'Nobody Shuts Down Double Fine but Me' — Tim Schafer on Keeping the Studio Alive Post-Xbox Split

Tim Schafer, the game designer behind Psychonauts and founder of Double Fine, has shared a defiant message after Xbox let the studio go during its major restructuring earlier this summer. In a September 2026 interview with Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, Schafer revealed he sensed the divestment coming before it was public, but he was determined to fight for the studio's survival.

"You think, 'Hold on, we're not going out like this,'" Schafer said. "Some folks said, 'I'm out—this is one battle too many.' But for the rest of us, it's like a creative spark."

"Nobody closes Double Fine except me," he continued. "Asha isn't going to put down my dog. I'll do it myself. But I won't, because we're going to do great. There are plenty of people who want to walk the dog."

Fortunately, Double Fine managed to keep its intellectual property and became fully independent, though it had to cut a quarter of its staff in the transition. That hasn't stopped the studio from pushing forward—it recently launched a Kickstarter for its next project, with a cheeky promise: if they raise $100 million, they'll also make Brutal Legend 2.

"We've had a rough year," Schafer told Schreier. "A lot of it has been soul-draining—internal conflicts, threats of shutdown, lengthy negotiations, tough legal compromises. Tons of morale-sapping stuff."

Despite these hurdles, Schafer says he's found a new creative energy that has revitalized both him and the remaining team.

"This is the good fight. Can we come up with a brilliant game idea that fits our budget and appeals to a publisher interested in such games? That kind of problem-solving is invigorating. Using creativity to tackle challenges is what gets us out of bed in the morning. So it's tough, scary, and stressful, but it's also putting some fire back in our bellies—mine and the team's," he said.

Xbox has been through a wave of changes under CEO Asha Sharma as she works to restore profitability. Letting Double Fine go was part of that, along with massive layoffs affecting around 3,200 employees.

Sharma has been open about Xbox's financial situation and future plans, recently telling the BBC that the next-gen console, Project Helix, will feature a "family of devices," though she dodged a question about whether it would include a disc drive.

In other Double Fine news, the studio shadow-dropped Keeper, previously an Xbox exclusive, on PlayStation 5 today now that it's free from that partnership.