What’s next for Double Fine following its split from Microsoft and Xbox? A whole lot, as the Psychonauts developer has multiple projects that it wants fans to vote on–including Brutal Legend 2, if you have a spare $100 million lying around.
The studio is currently seeking a more modest $400,000 on Kickstarter to fund its next project–with only a single stretch goal of $100 million–and at the time of writing, has secured $288,000 in pledges. Double Fine will be hosting its own two-week game jam called Amnesia Fortnight–not to be confused with the horror game series–and members of the studio will pitch ideas and prototype them during this period.
Company events like this led to the creation of games like Costume Quest, Iron Brigade, and Stacking, and once it’s over, four of them will be chosen by Kickstarter supporters to be further developed. From that point, a single game will ultimately be chosen to be Double Fine’s next project and help keep the lights on. The studio added that smaller games like these are designed to be a fun project for its team to work on, and it’s still seeking funding for its next large-scale game.
So far, the Kickstarter includes the following games being prototyped, and you can click on each title to watch the pitch video.
- Architactics
- Astro Slam Intergalactic Pro Wrestling
- Bard Crawl
- Brouroboros
- Centauride
- Cosmic Bonsai
- Dragons, Gels, and Bear-Owls, Oh My!
- Echo
- Emergency Foley Artist
- Fermi’s Playground
- Friendslap
- Golem Hero
- Insolation
- Lesbian Sled Death
- Lucid Gardening
- Mochimochi Line Dancer
- Muscle Madness
- Plot Armor
- Quokk ‘n Roll
- Reluctance
- R.U.N
- Super Power Performance Evaluation
- Tonight We Feast
- Tractor Takedown
- Uprise
- Virtual Pet Manifesto
But if you want Brutal Legend 2 to be made? The studio has confirmed that for roughly 20% the price of Valve co-founder Gabe Newell’s recent superyacht purchase, it’ll finally continue the story of Eddie Riggs.
The odds of Double Fine getting a cool $100 million in pledges within a month are probably unlikely, as even the biggest video game Kickstarter success stories haven’t come close to that figure. Shenmue 3 raised $6.3 million, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night secured $5.5 million in pledges, and Double Fine locked in $3.45 million for Broken Age, as a few examples.
The only exception here is Star Citizen, which has earned over $1 billion in crowdfunding over 14 years–but the full game still has no release date. Brutal Legend 2’s high price tag could also be due to the costs of securing licenses for all the music, as the original game featured a greatest-hits selection of rock and heavy metal when it was first released.
Sadly, even if the sequel is made, several icons won’t be returning, as in the years since Brutal Legend first hit the scene, Ozzy Osborne, Lemmy Kilmister, and Tim Curry have all passed away.
After its departure from Microsoft, Double Fine carried out a sweeping round of layoffs, affecting 23 people. “As a small, tightly knit team, these actions are not taken lightly,” studio head Tim Schafer said, adding that people were let go so as to ensure the survival of the studio.