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Minecraft's Creator Offers to Fund Psychonauts 2 [UPDATED]

Curious response from Tim Schafer makes this all the more interesting.

No Caption Provided

UPDATE: The official line from Double Fine is short, appropriately mysterious, and will no doubt leave many speculating for months.

"Tim and Markus are talking," said the company to me in a statement just now. "Who knows what might happen?"

--

Tim Schafer wants to make a sequel to Psychonauts. That’s not news. Schafer has talked about this many times in the past, and mentioning interest during a Digital Spy interview isn't crazy.

The news was Markus “Notch” Persson, better known as the creator of Minecraft, offered to pony up the cash to help make Psychonauts 2 on Twitter. Persson claims he’s serious about it.

“Let's make Psychonauts 2 happen,” he said.

“I’m serious,” he said in a follow-up.

This all happened hours ago, long before Schafer had even woke up in San Francisco. He awoke to texts asking him to check Twitter.

“Man, so many tweets,” he said. “I assume this is all people asking for codes to Happy Action Theater and Rise of the Martian Bear?”

And then came this one:

“Oh wait,” he said. “Hm. This is interesting.”

This wouldn’t be the first time Double Fine Productions has accepted money from a Twitter backer, with Costume Quest for the PC and Psychonauts for the Mac having been funded by fan and XE.com founder Steven Dengler.

Dengler actually chimed in today, too.

“Let's move this discussion offline,” said Dengler.

So far, Double Fine has not issued an official response, but all eyes will remain on Twitter.

Patrick Klepek on Google+

225 Comments

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RIDEBIRD

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I demand a co-production credit for Carbon Neutral games.

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JJOR64

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Dan_CiTi

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Edited By Dan_CiTi

@bunnyfiend: No? Not at all. This situation is very different.

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wmoyer83

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Hey, if Guns and Roses released Chinese Democracy, this could happen too.

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predator

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Edited By predator

I can't be a Notch fan after that Duke Nukem Forever "review" he did.

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oscar

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Edited By oscar
@radioactivez0r said:

Summary: Guy A said something on Twitter. Guy B sort of responded. HOT OFF THE PRESS

Do you think you have a point or are you just being cynical for the sake of being cynical? This story is not about two random dudes talking about what they ate for lunch on twitter. As summarized by the headline and by @undeadpool, the case here is that Guy A makes games and would like to make sequel to cult hit; Guy B, who also makes games, offers to fund Guy A's game.
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Xeirus

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Edited By Xeirus

Notch loves to be the center of attention, and I'm ok with that if this is how he's going to do it.

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Cincaid

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Edited By Cincaid

@predator said:

I can't be a Notch fan after that Duke Nukem Forever "review" he did.

Fill me in, please.

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dogbox

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Edited By dogbox

Psychonauts may be the game that's jibed with my tastes the most, ever. I long since abandoned hope of a sequel, but, if this happens. I will cream. My. God. Damned. Jeans.

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BlazeHedgehog

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Edited By BlazeHedgehog

Debate the quality of Psychonauts if you want, but who wouldn't want to be in a position to say, "I have enough money, let's do this."
 
Notch is living the dream.

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Contra

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Edited By Contra

I'll...

I'll be in my bunk...

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JakeLogan

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Edited By JakeLogan

Fockin' Legendary, Notch!

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ptc

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Edited By ptc

Do it!  Just make it a smaller scale, download only sequel for PC/PSN/XBLA.  Follow the Remedy model a la Alan Wake: American Nightmare, but release on all platforms known to man.

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predator

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Edited By predator
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AndrewB

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Edited By AndrewB

Oh shit. Now will he help fund Beyond Good and Evil 2 so I can actually see that game this decade?

Seriously though, this is great news! I never got around to finishing Psychonauts... and now I feel terrible about that because what I did play of it was pretty damn good, minus the collectible lust it tries to nip at. Would definitely like to see that sequel.

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ThunderSlash

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@Cows_R_Crunk: You don't need one.

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Tesla

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Edited By Tesla

Make it happen dudes. Psychonauts is a right good game that needs a sequel.

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Metric_Outlaw

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ThIs made my week.

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the_unabomber

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Edited By the_unabomber

I wonder what would have happened if twitter's new censorship took hold of those series of tweets...

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Thomper

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Edited By Thomper

@predator said:

@Cincaid said:

@predator said:

I can't be a Notch fan after that Duke Nukem Forever "review" he did.

Fill me in, please.

http://notch.tumblr.com/post/6736474534/duke-nukem-forever-review

I... don't see the problem with that review? He doesn't like the game. Which seems reasonable, as most people who played the game didn't like it. It's a silly post, pretty sure he never intends to be The Definitive Game Reviewer Person Of The World.

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tyxja

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Edited By tyxja

That update is frustrating. I'd prefer if it was something like

"Tim and Markus absolutely refuse to speak to each other right now."

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TadThuggish

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Edited By TadThuggish

Kind of weird to see it all out in the open, but okay.

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Gerhabio

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Edited By Gerhabio

But Psychonauts wasn't that good?

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Hennet_sim

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Edited By Hennet_sim

If this happens i will buy minecraft

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ChrisTaran

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@predator: Wow, after reading that review, I want to back him more than ever!

Thanks for letting people know about it!

