Double Fine Reassures Fans Production Will Not Be Altered Following Studio’s Acquisition

Among the many showcases that Microsoft presented at this year’s press conference at E3 earlier this month, one that many might not have predicted is Broken Age developer Double Fine Productions being the next acquisition for Xbox Game Studios. Initially, many were left worried that the purchase would affect how the studio would develop titles as Microsoft would be directly involved in the coming projects.

At the event, Game Informer had the chance to discuss the topic with President and CEO of Double Fine Productions, Tim Shafer. Giving some insight on how the acquisition will play out as for the developer with Psychonaughts 2 still planned for a full release as well as coming games that have yet to be properly announced.

“We weren’t really looking to get acquired, but we were talking about other things and [Microsoft] mentioned they were doing this with other companies and those other companies seem like they have very strong identities, like Ninja Theory,” Schafer tells the outlet. “These aren’t companies that are looking to make money on Microsoft products. We asked [Microsoft] why they were looking to acquire companies, and they talked about creating diverse, wide ranging content for Game Pass.”

As like fans who were left worrying after discovering that Double Fine will be part of the Xbox Game Studios family, Shafer shared to also be worried when contemplating the acquisition. But Microsoft clarifies that the purchase will not interfere with how the games are made and even suggests for more creative freedom without the worry for monetary backing.

“I think it’s perfect for us, because we can just focus on doing our inspired weird games, and not worry about how we’re going to get our next deal. We aren’t chasing down our next funding and thinking about how many more months of funding we have all the time.” The coming action adventure sequel is still planned to release on major platforms and this decision only solidifies that Double Fine can finish out the kinks for the title carefree of funding running dry.

Shafer also brought up former publisher Starbreeze Studios for a brief moment to share the experience while under the Swedish company, mainly emphasizing that the relationship between the two remained positive for the most part.

Starbreeze had some challenges. They had always lived up to their commitment to us. They always paid their invoices. They never, you know, they weren’t getting flaky with us. But it wasn’t 100% sure that there would be enough of them today there to be able to support the game the way that Microsoft can. [The acquisition] makes sure that the game is fully polished, and that we don’t cut levels out of it.

Seeing that Starbreeze Studios began descending into a spiraling downfall following the release of Overkill’s The Walking Dead and the predicted closing of the publisher in the coming year, this acquisition might seem to be good timing for Double Fine in the end. During the quarterly report for the publisher, Starbreeze emphasis on their Payday IP to hopefully bounce back the company in the coming future, leading to present that the developer’s acquisition to be more apparent ultimately.

Psychonaughts 2 is planned to release sometime in for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

Source: Game Informer