Double Fine Productions Leaves Microsoft To Return To Independent Development
A studio that was cited as an ideal acquisition outcome is walking back out from under a platform holder and asking fans to fund the work directly.
Reporting from 1 source: 4Gamer.net.
Double Fine Productions is leaving Microsoft and going independent again, reviving its internal game jam Amnesia Fortnight as the first step. The studio, led by Tim Schafer, made Psychonauts 2 under Microsoft after an acquisition announced in 2019. The re-independence follows restructuring and downsizing, and the new effort is funded through crowdfunding rather than a publisher.
The decision follows large-scale downsizing and the loss of staff who had been with the studio for years. Double Fine is not taking publisher or investor capital for the new phase. It is instead reviving Amnesia Fortnight, its traditional internal game jam, and funding that effort through crowdfunding.
Tim Schafer founded the studio in 2000, after working on The Secret of Monkey Island at LucasArts and leading Grim Fandango. Broken Age, released in 2014, drew wide attention to Kickstarter as a funding route for game development. Microsoft acquired the studio in a deal announced in 2019. Psychonauts 2 followed in 2021.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.