Tim Schafer

Tim Schafer is one of the most iconic names in the world of video games. From his work at LucasArts creating seminal titles such as Grim Fandango and Day of the Tentacle to opening his own studio to make the original Psychonauts, Brütal Legend, and more, the celebrated developer has built a legacy producing humorous romps through a plethora of different gameplay styles.

In today’s Xbox Podcast with Major Nelson, Double Fine Production’s Studio Head Tim Schafer and Game Informer’s Senior Editor Ben Reeves join us to talk about this month’s Game Informer cover story that takes a deep dive into the creation of Psychonauts 2. Check out the episode below to learn more about what we can expect to see in the upcoming sequel, 16 years after the studio left players on a cliffhanger after the original Psychonauts launched in 2005.

Game developers are notoriously bad at archiving. In fact, Kotaku wrote a whole piece about how some games are in danger of disappearing forever, partly because of just how bad game developers are at archiving. Nintendo loses code. Floppy disks decay and crumble. Long-lost prototypes lie in dusty drawers of filing cabinets sent to landfill. There are some things we will never be able to get back, barring random games getting unearthed in some attic 50 years from now.

We’ve spent a lot of years waiting for Psychonauts 2. So many, that it’s been in my yearly most anticipated list twice. Okay, that’s not actually a very good metric of anything, but I’m sure you take my point. This is why it’s a cause for celebration that Tim Schafer, Double Fine Productions’ leader, and long-time industry talent, has announced that he has finished writing the game’s script. What’s more, he also announced that the final recording sessions for the game are also wrapping up this week. What a time to be alive.

Say what you will about Double Fine's back-catalogue, but you can almost always expect plenty of witty rapport from the studio's characters. This week, Psychonauts 2 closed the book on its own script, as Tim Schafer announced that he'd penned his last line of dialogue for the brain-invading sequel. Taking...

The idea of crunching now in the final stages of development is tempting, but Double Fine won't do it, Schafer says. After a successful crowdfunding campaign, years of development, and multiple delays, Double Fine's Psychonauts 2 is finally slated for release this year. Double Fine boss Tim Schafer recently gave...

In 1997, John Romero was driving around the US handing out blank cheques to some of the country’s greatest game designers. To Tom Hall, his old Doom comrade, he gave penthouse space in Dallas to make the brilliant JRPG Anachronox. For Warren Spector, he funded an office full of immersive sim nerds in Austin who went on to create Deus Ex. And in San Francisco, he approached Tim Schafer to make a point-and-click adventure under the auspices of Ion Storm.

Tim Schafer has recently shot down various rumors that Double Fine will be handling the next Banjo-Kazooie project. This comes to some disappointment to fans, whom saw the Double Fine tone and humor as a perfect fit for the world of Banjo-Kazooie. Such a possibility arouse in 2019 when it was announced that Microsoft had acquired Double Fine and made it part of the Xbox Games Studios. Rare, the original makers of Banjo-Kazooie, have been a part of Xbox Game Studios for nearly twelve years, which would allow Microsoft to share the properties within their other brands. However, Schafer confirmed that Double Fine will solely be focusing on Psychonauts 2 and has no present interest in the Banjo-Kazooie IP. Despite changes in staff over the years, Schafer himself believes that Rare is still the best studio to handle the Banjo-Kazooie series.

Microsoft has been on fire lately when it comes to studios and exclusive titles. Not only does the company have its own first-party studios that are well established, but they’ve also started a brand new company called The Initiative. Likewise, Microsoft went out to purchase ZeniMax Media which comes with a slew of studios and IPs as well. One of the biggest from that group is Bethesda. However, lately, it looks like Microsoft has been working on past IP titles.