Double Fine head Tim Schafer says its next game won't be a sequel or adaptation

(Image credit: Microsoft)

Double Fine studio head Tim Schafer recently gave an interview to IGN's Ryan McCaffrey fresh on the heels of Psychonauts 2 winning Game of the Year and Schafer himself receiving the Andrew Yoon Legend Award at the 2022 New York Game Awards. In the interview, Schafer provided some insight into the course of his career, Double Fine and its relationship with Microsoft, and what's next for the studio.

Schafer strongly emphasized that Double Fine's next project or phase of projects would be completely original ideas as opposed to any sequels or adaptations of pre-existing properties.

"[Our] first big follow up to a big story was Psychonauts 2" he explained, "I think it leads me to want to do new original stuff."

Schafer was firm on that point even with the temptation of having his "revenge" on '90s adventure game giant (and LucasArts rival) Sierra by taking over their King's Quest series, now owned by Microsoft.

Speaking of Microsoft, Schafer had nothing but positive things to say about his working relationship with the company, which acquired Double Fine in 2019, emphasizing that, "Their question was always 'How can we help?' It sounds too good to be true." Schafer went on to explain that consultation on real-life mental health issues provided by Microsoft helped inform creative decisions on Psychonauts 2, but that they "never tried to interfere creatively," a comforting reassurance as more and more developers come under Microsoft's ownership.

Ted has been thinking about PC games and bothering anyone who would listen with his thoughts on them ever since he booted up his sister's copy of Neverwinter Nights on the family computer. He is obsessed with all things CRPG and CRPG-adjacent, but has also covered esports, modding, and rare game collecting. When he's not playing or writing about games, you can find Ted lifting weights on his back porch. You can follow Ted on Bluesky.