-environmental-and-social-impact

One day humanity will look back at this times and just plainly laugh at our generation

 

[rkofan87]

The true “magical powers” is how they haven’t gone bankrupt yet and still has money left to develop lost records ep 2… I mean the company already lost -96.14% of its value

this is deck9 lost r is the other one

 

[digimaster7]

this is deck9 lost r is the other one

wait… I just found out dont nod doesn’t own the LiS IP anymore… huh

sorry, my mistake

 

[AJUMP23]

At least it got triple exposure.

 

[Rush2112]

When i see ‘social’ used in an award, I know exactly what it’s about.

 

[poodaddy]

Can't lie, I absolutely loath these games, but...., my wife and daughter like em, so kind of a bummer for them I guess.

So glad I'll never have to sit through one of these whiny fuckin teen stories again though. Goddamn I'm over the industry's obsession with teenagers.

 

[FeralEcho]

Game wins award for social impact....but it sold so few copies the devs were laid off....therefore not having much of an impact on the world at all.

I swear we must be living in some bizarro world reality. It's all parody at this point.

 

[yogaflame]

What with this trend of having social impact award on award shows, not just gaming but also in movie and music industry? For me, its acceptable, if its about charity works, environmental protection, job creation, medical research, peace process, innovation and help to the sick.

But if it's about woke agenda like twisted gender ideology and DEI then this is just again normalizing mental disorder, and forcing and pushing those agendas to our throats.

 

[ssringo]

Goddamn I'm over the industry's obsession with teenagers.

Not a fan of jrpgs then eh?

 

[Humdinger]

It caused the developers to become unemployed, so I guess that counts as social impact.

 

[poodaddy]

Not a fan of jrpgs then eh?

Nope, not really, and yes for the same reason.

I do dig the Yakuza games quite a bit, and Dark Souls and all that. Just over playing as kids in high school, just doesn't interest me.

 

[Three]

LiS: Not enough exposure

 

[Fake]

The perfect example of disconnection between players and journalism.

 

[semiconscious]

What with this trend of having social impact award on award shows, not just gaming but also in movie and music industry? For me, its acceptable, if its about charity works, environmental protection, job creation, medical research, peace process, innovation and help to the sick.

But if it's about woke agenda like twisted gender ideology and DEI then this is just again normalizing mental disorder, and forcing and pushing those agendas to our throats.

yep. also, i'm thinking this's all about intent? because, in reality (as exemplified particularly in this situation) no impact whatsoever has, in actuality, occurred. to the extent that the game came & went with little, if any, notice?...

 

[Hollywood Hitman]

Let me count the non fucks given, I'll brb

 

[Kacho]

Damn what a shame

 

[Saber]

You guys will never understand.
It doesn't matter if the company cease to exist and everyone was fired. Whats important is the message.
They're all jobless sure, but are prouds jobless people.

 

[BigBeauford]

These dipshits would rather make an "important" game that results in their unemployment than a game that will sell.

 

[taizuke]

If a developer wins this award and there's no one there to collect it, does it still make an impact?

 

[yet_another_alt]

The news made me laugh at the absurdity of life so I guess it made a positive impact by giving me a brief moment of levity.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Fate loves irony

 

[Durin]

Just shows it's the ultimate nothing award, or the industry self-flagellation award.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Sad, I really liked their games.

They made a franchise out of the title that’s supposed to be a one off.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

It would be funny if the HR axe man collected it. Then when on a rant like, “you want to impact change? Volunteer at a charity, games need sales bitches. Peace I’m out.”