OXENFREE II Game Director Says There Could Be an OXENFREE III (EXCLUSIVE)

'OXENFREE III' Is Not Out of the Question, Says the Game's Lead Director (EXCLUSIVE)

Aug. 4 2023, Published 5:00 p.m. ET

Night School Studio's OXENFREE II was one game that surprised us right here at Distractify. The weaving narrative of the sequel stepped forward upon the primary in a way few video games do, reworking them into spouse video games that play off each and every other and deepen the full tale of Edward's Island. But we now have already met two protagonists within the developers' fictional international — could there in reality be every other tale to tell?

Following the release of OXENFREE II, Night School Studio's lead developer and game director Bryant Cannon spoke with Distractify about the sequel and the possibility of there being some other game in the indie franchise.

Will there be every other game after 'OXENFREE II'? Bryant Cannon says its imaginable.

Though OXENFREE II follows a unique protagonist than OXENFREE I, lots of the characters offered in the first game make reappearances in more than just Easter eggs. According to Bryant, OXENFREE II used to be meant to be more than just a sequel to their first game — they did not want to do it except they could increase upon the sector they had built.

"We were adamant that we had to have a new story that fits in that world first rather than choosing first to make a sequel," Bryant mentioned in an electronic mail.

But as it is the second game within the indie franchise, OXENFREE II also needed to toughen upon the unique system. The gameplay mechanics between the 2 are in large part the same, but Bryant stated the second provides "50 to 75% more dialogue" than the first.

"Some of that is used in new branches, but we wanted to lean further into situational possibilities and opt-in narratives rather than just branches off of a main story trunk," he said. "I think we took a step beyond a typical “branching” game to actually build a more systemic narrative, so it’s kind of apples and oranges in a sense. But the ending of OXENFREE II definitely has more varied outcomes than the first game; it’s just that how you navigate those endings is a bit different."

A large number of the additional branching narratives comes from the walkie-talkie Riley uses. The face-to-face interactions with characters are few and some distance between, but there are quite a lot of alternatives to stop and chat with any of the characters you can connect to by way of your walkie-talkie. But what more can Night School Studios do with the world created around Edwards Island?

"I think that if we find a story that fits well in this universe, we will want to tell it," Bryant said. "I think the world we’ve built has a ton of potential, and it’s a world we would love to keep exploring. But at the end of the day, it’s all about the characters and how they react to the backdrop we’ve set, and how the player explores the possibilities of that character’s reality."

So the potential of there being an OXENFREE III is there, but whether or not or now not it comes to fruition is determined by if the builders feel there's every other tale to tell. The spirits of Edwards Island were not satisfied on the conclusion of OXENFREE II — and whether or not or no longer Riley and Alex controlled to lock them away for just right remains to be seen.

"We have changed as people quite a bit in the last nine years as a studio... The things going on in our lives right now seemed to resonate with players and seemed to hit a nerve with some people that a game may have not hit before," he said. "I think people are always hungry for new kinds of stories, and there are audiences that are hungry for any story that relates to them in a way other art hasn’t yet."

OXENFREE II is now available on PC, Switch, PlayStation, and thru Netflix.

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