Double Fine Productions dropped a new trailer for Psychonauts 2 today at Microsoft's E3 event, and also slipped in a very surprising announcement that it has joined Xbox Game Studios. Why has the famously independent (and weird) studio decided to throw in its lot with the Big Green Behemoth? Tim Schafer explains.
As you may have heard from the @Xbox E3 briefing moments ago, Double Fine is joining Xbox Game Studios! How did this come about? let’s ask @timoflegend … pic.twitter.com/n6EACVo7OZJune 9, 2019
In a followup video, Schafer said that all kidding aside, "it's actually really great" and that the deal will have no impact on the studio's structure or the projects it takes on.
"Being independent for almost 20 years has given Double Fine a distinct identity and unique spirit that goes really deep here, and no one can change that. And nobody wants to," he said. "Microsoft wants us for who we are and the kind of games we're already making."
What it will do, he explained, is enable the studio to make the kinds of games it's famous for without having to pitch them to every publisher under the sun. And while the studio will be focused on Xbox, Xbox Game Pass, and PC, he also confirmed that all existing commitments to Psychonauts 2 backers will be fulfilled on all promised platforms.
