BrokenLore: Don't Lie, the latest entry in Serafini Productions' Japanese psychological horror series, is available now on Xbox Series X|S and PC. The studio announced the release in a post on Xbox Wire written by chief executive and founder Sebastiano Serafini.
Serafini described Don't Lie as a standalone title that also forms part of a wider narrative thread running through the BrokenLore games. It follows Junko, a young hikikomori — a term for someone who withdraws from social life and seeks isolation for social or psychological reasons. As Junko's withdrawal blurs the line between memory and reality, familiar places take on the shape of her past, and she has to confront the people and experiences she has spent years suppressing.
How it connects to Don't Watch
According to Serafini, Junko and Shinji — the protagonist of the earlier BrokenLore: Don't Watch — met in a rehabilitation centre in 2020, where both were being treated for psychiatric disorders that had led them to become hikikomori. Don't Watch covers Shinji's story and the origins of his isolation; Don't Lie is Junko's.
Serafini said the series was built as an interconnected universe in which each game stands on its own while players who look further can connect the fragments. He said the subject of hikikomori interested him after years living in Japan and seeing how social withdrawal is discussed there, adding that isolation is not an exclusively Japanese issue.
AI companions and what comes next
Don't Lie also takes on people's relationships with AI companions, which Serafini said was the inspiration behind a character called Miki-chan. He pointed to a growing tendency for people to use AI tools not only to find information but to discuss personal problems and seek advice.
Serafini said the studio has more stories planned in the BrokenLore universe, and credited partners Wired Productions and Shochiku with supporting the series. "What you have seen so far is really only the beginning," he wrote.