Psychonauts 2: New Artwork, Interview With Tim Schafer

As 2020 draws to a close, Double Fine celebrates its 20th anniversary and its first full year as part of Xbox Game Studios. To mark the occasion as well as look ahead to Psychonauts 2's release in 2021, Double Fine president and legendary game designer Tim Schafer sent over a pile of new Psychonauts 2 concept art (check it out in the slideshow gallery below). He also sat down with me for a 40-minute interview discussing life with Microsoft, how COVID-19 has affected him and the Double Fine team, whether or not he'd like to make any games using Microsoft-owned IPs (such as Banjo-Kazooie), and how Psychonauts 2 is going. He also sat down with me for a 40-minute interview discussing life with Microsoft, how COVID-19 has affected him and the Double Fine team, whether or not he'd like to make any games using Microsoft-owned IPs (such as Banjo-Kazooie), and how Psychonauts 2 is going. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=psychonauts-2-concept-art-gallery&captions=true"] On that last point, Schafer said, "We mostly have everything now in the game" and "we're mostly moving on to polishing stuff that's in the game already." He noted, unsurprisingly, that due to COVID-19 and the transition to the entire team working from home, that "2020 definitely did not help speed up development." In reflecting on development up to this point, Schafer said, "Just like the first time [with Psychonauts 1], it took a while to find the levels. And now I feel really good about where they ended up." He also teased, "There's something that happens at the end of Psychonauts 2 that I set up years and years ago." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/22/1-on-1-with-double-fines-tim-schafer-psychonauts-2-being-acquired-by-microsoft-and-more-unlocked-475"] Take a look at the full 40-minute interview with Schafer in the video above. Psychonauts 2 should be released in 2021. Stay tuned to IGN for more! [poilib element="accentDivider"] Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s Executive Editor of Previews. Follow him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan, catch him on Unlocked, and drop-ship him Taylor Ham sandwiches from New Jersey whenever possible.