
Twitter hosts first ever publicly-negotiated game publishing deal
Minecraft creator Markus ‘Notch’ Persson is prepared to personally fund development of a sequel to Double Fine’s critically acclaimed title Psychonauts.
Double Fine creative director Tim Schafer recently claimed the studio has been unable to secure a publishing contract for the Psychonauts 2 project, despite pitching to various companies.
But now, in what appears to be the world’s first publicly-negotiated game publishing deal, Persson told Schafer on Twitter: “Let's make Psychonauts 2 happen”. He told fans on his Twitter page he was “serious” about the offer.
“Let's wait for Tim to respond. It's his baby”, he told another.
Schafer, whose studio has in recent times turned to self-publishing, has yet to respond to the offer.
Psychonauts, a third-person adventure game released in 2005, failed to make an impact at retail. Its Metacritic score is 86.
Having recently become re-acquainted with the original on my Mac, as well as apparently being one of only a few who purchased the original Xbox version, this is great news. My only suggestions would be to reduce/eliminate the repetitious fetch quests (for arrowheads, cards, etc.), as well as the difficulty in later levels (especially those involving climbing). Oh, and add more crushed velvet and blacklighting :)