Alone In The Dark Dev Talks Edward’s Mustache And Why You Need To Play The Game Twice

The upcoming reimagining of Alone in the Dark that releases next week brings back series protagonist Edward–played by David Harbour–but in the new game, he doesn’t have a mustache. What gives? Creative director Pikael Hedberg of developer Pieces Interactive has explained why the studio chose to depict Edward as clean-shaven. The studio also discussed how players will need to play the game twice to get the full story.

In a FAQ, Hedberg said Edwards in the new Alone in the Dark is “pretty close” to who he is in the original series, but without his glorious mustache. He said the “magnificent mustache” from earlier games made sense when Edward was just beginning his career as a private detective. But later games made him into more of an action hero. With the new Alone in the Dark going “back to the original” in terms of his character design, many thought Edward might get his iconic mustache back. But Pieces decided to go a different direction.

“When paired up with Emily (Jodie Comer) he seemed a little uninteresting. Emily was this tormented character with a family connection to our story catalyst Jeremy Hartwood, so she came more naturally. The question then was, who was Edward to her,” Hedberg said. “Turns out she hires him to help her. And she certainly wouldn’t hire just anybody. He had to be at least a little capable. To avoid the action type he fell into the reluctant hero slot and suddenly we had gone all this way to kind of wind up with a classic noir detective. I think with as little we actually knew about Edward in the original game, I feel like our Edward is pretty close. Except for his majestic moustache, of course.”

The FAQ touches on more than Edward’s mustache, though. It also confirms that a “main story” playthrough should take around eight hours, though everyone plays games differently and your own playthrough could be longer or shorter. Additionally, the developer said players will “need” to play the game at least twice to see the whole story because they can choose to play as Edward or Emily, and there are additional story elements to unravel with each character.

Head to the full FAQ to read up on other elements of the game, like how it has no microtransactions and can be played completely offline, among other things like how the studio is made up of only 40 people.

The new Alone in the Dark releases on March 20 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.