Double Fine announces Psychonauts 2, saying they are now raising some of
the funds to develop this
through Fig, a
crowdfunding platform launched over the
summer by Double Fine's former COO. In addition to raising capital for the
platformer sequel from
customers, Double Fine says they are supplying "a significant portion" of
funding themselves, are getting cash from an "external partner," and say this
game is the "first in history to also offer investment opportunities for both
accredited and unaccredited investors." The
Double Fine website has more, including a
Psychonauts 2 Announce
Teaser and a Fig
Campaign Pitch Video. Erik Wolpaw is listed as a contributor, but it's not
clear if the former Old Man Murray writer has left Valve Software, or is just
doing contract work, as he was part of the original Psychonauts team before
leaving Double Fine for Valve. Here's the announcement:
Standing on stage the
Video Game Awards in Los Angeles tonight, Double Fine Productions President and
CEO Tim Schafer announced the launch of a Psychonauts 2 crowdfunding campaign on
new games crowdfunding site Fig (www.fig.co)
“Our fans constantly ask us to make Psychonauts 2, and often we’ve talked about
doing it” said Schafer “The problem is that through traditional means we’ve
never been able to raise a budget high enough to do it justice. When we
crowdfunded Broken Age in 2012 and broke all the records with the amount we
raised, it really showed me the power of our community, and it made me think…
maybe we can do this, maybe we could make Psychonauts 2 this way!”
Double Fine will be putting up a significant portion of the development funds
ourselves, and getting another piece of the budget from an external partner.
This Fig campaign will make up the third piece of the budget.
“None of these three parts on their own is enough” continued Schafer, “but
together they add up to a sequel worthy of Psychonauts!”
In addition to offering traditional crowdfunding reward tiers, the Psychonauts 2
campaign will be the first in history to also offer investment opportunities for
both accredited and unaccredited investors.
Psychonauts was released in 2005 to much critical acclaim, and has since become
a cult classic, with a huge fan base around the world. It follows the story of a
young psychic named Razputin in his quest to join the Psychonauts—an elite group
of international psychic secret agents — as he runs away from the circus and
breaks into their secret training facility: Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp.
In Psychonauts 2, Raz will realize his dreams and visit the Psychonauts
Headquarters as a fully established agent. But when he gets there he finds it's
not the perfect place he expected, and he quickly realizes that the Psychonauts
need him, more than he needs them...
The sequel will be developed in house by the award winning team at Double Fine
Productions, with Tim Schafer as project lead, alongside original collaborators
including co-writer Erik Wolpaw, artists Peter Chan, Scott Campbell, and Nathan
Stapley, composer Peter McConnell, voice actors Richard Horvitz and Nicki Rapp,
and voice director Khris Brown.
People interested in backing for rewards, or investing in Psychonauts 2 can
check out the campaign at www.fig.co
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