Game

Life is Strange: True Colors

2021

0Score

Low Cash-Grab Risk

The sourced concerns are substantially offset by delivered value.

What counts as a cash grab?

Commercial extraction prioritized over meaningful consumer or creative value. Profit, popularity, adaptations, sequels, remakes, high budgets, and normal marketing do not count by themselves.

Why?

Life Is Strange: True Colors is a 2021 single‑player narrative adventure by Deck Nine and Square Enix, released September 10, 2021 with a follow up DLC, Wavelengths, released September 30, 2021. The title shipped with standard, Deluxe and Ultimate editions, the latter bundling the Wavelengths story and a remastered collection, while Wavelengths and a Deluxe Upgrade were made available for purchase separately. Critics praised the writing, performances and production values, while some players complained that the extra story and cosmetic packs were gated behind paid editions or upgrades.

Wavelengths DLC was included in Deluxe/Ultimate editions and sold as a paid Deluxe Upgrade, showing edition-gated content.
Official store pages and SteamDB show paid Deluxe Upgrade and separate outfit/DLC listings rather than in-game microtransactions.
Major press reviews praised the game’s writing, performances, soundtrack and production values.

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Community threads include complaints calling aspects a cash grab, but those are player opinions rather than investigative reporting.

Score factors

Direction	Factor	Evidence	Impact
Against	Production quality and critical praise	Major outlets praised True Colors for strong writing, performances, visuals and soundtrack, citing it as a well-produced single player narrative experience.[5][6][2]	-18
Against	Substantive new content in DLC	Independent critics and the developer described Wavelengths as a narrative prequel that adds new character-focused material and original music, and it received generally positive reviews for that scope.[4][1][3]	-15
For	Edition-gated DLC	The Wavelengths story was bundled into the Deluxe and Ultimate editions and also offered as a purchasable Deluxe Upgrade or separate DLC after launch.[8][9][1]	+10
For	Pre-order cosmetic pack	A pre-order Alex Outfit Pack (four chapter outfits) was advertised as a pre-order bonus and listed separately in storefronts.[10][7]	+8
For	DLC scope and development context	Wavelengths is a short, character-focused prequel episode developed and released shortly after the base game, and reviewers described it as a modest slice-of-life expansion rather than a large separate game.[4][1][3]	+8
For	Pricing and bundle structure	Store and bundle listings show a standard base price plus a Deluxe Upgrade/DLC and an Ultimate bundle that includes remasters, with SteamDB preserving a history of separate Deluxe Upgrade pricing.[7][11][2]	+6
For	Community criticism of gating	Players on community forums repeatedly described the Deluxe/Ultimate packaging and timing of Wavelengths as feeling like a cash grab.[13][12]	+5

Confidence: Medium · Official store pages and developer announcements confirm edition and DLC structure and mainstream reviews document high production quality, however allegations of deliberate extraction rely mainly on community threads and there is limited investigative reporting showing predatory intent beyond norma · Researched 2026-07-24

Sources reviewed

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