Tim Schafer, sport designer and founding father of Psychonauts developer Double Fantastic, gave a powerful response after Xbox divested the studio as a part of its large restructuring efforts this summer season.
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 combat.
“You’re like, ‘Wait a second, we’re not going out like this,'” Schafer defined. “Some individuals mentioned, ‘I’m trying out, that is one too many battles for me.’ However for the remainder of us, it’s like a artistic 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 wish to stroll the canine.”
Fortunately, Double Fantastic was capable of retain its mental property and change into totally impartial, although it did should lay off 1 / 4 of its employees on account of this transformation. That isn’t stopping it from making extra video games, although, because the developer just lately revealed a Kickstarter for its subsequent venture — with the addendum that if it raises $100 million, they’ll additionally make Brutal Legend 2.
“We’ve been by way of rather a lot this 12 months,” Schafer instructed Schreier. “Numerous it is extremely soul-sucking stuff. Internal battle, threats of extermination, lengthy negotiations, strenuous exhausting tradeoffs with attorneys. Tons of demoralizing stuff.”
And but, regardless of these challenges, Schafer says he’s been capable of finding a artistic spark that has invigorated each himself and the remaining crew at Double Fantastic.
“That is the great combat. Can we consider an incredible thought for a sport that we will truly do for the appropriate funds, that may get to this writer who’s concerned with most of 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 exhausting, and it’s scary and it’s irritating, but it surely’s at the very least placing some hearth again into the bellies of the crew 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 staff.
Sharma has been pretty clear with Xbox’s monetary state and future plans, most just lately telling the BBC that the model’s subsequent era console, Venture Helix, will embody a “household of gadgets,” 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 as we speak now that it is 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 bought a storied background within the combating sport group, influencer information, and viral on-line developments. Discover her on Twitter at @TheeMissGlaze.
