Just one day ago a report surfaced on PC Gamer that Notch, of Minecraft fame, offered to fund the development of a sequel to Psychonauts after hearing about Tim Schafer’s unsuccessful attempts to pitch the game to publishers. He was serious. Nothing official has come of the exchange yet, but it’s safe to file that news under awesome.
Perhaps inspired by yesterday’s events, Double Fine is striking out in uncharted territory: they are attempting to be the first major game studio to have their next game financed by crowdfunding. Specifically speaking, through Kickstarter. It won’t be Psychonauts 2, for those who are wondering, but instead a slightly easier to fund point-and-click adventure; the genre where Tim Schafer made his mark. The whole development process will be covered for the public by 2 Player Productions, who created the documentary “Minecraft: The Story of Mojang.”
(The Double Fine Team.)
Double Fine is seeking $400,000 by March 13th to complete the project, with any additional money pledged going toward extras for the game and documentary. Here’s a statement from the Double Fine gang themselves:
February 8, 2012 – San Francisco, CA – Double Fine Fans have requested many times over the years for Tim Schafer to return to his roots and make an old-school graphic adventure. This has only become more frequent with the arrival of adventure game legend Ron Gilbert at the Double Fine offices. But finding traditional funding for an old-school adventure game is not the easiest thing to do. Okay, actually, it’s impossible.
At Double Fine we try to be as creative with our business and funding ideas as we do with our games. So we are happy to announce that we will be using the crowd funding innovators Kickstarter to fund an honest to goodness adventure game.
Double Fine will use Kickstarter to gather funds for the game, offering the project’s Backers rewards in exchange for their contribution. Rewards include advance access to the game, original art from its development, and a bowling night out with the team.
2 Player Productions, creators of the Kickstarter-funded documentary Minecraft: The Story of Mojang, will be filming the team throughout the process. They will create a unique, serialized documentary available only to Backers. The 2 Player crew has been granted full access to the Double Fine studios, and their documentary will provide never-before-seen look at the real game production process at Double Fine.
So, if you’re feeling generous, head over to their Kickstarter page and show some love for the new project. Who knows, based on the response this gets their next project could be more cerebral, if you catch my drift. We could be seeing the start of something big: gamers being able to save games from limbo and help new properties see the light of day. Welcome to the new world.
If you’ll excuse me, I need to pledge some cash to a great cause.
