Tim Schafer says Double Fine and Xbox split over small games versus big IPs

Double Fine founder Tim Schafer says the San Francisco studio and Xbox parted ways because Xbox wants fewer, larger franchises and Double Fine wants to make many smaller ones. He set out that thinking in a BBC video interview published on 24 September 2026, after Double Fine announced on 6 July 2026 that it would be independent again. Eurogamer

Schafer, who designed Day of the Tentacle and Psychonauts, said Double Fine's mission when it joined Xbox seven years ago was to support Game Pass. Game Pass is Microsoft's subscription service, where players pay a monthly fee for a library of games. The studio put about 13 games from its back catalogue and new releases on the service.

He said Xbox let Double Fine completely be itself during the years it was owned by Microsoft. He added that he is pro Game Pass and hopes it succeeds. He has no regrets about the partnership.

That is the business side. The creative reason is scale. Xbox is moving toward fewer, larger IPs, a term that means the characters, worlds and titles a company owns and can reuse. Double Fine works the other way. It builds lots of small IPs.

Schafer also spoke about the wider games industry. He told the BBC the downturn has lasted four years, even though people are still playing games and companies are still making money. He said he assumes someone is being greedy somewhere when asked about job losses.

Short sentences help here. He does not claim to have the answer. He said he does not understand the economics of making games.

What comes next is already in motion. Keeper is Double Fine's latest game, a story told without words in which a long-forgotten lighthouse is awakened. Double Fine The studio is also running its Amnesia game jam, in which the team makes four smaller-scope games.

One of those prototypes is Bard Crawl, described as a co-operative multiplayer bar crawl dungeon-crawler. Double Fine has confirmed it owns the IP and publishing rights to all its games made under Xbox, which covers control of both ownership and how those games are sold. Eurogamer

For players, this means the split is less about a falling out and more about fit. Double Fine is back to working as an independent studio from San Francisco, making odd, small-scale ideas with the rights in its own hands.