Double Fine's Tim Schafer: "Kickstarter made me unafraid of being open"

In an interview with VentureBeat , Double Fine founder Tim Schafer discussed how the studio's groundbreaking Kickstarter campaign changed his stance on sharing early concept art or images of an unfinished game, declaring he's now "unafraid" of being open.

"You release your stuff out," he advised. "You show a piece of concept art that may or may not be in the game. It doesn't matter. People are just like, 'Oh, that's cool!' People get on your side more, not get on your side less. The fear is that if it's not perfect, you can't show it to people because they'll freak out. The fact is, they just feel more bought in. They feel like they're part of the development team."

Schafer compared his time spend at LucasArts while working on Grim Fandango and the Monkey Island games as a different experience altogether, likening the studio to "Willy Wonka's factory when the doors are closed." We guess he didn't get the lifetime supply of chocolate.

Double Fine recently set to work brewing the extra large pots of coffee it'll need when developing the five fan-voted games of the Amnesia Fortnight bundle.

Omri Petitte is a former PC Gamer associate editor and long-time freelance writer covering news and reviews. If you spot his name, it probably means you're reading about some kind of first-person shooter. Why yes, he would like to talk to you about Battlefield. Do you have a few days?