Double Fine is not done with Brütal Legend just yet. Newly freed from the iron green grip of Xbox, the Psychonauts developer has turned to crowdfunding to source the capital needed to produce its next game. There’s a Kickstarter campaign in progress in which people can choose which game, out of a varied bunch of game jam projects, gets turned into a full-fledged game. However, buried in the campaign’s stretch goals (and spotted by FRVR) is a lofty quest:
$100M – We make Brütal Legend 2. Yes, really.
Brütal Legend was released back in 2009, a unique action strategy game that asks, “What if Guitar Hero was an action game?” It had an absolutely stacked cast, featuring the talents of Jack Black, Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford, The Runaways member Lita Ford, Ozzy Osbourne (RIP), and Tim Curry (also RIP).
Before its launch the game became the subject of an ugly dispute, with Electronic Arts and Double Fine on one side and Activision Blizzard on the other as the two parties went back and forth over publishing rights. The matter was eventually settled and Brütal Legend was allowed to be released to critical acclaim. It’s likely that the $100 million asking price is to safely ensure Double Fine can fulfill its vision for a Brütal Legend follow-up, especially now that it’d be done without the backing of a huge publisher.
Double Fine’s Kickstarter is only asking for $400,000 and is currently at $290,000 with 29 days left in the campaign, so it’s eminently reasonable that Tim Schafer and his crew will hit their goal. But! If everyone within the sight of these words pitches in a dollar or two, we can maybe possibly get them all the way to $100 million which would make it the most successful Kickstarter ever. And even if we don’t, there are a lot of interesting-sounding games Double Fine can make instead.