Inside Indie Selects: Lost Records: Bloom & Rage
The team from DON'T NOD Montreal tells us about the development journey it took to publish Lost Records: Bloom & Rage on Xbox.
From conception to release, the game development journey is different for every independent studio. Sure, there are parts that are similar or that nearly everyone has to go through along the way, but the actual experience differs depending on myriad factors. Some studios have dozens of employees, each of which has a specific role to fill. Others might only have one solo developer handling every step in the process. Regardless of a studio’s size, location, or experience, they’ve each got a story to share with their fellow developers. That’s where we come in.
Every week, we’ll be spotlighting an independent developer that the ID@Xbox team has chosen to be included in the monthly Indie Select collection. This dedicated, permanent, curated collection in the Xbox Store allows us to bring more attention to games that we feel are particularly special – everything from current favorites to older gems, including games from new creators from around the world. You’ll learn more about the teams building these great games, the challenges they faced along their development journey, what they learned, advice they’d share with other developers, and much more.
This week, we’ll be taking a look at DON’T NOD Montreal, developer of the ID@Xbox game Lost Records: Bloom & Rage. We had a chance to chat with Creative Director Michel Koch and Brand Manager Marin Yvon-Maze from DON’T NOD Montreal about the development journey the team took to publish Lost Records: Bloom & Rage on Xbox.
Tell us a bit about DON’T NOD Montreal.
Marin Yvon-Maze: DON’T NOD Montréal is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year. The studio was founded during the pandemic by the leadership team behind Life is Strange. Over the course of the project, our team grew steadily, reaching 50 people by the time of Bloom & Rage’s launch. We are dedicated to delivering high-quality narrative adventures that emphasize deep character development and empower players with meaningful choices that shape their stories.
How did Xbox help support the development and/or publishing of Lost Records: Bloom & Rage?
Marin Yvon-Maze: Xbox has been a great publishing partner since the inception of the project, offering valuable feedback throughout the development process. The team at Xbox, especially ID@Xbox, provided significant support for our communication efforts, from the reveal of the game to the release of Tape 2. Their collaboration helped us reach a broader audience than we could have achieved on our own.
What were your duties on Lost Records: Bloom & Rage?
Michel Koch: As Creative Director I drive the overall vision: how every ingredients of the game are resonating together to reach the end goal - story beats, music, art, characters, pacing, player agency and interactivity, cinematography… Day to day this means working with our team leads, our writer’s room, preparing and directing motion capture sessions, blocking and reviewing the cinematic work, and more than anything play-testing the game to give feedbacks and help our teams.
What do you want the audience to take away or experience once they play Lost Records: Bloom & Rage?
Michel Koch: After playing our game, I hope our players will have the feeling they met new friends along the way. It’s one of the strength of my favorite TV shows, the bittersweet feeling that we met close friends and that we are leaving them behind when the serie ends. Lost Records is a game about friendship and reconnection, it’s about the people we met and loved, and possibly forgot. If some of our players phone or write to an old friend after the credits roll, then we succeeded.
Which feature or gameplay mechanic are you most proud of in Lost Records: Bloom & Rage?
Michel Koch: The camcorder. At any moment when playing in the past memories, you can lift Swann’s camcorder, frame your own shots, and build in-game video montages. Mechanically it’s a strong interactive link between the player and the game’s world and characters, adding reactivity and meaning to what you are actively deciding to look at (characters reacting to you filming them, collectibles getting unlocked as you film new elements…). Thematically it’s a strong narrative tool, first serving as a protective barrier in between Swann and the others, then transforming into a bond that sparks relationships.
What was the biggest challenge you overcame during development of Lost Records: Bloom & Rage?
Michel Koch: Building a brand-new studio during a pandemic, recruiting a talented team, and getting up to the point of shipping the game has been an everyday challenge and I’m proud of our team for delivering it!
What advice would you offer fellow game developers working alone or on a smaller team?
Michel Koch: Stick to your core idea, your “north star”. If an asset, a gameplay, a scene, a feature… doesn’t serve that feeling, cut it or rework it.