Psychonauts 2 started development as a crowd-funded project a few years back, but developed Double Fine Productions was acquired by Microsoft mid-development. We’ve heard before about how, for instance, inXile’s Wasteland 3 benefited from the studio’s mid-development acquisition by Microsoft, and it seems something similar happened with Psychonauts 2 as well.
While speaking with Axios, Double Fine Production senior system designer Lauren Scott noted that Psychonauts 2’s development was aided by the influx of cash the studio received following the Microsoft acquisition. “To quote the age-old adage, you know, money is time,” Scott said. “We definitely got a bit of breathing room for our enemies that were more on the tail end of things that needed some more love.” It seems the game’s boss enemies were also fleshed out following the Microsoft acquisition.
This isn’t the first time that the Psychonauts 2 developers have spoken about being able to realize their vision of the game properly thanks to the Microsoft acquisition.
Psychonauts 2 launches on August 25 for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, and PC. Check out its latest story trailer through here.
On Xbox Series X, Psychonauts 2 will run at either 4K and 60 FPS or at 1440p and 120 FPS. You can get more details on the game’s performance and resolution targets on all platforms through here.