Double Fine CEO Tim Schafer confirmed on the Kinda Funny Games Daily podcast that the studio now owns the intellectual property and publishing rights to all the games it made during its seven years under Xbox, including Psychonauts 2, Keeper and Kiln. Schafer said the transfer of IP and publishing rights had come back to the studio, meaning purchases of its games now directly support Double Fine rather than Microsoft.
Some storefronts, such as Steam, still list Xbox Game Studios as the publisher for titles like Psychonauts 2 and Keeper, but Schafer said this is simply because the change 'takes a while for it all to process.' He added that revenue from game sales can help extend the studio's financial 'runway' as it works to pitch new projects to publishers.
The confirmation follows Double Fine's split from Microsoft earlier this year as part of a broader Xbox restructuring. Sources differ slightly on the scale of that reorganization: Eurogamer reports it affected around 3,200 roles across the Xbox division, while Kotaku notes an earlier figure of 1,600 layoffs company-wide in June. Other studios spun out of Xbox in the shakeup include Compulsion Games, and according to Kotaku, Undead Labs and Ninja Theory as well. Compulsion, developer of South of Midnight, has similarly confirmed it now owns its IP and publishing rights.
As part of its own transition to independence, Double Fine laid off roughly a quarter of its staff last month—reported by PC Gamer and Kotaku as 23 of the studio's approximately 90 employees. Schafer previously said the cuts were necessary to reach 'a size that we can sustain.'
Alongside the publishing rights news, Schafer announced Double Fine will revive its long-running Amnesia Fortnight game jam through a new Kickstarter campaign, titled 'Amnesia Fortnight 2026 - Indie Reboot.' The campaign launches August 31 and will run through September, allowing backers to vote on game pitches from Double Fine staff, see four prototypes built, and then vote on which one gets further developed into a small released game. The process will be filmed by 2 Player Productions, which previously produced a documentary on Psychonauts 2's development. Past Amnesia Fortnight jams have spawned games including Costume Quest, Stacking, Spacebase DK-9, Headlander and a level within Psychonauts 2.
Schafer also mentioned that Kiln, Double Fine's recently released multiplayer pottery game, will receive a major update next week with new maps and modes, along with a price drop.