Double Fine
Corporate brand
UnclaimedAmerican video game development studio known for imaginative, character-driven games and experimental development practices.
Last updated August 25, 2026
Overview
Double Fine Productions is an American video game developer headquartered in San Francisco, California. Tim Schafer established the studio in July 2000 after leaving LucasArts, where he had helped create influential graphic adventure games including Full Throttle and Grim Fandango. The studio was formed during a period when LucasArts was moving away from traditional adventure games toward more action-oriented projects, and it gave Schafer and a group of former colleagues a place to develop distinctive original ideas. Double Fine’s first major release was Psychonauts, a surreal platform game about a young psychic entering a summer camp for gifted children. Although the game received strong critical praise, it initially sold below publisher expectations. The studio followed it with Brütal Legend, an action-adventure and real-time strategy game inspired by heavy-metal music, fantasy art, and mythology. Published by Electronic Arts in 2009, Brütal Legend broadened the studio’s profile but also reinforced the commercial risks of making unusual, high-budget games. The company’s subsequent survival and growth were closely linked to smaller digital projects and an internal prototyping practice called Amnesia Fortnight. During these two-week exercises, teams temporarily set aside their main projects and rapidly built experimental prototypes. Several of these concepts became released games, including Costume Quest, Stacking, Iron Brigade, and Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster. This approach allowed Double Fine to explore a wide range of genres while developing leadership experience among its staff. It also helped establish the studio’s reputation for supporting unusual concepts rather than concentrating exclusively on conventional blockbuster franchises. Double Fine became an important example of crowdfunding’s potential in games when it used Kickstarter to fund Broken Age, an episodic adventure game created in collaboration with its fan community. The campaign raised more than three million U.S. dollars, making it one of the largest video-game Kickstarter campaigns at the time. The studio later used crowdfunding for Psychonauts 2, although the project ultimately received additional publishing and financing support from other partners. Double Fine also became involved in publishing or supporting smaller independent projects, extending its influence beyond games developed entirely in-house. The studio restored and remastered several classic LucasArts adventure games, including Grim Fandango, Day of the Tentacle, and Full Throttle. These projects connected Double Fine’s contemporary work with the legacy of the adventure-game teams from which it emerged. In 2019, Microsoft announced that it had acquired Double Fine and that the studio would join Xbox Game Studios. The acquisition followed Microsoft’s earlier involvement in publishing Psychonauts 2. Double Fine retained a comparatively independent creative identity within the group, while gaining access to Microsoft’s resources, distribution infrastructure, and Xbox Game Pass. Psychonauts 2 launched in 2021 and was widely recognized as a major continuation of the studio’s signature blend of platforming, psychological imagery, humor, and emotional storytelling. A lengthy behind-the-scenes documentary, PsychOdyssey, was released in 2023 by Double Fine and 2 Player Productions, documenting the game’s extended development. Double Fine remains associated with experimental original intellectual property, small-team development, and creator-led game design. Its public identity is represented by the Two-Headed Baby mascot and a playful culture that also includes staff-created webcomics.
History
Double Fine was founded in July 2000 by Tim Schafer after his departure from LucasArts. Schafer had recently completed work on Grim Fandango, an acclaimed adventure game whose commercial performance did not match its critical reputation. As LucasArts increasingly emphasized action-oriented projects, Schafer and several colleagues chose to establish an independent studio in San Francisco. Early development took place in a former clog shop, with programmers David Dixon and Jonathan Menzies among the studio’s initial collaborators. Staff from the Grim Fandango team and newly recruited developers gradually joined the project that became Psychonauts. Psychonauts was Double Fine’s first completed game. Its story followed Raz, a boy with psychic abilities who enters a camp for aspiring psychic agents. The game combined platforming with an unusual psychological setting in which levels represented characters’ minds. Released for Windows, PlayStation 2, and Xbox, it earned substantial critical praise but underperformed commercially. Double Fine’s second major project, Brütal Legend, was more ambitious in scope. The game combined action-adventure gameplay and real-time strategy with a heavy-metal setting. A change in publishing arrangements delayed the project before Electronic Arts ultimately released it in 2009 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, followed later by a Windows version. While working on Brütal Legend, Double Fine developed the Amnesia Fortnight process. Employees were divided into temporary teams and asked to forget their main project for two weeks while creating playable prototypes. The exercise was intended to encourage experimentation and morale, but it also generated concepts that could be developed into commercially viable smaller games. After Brütal Legend, the studio’s planned sequel was not published, so Double Fine revisited its