Dontnod's Twin Mirror delayed, will launch next year as an Epic Store exclusive

Twin Mirror, the new game in the works at Life is Strange studio Dontnod, is "a story-driven investigation game" rooted in film noir about a journalist named Samuel Higgs, who discovers strangeness afoot when he returns to his hometown to attend the funeral of his best friend. Gameplay revealed in an October 2018 trailer struck me (in a good way) as kind of a mashup of Life is Strange, Alan Wake, and maybe Beyond: Two Souls.  

It was originally expected to be out this year, but Dontnod has announced that "in order to optimize the gaming experience and capitalize on Twin Mirror's success potential," it has delayed the release into 2020. And when it comes out, it will be an Epic Games Store exclusive for one year. 

"We are delighted to partner with Epic Games and present Twin Mirror to the vast gamer community on its Epic Games Store," Dontnod chairman and CEO Oskar Guilbert said in a statement. 

"The conditions of this partnership along with the support of Shibuya Productions reinforce the game's potential. This strategic operation demonstrates our ability to leverage new market trends in our favor. The videogame industry is currently undergoing major transformation and now offers a major competitive advantage to content creators such as Dontnod." 

Dontnod also said that, "thanks to our partnership with Epic Games," it now owns the rights to Twin Mirror, enabling it to "strengthen its intellectual property portfolio and increase game profitability." Dontnod said Bandai Namco "will continue to be in charge of publishing, marketing and distribution" on non-PC platforms. 

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.