A story about grief, trauma, and what it means to grow up queer
Each June, the calendar becomes a kind of cultural mirror, and this year Microsoft has chosen to reflect something specific: a story about memory, identity, and the cost of growing up different. For the entirety of Pride Month, the 2020 narrative adventure Tell Me Why — developed by DONTNOD Entertainment with GLAAD's guidance and featuring a transgender protagonist — is free to claim and keep forever on Xbox and PC. It is a quiet gesture toward an audience that has not always seen itself in games, offered at the precise moment the culture pauses to ask who gets to be the hero of their own story.
- A game that slipped past most players in 2020 is suddenly available to everyone, at no cost, for an entire month.
- The offer carries deliberate weight: Tell Me Why centers a transgender man and queer characters at a time when such representation remains contested cultural territory.
- Chapters two and three — normally locked behind a $20 purchase — are folded into the free claim, removing every financial reason to hesitate.
- Claiming the game once, on any platform, locks it into your library permanently through Xbox Play Anywhere, making the window of opportunity low-stakes to act on.
- With an 80% positive rating on Steam and a Metacritic score of 78, the game arrives with enough critical credibility to reward those who take the offer seriously.
For all of June, Microsoft is making Tell Me Why completely free to claim on Xbox consoles and PC — and once it's in your library, it stays there permanently.
The game came from DONTNOD Entertainment, the studio behind Life is Strange, and arrived in 2020 as a quieter, more restrained follow-up. It follows twin siblings Tyler and Alyson Ronan as they return to their Alaskan hometown to reckon with their mother's death. A telepathic connection lets them share memories — but the tension of the story lives in how those memories diverge, and what that divergence reveals about who each of them has become.
The timing of the giveaway is intentional. Tyler is a transgender man, and the game's queer characters were developed in consultation with GLAAD. Making it free during Pride Month is Xbox's way of lowering the barrier for players who might never have sought it out on their own.
Normally, only the first chapter is free; chapters two and three cost $20. This month, all three are included. The game holds a 78 on Metacritic and an 80% positive rating on Steam across nearly 8,000 reviews — praised consistently for its writing and character work, even if its mechanics don't surprise anyone.
Tell Me Why never found the audience Life is Strange did, but that underdog quality is part of what makes this moment matter. The story it tells — about grief, fractured memory, and what it means to grow up queer — is one that rewards the attention. The only thing required now is claiming it.
For the next thirty days, Microsoft is handing over Tell Me Why without asking for a cent. The 2020 narrative adventure from DONTNOD Entertainment—the studio behind Life is Strange—is free to claim on Xbox consoles and PC throughout June, and once you've added it to your library, it stays there permanently.
Tell Me Why arrived in 2020 as DONTNOD's follow-up to Life is Strange 2, but it never quite found the audience its predecessor did. Critics and players who discovered it, though, found something worth their time: a tightly constructed story about twin siblings, Tyler and Alyson Ronan, returning to their Alaskan hometown to investigate their mother's death. The game leans on a supernatural element—the twins can communicate telepathically—but the real weight of the narrative sits in how they remember their shared past differently, and how those fractured memories shape who they've become.
Microsoft's timing for this giveaway is deliberate. Tyler Ronan is a transgender man, and the game features queer characters throughout its story. DONTNOD developed the narrative with consulting from GLAAD, the media advocacy organization focused on LGBTQIA+ representation. By making the game free during Pride Month, Xbox is signaling both a celebration and an invitation to players who might not otherwise have encountered it.
Normally, the first chapter is available free-to-play at any time, but chapters two and three carry a $20 price tag. This month, all three are yours for nothing. The offer applies across both Xbox consoles and PC through Xbox Play Anywhere, meaning if you claim it on one platform, you own it on both.
The game's critical reception has been solid if not spectacular. It holds a 78 on Metacritic, with reviewers consistently praising the writing and character work while noting that the gameplay itself doesn't break new ground. On Steam, where it's accumulated nearly 8,000 user reviews, 80 percent are positive. The consensus seems to be that Tell Me Why tells a story worth hearing—one about grief, trauma, and what it means to grow up queer—even if the mechanics that carry you through it are familiar.
Compared to Life is Strange, Tell Me Why operates with a tighter structure and a more restrained hand. The storytelling is subtle, the character development gradual. It doesn't reach the same cultural moment as its predecessor, but that underdog status might be precisely why this free month matters. For anyone curious about narrative-driven games, or anyone looking for a story that takes LGBTQIA+ characters seriously, the barrier to entry has just disappeared. The only question left is whether you'll take the offer.
Citas Notables
Tell Me Why tells a story worth telling in regards to grief, trauma, and growing up queer, with lovable characters in Alyson and Tyler.— Windows Central review
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Why does Microsoft give away games for free? Isn't that just leaving money on the table?
Not really. Tell Me Why never sold in huge numbers anyway. By making it free during Pride Month, they're introducing it to people who wouldn't have bought it, and they're signaling something about what Xbox values. That's worth more than the $20 they'd make from a handful of sales.
So this is marketing, not generosity?
It's both. The game genuinely deserves to be played. It's well-made and thoughtful. But yes, Microsoft also gets to say they're supporting LGBTQIA+ stories. Those things aren't contradictory.
Why do you think Tell Me Why didn't find a bigger audience the first time around?
Life is Strange was a phenomenon. Anything that came after it was going to feel like a step down commercially, even if it was just as good. Tell Me Why is quieter, less flashy. It doesn't have the same cultural moment. But that doesn't make it worse—just different.
If someone claims it this month, do they actually own it forever?
Yes. Once it's in your library, it's yours. Microsoft isn't revoking access after June ends. That's the whole point of the offer.
What kind of player should actually play this game?
Anyone who likes stories about family, memory, and identity. You don't need to have played Life is Strange first. And if you're skeptical about whether games can handle queer narratives authentically, this one's worth the test.