prototype ideas. Costume Quest and Stacking were released digitally through THQ, while Iron Brigade was developed with Microsoft and Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster was produced with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Sesame Workshop for Kinect. The smaller-project strategy helped Double Fine avoid concentrating all of its resources in a single large production. Teams were organized around approximately small, semi-independent groups, with experienced leads from Brütal Legend placed in charge of new projects. The studio also hired Ron Gilbert, another former LucasArts adventure-game collaborator. Later Amnesia Fortnight events used public voting and digital distribution, allowing fans to select from proposed concepts and observe their development through documentary material. Projects associated with these exercises included Hack 'n' Slash, Spacebase DF-9, The White Birch, Autonomous, Black Lake, and other prototypes. In 2012, Double Fine turned to Kickstarter to finance a new adventure game initially known as Double Fine Adventure and later titled Broken Age. The campaign raised more than three million dollars, drawing unusual attention to crowdfunding as a way for established creative teams to pursue projects outside conventional publisher financing. Broken Age was released episodically beginning in 2014. Double Fine also supported independent development through publishing arrangements and acquired rights to remaster several classic LucasArts adventure games. Grim Fandango Remastered, released in 2015, was followed by remastered versions of Day of the Tentacle and Full Throttle. Psychonauts 2 was announced as a crowdfunding project in 2015. Its development was supported by Fig crowdfunding and later by a publishing and financing partnership with Microsoft. Microsoft announced its acquisition of Double Fine in June 2019, bringing the studio into Xbox Game Studios. Tim Schafer described the arrangement as allowing Double Fine to preserve creative independence while reducing the pressure of finding a publisher and providing broader distribution through Xbox platforms and Game Pass. Psychonauts 2 launched in August 2021 for Windows, Xbox, PlayStation, and supported cloud platforms. It was received as a substantial continuation of Double Fine’s distinctive design language, combining platforming, comedy, stylized characters, and themes involving mental health and personal growth. The making of the game was documented in PsychOdyssey, a 22-hour production released by Double Fine and 2 Player Productions in February 2023. The studio continues to be identified with experimental game development, distinctive original properties, remastered adventure classics, and a relatively independent creative culture within Microsoft’s gaming organization.
- 2023
PsychOdyssey is released
[9]A 22-hour documentary chronicles the development of Psychonauts 2.
- 2021
Psychonauts 2 launches
[5]The long-awaited sequel to Psychonauts is released with Microsoft publishing support.
- 2019
Microsoft acquisition is announced
[3]Double Fine joins Xbox Game Studios while continuing to operate with a distinct creative identity.
- 2015
Grim Fandango Remastered launches
[8]Double Fine releases a modernized edition of Schafer’s former LucasArts adventure classic.
- 2012
Amnesia Fortnight opens to public voting
[1]Double Fine and Humble Bundle make the prototype-selection process a public charity and crowdfunding-style event.
- 2012
Broken Age crowdfunding campaign
[4]Double Fine raises more than three million dollars on Kickstarter for a new adventure game.
- 2010
Costume Quest and Stacking launch
[1]Two smaller games developed from Double Fine prototype work are released digitally through THQ.
- 2009
Brütal Legend is released
[7]Electronic Arts publishes Double Fine’s heavy-metal action-adventure and strategy game.
- 2005
Psychonauts is released
[6]Double Fine launches its first major game, a surreal platformer centered on psychic abilities and the minds of its characters.
- 2000
Double Fine is founded
[1]Tim Schafer establishes Double Fine in San Francisco after leaving LucasArts, initially working with former LucasArts colleagues.
Products and positioning
A creator-led game studio focused on imaginative original worlds, distinctive art direction, narrative experimentation, and emotionally resonant humor. Double Fine occupies a niche between independent development culture and the resources of a major platform holder.
Platform game · 2005
Psychonauts
Double Fine’s debut major release is a surreal platform game about Raz, a young psychic who enters a summer camp for children with paranormal abilities. Its levels explore the inner worlds of other characters, turning psychological states into visual environments and gameplay challenges. The title established the studio’s characteristic combination of imaginative art, comedic writing, unusual settings, and underlying emotional themes.
Action-adventure and real-time strategy game · 2009
Brütal Legend
Brütal Legend places a roadie named Eddie Riggs in a fantasy world shaped by heavy-metal music, album art, and mythology. It combines third-person action with real-time strategy elements and features a large music-driven setting. The project was more commercially ambitious than Double Fine’s debut and was published by Electronic Arts for consoles before reaching Windows.
Role-playing game · 2010
Costume Quest
Costume Quest is a lighthearted role-playing game built from an Amnesia Fortnight prototype. Players guide children through Halloween-themed neighborhoods, collecting candy and costumes while battling enemies. Costumes change the characters’ combat forms, giving the game a playful relationship between exploration, collection, and turn-based encounters.
