Double Fine studio head Tim Schafer recently gave an interview to IGN's Ryan McCaffrey fresh on the heels of Psychonauts 2 winning Game of the Year and Schafer himself receiving the Andrew Yoon Legend Award at the 2022 New York Game Awards. In the interview, Schafer provided some insight into the course of his career, Double Fine and its relationship with Microsoft, and what's next for the studio.
Schafer strongly emphasized that Double Fine's next project or phase of projects would be completely original ideas as opposed to any sequels or adaptations of pre-existing properties.
"[Our] first big follow up to a big story was Psychonauts 2" he explained, "I think it leads me to want to do new original stuff."
Schafer was firm on that point even with the temptation of having his "revenge" on '90s adventure game giant (and LucasArts rival) Sierra by taking over their King's Quest series, now owned by Microsoft.
Speaking of Microsoft, Schafer had nothing but positive things to say about his working relationship with the company, which acquired Double Fine in 2019, emphasizing that, "Their question was always 'How can we help?' It sounds too good to be true." Schafer went on to explain that consultation on real-life mental health issues provided by Microsoft helped inform creative decisions on Psychonauts 2, but that they "never tried to interfere creatively," a comforting reassurance as more and more developers come under Microsoft's ownership.
It will probably be some time before we hear about that new and original game from Double Fine, but the future definitely looks bright for the offbeat studio.