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coolvee

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Edited By coolvee

This is excellent for so many reasons. Getting to play a Psychonauts 2 would be awesome. Getting to play a Psychonauts 2 funded exclusively by people who loved the first one makes it even more awesome. And with Notch and his access to half a million followers on twitter, Psychonauts 2 would have an infinitely better marketing campaign just from his twitter feed alone and would outsell Psychonauts 1 easily.

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OneManX

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Edited By OneManX

@Hennet_sim said:

If this happens i will buy minecraft

This..

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Slaker117

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I don't personally care about Psychonauts, but I think it would be awesome if this happened.

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deactivated-5e49e9175da37

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@oscar said:

@radioactivez0r said:

Summary: Guy A said something on Twitter. Guy B sort of responded. HOT OFF THE PRESS

Do you think you have a point or are you just being cynical for the sake of being cynical? This story is not about two random dudes talking about what they ate for lunch on twitter. As summarized by the headline and by @undeadpool, the case here is that Guy A makes games and would like to make sequel to cult hit; Guy B, who also makes games, offers to fund Guy A's game.

I think it's real weird when twitter conversations are news. I'm not saying it's bad journalism or getting on some soapbox... but it's weird to read.

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Poki3

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If anything comes out of this, then this will be one the the strangest video game beginnings in history.

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BeachThunder

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Edited By BeachThunder

That game's ending was just asking for a sequel. I just hope they make the gameplay not crappy this time around D:

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Suits

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Can't believe this is happening.

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deactivated-57beb9d651361

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Super, super hype.

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mnzy

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Edited By mnzy
@Brodehouse said:

@oscar said:

@radioactivez0r said:

Summary: Guy A said something on Twitter. Guy B sort of responded. HOT OFF THE PRESS

Do you think you have a point or are you just being cynical for the sake of being cynical? This story is not about two random dudes talking about what they ate for lunch on twitter. As summarized by the headline and by @undeadpool, the case here is that Guy A makes games and would like to make sequel to cult hit; Guy B, who also makes games, offers to fund Guy A's game.

I think it's real weird when twitter conversations are news. I'm not saying it's bad journalism or getting on some soapbox... but it's weird to read.

Real things get decided on twitter. One of the reasons why it's so good. 
 
And I think it's a smart investment. It's a beloved hit, Notch is amazing free advertising and Double Fine really seems to have its shit together. They apparently work with good tools and people. I mean they released four games within a year, all pretty well received.
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superfriend

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Edited By superfriend

I can already hear Michel Ancel knocking on Notch´s door next week.

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Eojay

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Edited By Eojay

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG

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Springfart

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Edited By Springfart

my nipples explode with delight!

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Maajin

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Edited By Maajin

@Superfriend said:

I can already hear Michel Ancel knocking on Notch´s door next week.

Michel Ancel doesn't need money for his projects, he needs a publisher who doesn't fucking releases his whimsical games the same day as every triple-A in the planet.

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aurahack

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god dammit yes to everything about this

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Seesic

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Edited By Seesic

Between Time Schafer and Notch there should be an audience. I hope this happens

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Brackynews

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Edited By Brackynews

I feel it's relevant to mention that as of yesterday, Notch wasn't aware Psychonauts was available to purchase anywhere except GOG.com. For a guy who adores Steam and Doublefine, this is not a man who stays "in tune" with the industry. He's a superfan, like a lot of us, which is why we Get Hype easily. :) But I love the idea of him financing other developers. Seems like the right move. Anyway, at least Stephen Dengler is a cool head.

@Hennet_sim: @OneManX: I think it's safe to say Mojang would be a lot happier if you promised to buy Scrolls. :)

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BitterAlmond

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Edited By BitterAlmond

@Maajin said:

@Superfriend said:

I can already hear Michel Ancel knocking on Notch´s door next week.

Michel Ancel doesn't need money for his projects, he needs a publisher who doesn't fucking releases his whimsical games the same day as every triple-A in the planet.

Truth.

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TorMasturba

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Edited By TorMasturba

Even if I never played Psychonauts or costume quest, this is what makes me love the videogames industry, sometimes, which such huge passion. Our world is wonderful that any of these things could've happened. Minecraft, while not my cup of tea, was scarily out of nowhere and has shot to the stratosphere in terms of success, heck even a large minority of casual gamers love it too.

So awesome and inspiring!

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beard_of_zeus

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Edited By beard_of_zeus
@Poki3 said:

If anything comes out of this, then this will be one the the strangest video game beginnings in history.

My thoughts exactly. Not that I would complain or anything :D
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Redhotchilimist

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Edited By Redhotchilimist

Well, that's pretty exciting. I enjoyed the game a lot until it required me to collect a ton of those arrowheads to buy a sort of vacuum cleaner during the Milkman stage. At which point I stopped playing. A sequel could be great. Having not played until the ending, it seemed like Raz would end up as a.. well, a psychonaut, I suppose. Lots of room there for a new, independaant story.

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HerbieBug

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Edited By HerbieBug

this gives me warm fuzzies. :)

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spartan1017

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Edited By spartan1017

oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!

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Nekroskop

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Edited By Nekroskop

If Notch makes Psychonauts 2 happen. I will forgive him for making Minecraft.

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big_jon

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Edited By big_jon

Never played the first, I would give the second a try.