Double Fine, the developer of Psychonauts, Kiln, Keeper, Costume Quest, Brutal Legend, and many more is now independent from Microsoft. And according to its CEO, that means it officially owns all its own IP and the publishing rights to all its games again.
This was confirmed by CEO Tim Schafer on Kinda Funny Games Daily today, during which he addressed a question about whether or not the studio is making money on sales of games like Psychonauts 2 that were made under Microsoft’s ownership. “Everything, we got back, the transfer of the IP came back to us,” he said. “All, we have the publishing rights back to our games. It still says ‘Microsoft’ on some of them, but it just takes a while for it all to process. When people buy our games, it supports the studio. So if you’re curious, buying any of our games helps support the studio, and we can turn that money into revenue that helps us extend that runway.”
Schafer went on to say that the team is currently working on updates to its most recent release, Kiln, with plans for a big update next week including new maps and game modes. Kiln is also apparently getting a price drop to go alongside that update. (You should pick it up, it’s genuinely delightful.)
Earlier in the podcast, Schafer announced that Double Fine will be bringing back its beloved internal game jam, Amnesia Fortnight, as a live game jam with a Kickstarter attached to allow supporters to vote on the games the studio ultimately works on. Per Schafer, the goal is to get one small Kickstarter project supported to help give the studio financial runway post-separation, so that it can have time and stability while it works on other projects.
Double Fine was acquired by Microsoft in 2019. Under Microsoft, the studio developed and released Psychonauts 2, Keeper, and Kiln, before being spun-off in a massive Xbox-wide restructuring. As a part of going independent again, Double Fine underwent layoffs last month. Another studio in a similar situation, Compulsion Games, has also recently come out and revealed that its game made under Xbox, South of Midnight, is self-published and owned by the studio.