Puzzle-adventure game · 2010
Stacking
Stacking is a puzzle-adventure game set in a stylized world populated by Russian-doll-like characters. The player solves problems by stacking into other characters and using their distinctive abilities. Its compact scope, visual identity, and wordless physical comedy exemplify Double Fine’s early move toward smaller downloadable projects.
Tower defense and third-person shooter · 2011
Iron Brigade
Originally prototyped as Custodians of the Clock and first released under the name Trenched in some markets, Iron Brigade combines tower-defense planning with third-person shooting. Players deploy trenches and defensive equipment while operating customizable combat vehicles in a pulp-inspired alternate-history setting.
Graphic adventure game · 2014
Broken Age
Broken Age is a two-character adventure game funded through a landmark Kickstarter campaign. Its narrative follows parallel protagonists living in apparently separate worlds, with players solving inventory and environmental puzzles while switching between their stories. The game continued Double Fine’s connection to the classic adventure genre while using crowdfunding rather than a conventional initial publisher arrangement.
Adventure remaster · 2015
Grim Fandango Remastered
This remaster updates the presentation, controls, audio, and interface of Grim Fandango, the 1998 LucasArts adventure game originally produced by Tim Schafer. It helped return a highly regarded but commercially underperforming classic to modern platforms and marked one of Double Fine’s major efforts to preserve adventure-game history.
Platform game · 2021
Psychonauts 2
Psychonauts 2 continues the story of Raz as he joins the Psychonauts organization and investigates threats connected to its members and history. The game expands the original’s platforming and mental-world structure with new psychic abilities, broader environments, and a more mature treatment of emotional and psychological subjects. It was developed with crowdfunding support and later published with Microsoft’s backing.
Brand decisions
2019
Join Xbox Game StudiosM&ABackground
Double Fine had experienced the difficulty of securing publishers and financing for unusual, long-running projects, including Psychonauts 2.
Action taken
Microsoft acquired the studio and placed it within Xbox Game Studios, while presenting the arrangement as compatible with Double Fine’s creative independence.
2012
Open Amnesia Fortnight prototyping to the publicStrategyBackground
Double Fine had used short internal prototyping sessions to explore concepts outside its main production. The studio and Humble Bundle adapted the process into a public event combining charity, fan voting, and access to development material.
Action taken
Participants who purchased the bundle could vote among proposed concepts, after which Double Fine developed the leading ideas into playable prototypes and documented the work.
Aftermath
The event strengthened Double Fine’s association with transparent, experimental development and helped expose several potential projects to its audience.
2012
Use Kickstarter to finance Broken AgeOtherBackground
Following the commercial uncertainty surrounding its earlier large releases, Double Fine sought a way to make a creator-led adventure game without relying entirely on traditional publisher financing.
Action taken
The studio launched a Kickstarter campaign that raised more than three million U.S. dollars and used backer support to develop the project that became Broken Age.
Aftermath
The campaign became an influential example of large-scale video-game crowdfunding and increased public interest in alternative financing models.
Kickstarter funds raised. More than US$3 million (2012 campaign)
Recent events
- 2023
PsychOdyssey documentary is released[9]
Other
Double Fine and 2 Player Productions released a feature-length documentary series about the making of Psychonauts 2.
- 2021
Psychonauts 2 is released[5]
Product launch · Product generation
Double Fine released Psychonauts 2 with Microsoft as publisher, continuing the studio’s best-known original series.
- 2019
Microsoft acquires Double Fine and adds the studio to Xbox Game Studios[3]
M&A
Microsoft announced the acquisition of Double Fine during its E3 presentation, following its earlier publishing involvement with Psychonauts 2.
- 2012
Double Fine announces Amnesia Fortnight crowdfunding and prototype program[1]
Campaign · Other
Double Fine and Humble Bundle invited participants to vote on proposed game concepts, with the selected ideas developed into prototypes and documented for purchasers.
Sources9 sources
- 1Double Fineen.wikipedia.org
- 2Double Fine Productions official websitedoublefine.com
- 3Microsoft announces Double Fine joining Xbox Game Studiosnews.xbox.com
- 4Broken Age Kickstarter campaignkickstarter.com
- 5Psychonauts 2doublefine.com
- 6Psychonauts is releaseden.wikipedia.org
- 7Brütal Legend is releaseden.wikipedia.org
- 8Grim Fandango Remastered launchesen.wikipedia.org
- 9PsychOdyssey is releaseddoublefine.com
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