[8][9] Samuel "Sam" Higgs, a former investigative journalist, returns to Basswood, West Virginia in light of his close friend Nick's death.

The mines closed in the aftermath, ultimately he is leaving hundreds without jobs and angered townsfolk who despised Sam.

[12] Lead writer Matthew Ritter was influenced by adventure games like Beneath a Steel Sky and Space Quest.

[15] Contrary to previous titles, Dontnod desired to have Twin Mirror be void of any supernatural elements.

[16] The decision to set it in a fictional American town, based on southern West Virginia, was to broaden its appeal.

[11][16] In June 2019, Dontnod announced they would self-publish the game, with Bandai Namco Entertainment acting as the distributor for the console versions.

In February 2022, Dontnod said it recouped 75% of the game's production cost and believed to only receive marginal revenue from it in the future.