Tim Schafer, sport designer and founding father of Psychonauts developer Double Fantastic, gave a robust response after Xbox divested the studio as a part of its large restructuring efforts this summer time.
Talking with Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier in a September 2026 interview, Schafer admitted that he knew one thing was up earlier than Xbox’s divestment was formally introduced — however he wasn’t about to go down with out a battle.
“You’re like, ‘Wait a second, we’re not going out like this,'” Schafer defined. “Some folks mentioned, ‘I’m testing, that is one too many battles for me.’ However for the remainder of us, it’s like a inventive awakening.”
“Nobody places Double Fantastic out of enterprise apart from me,” he continued. “Asha’s not going to shoot my canine. I’m going to shoot it. However I’m not going to shoot it, as a result of it’s going to do nice. Lots of people need to stroll the canine.”
Fortunately, Double Fantastic was capable of retain its intellectual property and change into totally impartial, although it did should lay off a quarter of its staff on account of this alteration. That isn’t stopping it from making extra video games, although, because the developer not too long ago printed a Kickstarter for its subsequent undertaking — with the addendum that if it raises $100 million, they’ll additionally make Brutal Legend 2.
“We’ve been by means of quite a bit this 12 months,” Schafer instructed Schreier. “Quite a lot of it is rather soul-sucking stuff. Interior battle, threats of extermination, lengthy negotiations, strenuous arduous tradeoffs with attorneys. Tons of demoralizing stuff.”
And but, regardless of these challenges, Schafer says he’s been capable of finding a inventive spark that has invigorated each himself and the remaining group at Double Fantastic.
“That is the nice battle. Can we consider a terrific concept for a sport that we are able to truly do for the appropriate funds, that may get to this writer who’s taken with all these video games? This type of problem-solving is soul-enriching. Utilizing creativity to unravel issues is what will get us up within the morning. So it’s arduous, and it’s scary and it’s traumatic, nevertheless it’s at the least placing some hearth again into the bellies of the group and me,” he mentioned.
Xbox has undergone a slew of main modifications as CEO Asha Sharma works to make the corporate worthwhile once more. Shedding Double Fantastic was a part of that change, in addition to large layoffs that affected roughly 3,200 employees.
Sharma has been pretty clear with Xbox’s monetary state and future plans, most not too long ago telling the BBC that the model’s subsequent technology console, Challenge Helix, will embody a “family of devices,” although she notably declined to remark if it’ll have a disc drive or not.
In different Double Fantastic information, the developer shadow dropped Keeper, a previously Xbox-exclusive title, on PlayStation 5 right now now that it is now not tied to the corporate.
Virginia (she/her) is IGN’s Information Editor. With ten years of expertise reporting on video games and leisure, she’s obtained a storied background within the combating sport group, influencer information, and viral on-line traits. Discover her on Twitter at @TheeMissGlaze.
Hi, I’m Rishab. I’m a passionate pc gamer and an avid video game content writer. I have been involved with video games for over 2 decades now, and even today, after playing an astronomical number of games over the years, I’m still eager for more. In my free time, you will find me enjoying a hot cup of coffee and playing my favorite relaxing fishing game, Dave the Diver.
