Double Fine gets back IP and publishing rights to all its games after Xbox split

Double Fine Productions CEO Tim Schafer confirmed on Kinda Funny Games Daily that the studio has regained the IP and publishing rights to its entire catalogue following its split from Xbox. Buying any Double Fine game now directly supports the studio — Schafer was explicit: "buying any of our games helps support the studio, and we can turn that money into revenue that helps us extend that runway."

Some titles may still show Microsoft as publisher while the paperwork processes, but Schafer says that will sort itself out in time. The studio also unveiled its Amnesia Fortnight 2026: Indie Reboot Kickstarter, a crowdfunded game jam kicking off August 31st and running through most of September. Backers get to vote on which pitches reach the prototyping stage, with one eventually becoming a finished small game — and 2 Player Productions will document the whole thing. Schafer also mentioned that Kiln, the studio's pottery-based multiplayer game, is still getting updates, with new maps and modes in the pipeline and a price drop coming. He noted there are other unannounced projects in the works too.

Double Fine's road back to independence is a bumpy one. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma had promised the studio — along with Compulsion Games, Arkane, Undead Labs, and Ninja Theory — IP ownership and a financial runway when Microsoft announced a sweeping restructuring that included 3,200 layoffs across Xbox. Double Fine itself lost 25% of its staff almost immediately after gaining independence, which puts the weight of Schafer's "runway, not a freeway" framing into sharp relief. The studio built its reputation on creative swings — Psychonauts, Brutal Legend, Costume Quest — and the Amnesia Fortnight jam is where several of those ideas were originally prototyped.

The Kickstarter is live now, with the jam itself starting August 31st. Whether the crowdfunding campaign and catalogue sales can meaningfully extend that runway remains the open question, but Schafer's tone is cautiously optimistic rather than panicked.