Psychonauts Developer Double Fine Reveals Post-Xbox Comeback Plan

August 21, 2026 - 19:40

Double Fine, the studio behind Psychonauts and Brutal Legend, is mapping out its next move after a quiet period under the Xbox umbrella. The plan is unusual: a new internal game jam where the final choice of what to build next goes directly to the people who helped fund the studio a decade ago.

The studio is inviting its original Kickstarter backers from the 2012 Broken Age campaign to vote on a selection of prototype concepts. Those backers will pick the winner, and that project will then become Double Fine's next full production. It is a direct nod to the community that gave the studio its independence at a time when traditional publishing was shaky.

The move comes after Microsoft's acquisition of Double Fine in 2019, which brought the studio into the Xbox family but also led to a long stretch of support work on other titles. Now the team wants to return to something smaller and weirder, the kind of game that made its name. The jam itself is already underway, with several small teams building playable slices over a few weeks. The backers will get hands-on time with those builds before voting.

It is a clever way to rebuild trust and excitement. Double Fine has always thrived on personality and odd ideas, and this approach puts that front and center again. The studio has not said when the winning project will be revealed, but the process is expected to wrap up before the end of the year. For longtime fans, it is a sign that the old Double Fine is still alive, just with a bigger publisher behind it.