Possible Psychonauts Sequel

**Dyne** · 12 Nov 2010, 05:46 PM

http://gamerant.com/tim-schafer-psyc...uel-tao-52264/

I would cum in SSJN's mouth if this came true.

Tim Schafer’s wildly inventive Psychonauts will forever be remembered as one of gaming’s hidden gems. Not only did it bring new mechanics to each level, but the title proved that bizarre humor in games was possible. Those who have played the game, whether it was back around the time of release or through some digital distribution outlet, are dying to revisit the world of Psychonauts.

Recently, Tim Schafer was asked if he was interested in making a sequel to the underrated game, to which he replied that he was “ready to do it.”

While Schafer might be ready to make a sequel to Psychonauts this doesn’t mean that any publishing company would be ready to take it on. Though the game has gained a cult following over the years, that build-up was a slow crawl.

It took time and suggestions from those that had already played the title for Psychonauts to gain notoriety in the gaming community. Schafer feels this slow acceptance could cripple a sequel and, once again, could lead to poor sales. That said, despite a cult following, if all those Psychonauts fans were to support a sequel at launch, it would be a huge hit.

Schafer’s Double Fine Studios has been hard at work on new projects – including the recently released Costume Quest. With their acquisition of Ron Gilbert, the studio has a ton of potential in their hands. The question here is whether the game studio should look forward or backward? Psychonauts is a great game, and there are still plenty who have yet to check it out, but perhaps the game should exist as a single great title and the Schafer team can instead look toward making a new inventive creation.

If a Psychonauts sequel released would you pick it up within the first month of launch? Do any fans of the first game desire a sequel or do you feel it should exist as a standalone title?

**Diff-chan** · 12 Nov 2010, 05:54 PM

Tim Schafer is a joke and nobody should take him seriously.

**YellerDog** · 12 Nov 2010, 06:17 PM

I liked Psychonauts better when it was called Earthworm Jim 64

**Frogacuda** · 12 Nov 2010, 06:31 PM

Psychonauts has aged like fine wine, as far as I'm concerned. I like it more every time I play it.

It's also a premise that's pretty open-ended, so in the hands of an inventive mind I think there's plenty of room for a sequel.

**MechDeus** · 12 Nov 2010, 06:42 PM

I liked everything about Psychonauts except the actual playing it part.

**NeoZeedeater** · 12 Nov 2010, 06:48 PM

I loved both Psychonauts and Brutal Legend, the latter being a slightly disappointing game at the time but kind of underrated now. I would prefer for Double Fine to do a traditional adventure game but I wouldn't complain at a Psychonauts sequel.

**Cowdisease** · 12 Nov 2010, 06:50 PM

Joystiq's interview with Kotick revealed some interesting insights about the Brutal Legend fiasco.

"Vivendi had advanced him like 15 or 20 million dollars," Kotick explained. "He missed all the milestones, missed all the deadlines, as Tim has a reputation of doing." As the massive merger between Activision and Vivendi wore on, Kotick said he had very little on-the-ground knowledge of Brutal Legend.

"I don't know if it was a decision not to publish it. I don't even really know where we were in the negotiation and discussions about what was going to happen to the product. Unbeknownst to everybody, they didn't have the rights to sell. So all we'd said is, 'Look: If you go and do a deal with somebody else, pay back the money that was advanced to you.' That was all we were looking for. We ultimately got a fraction of the money that had been advanced to him, and as far as I know, that was the end of it. But I don't even know if there was a lawsuit from my recollection."

The fact that Kotick himself wasn't the one making the Brutal Legend decision was a surprise. Certainly the CEO of this major company had to have had some sort of say in the process? "I was not the person that was making the assessments of this," Kotick told me. "I probably wouldn't have been most qualified to do so."

For Kotick, and the team he entrusted to determine which Vivendi properties would come along to Activision, it was a simple business calculation: Will Brutal Legend be a good game? "I think there was a determination made that it would not be a successful game. That at the end of the day we have an obligation to our shareholders to make a profit and make great games. And I think there was the judgment of the people who were involved in making that decision that, first and foremost, it wasn't going to be a great game."

The criteria used to determine whether or not Brutal Legend would be successful may appear especially dispassionate, but it's hard to argue with the logic, however "corporate" it may be. "When you have projects that repeatedly miss their milestones, where they change direction multiple times, where lots and lots of the folks who are involved in the game leave, their resource changes, the likelihood that that project is going to be turned around and be successful is very low. So I think that maybe nobody was able to clearly articulate that this is not a judgment about Tim Schafer. There's no personal animosity between Bobby Kotick and ... I don't know the guy. Never met him. I could honestly tell you, sitting here, I never saw Brutal Legend and so the judgment of the people who I trust and respect about the quality of the game, and whether or not audiences would be excited and enthusiastic about this game, was 'No.' And that's why it was not a commercial success."

After Brutal Legend, I wonder if there are any publishers that are willing to take a chance on a Psychonauts sequel, especially with Tim Schafer at the helm.