In July of this year, it was reported that Double Fine would be leaving Xbox after seven years of working in Microsoft’s game architecture. Studio head Tim Shafer said on multiple occasions interview This week about leaving, noting that the decision had less to do with the team’s financial performance and more to do with changing Xbox priorities.
Shafer said Double Fine’s relationship with Microsoft was initially built around Game Pass. Studios must create projects that complement their subscription catalogs, and Xbox has the opportunity to offer users unusual and original games. But with the arrival of Asha Sharma, things changed:
We have a mutually beneficial goal: to release great games on Game Pass. and then [после смены руководства] Their strategies and goals have changed.
The person in charge of Double Fine also believes that the financial performance of the studio will hardly affect Asha Sharma’s final decision. According to him, even if profits from recently launched games (Keeper, Kiln) significantly increase, there is no guarantee of the survival of the Xbox team.
I can’t imagine that any level of profitability would have saved us, short of us creating a true Minecraft-level hit back in the day.
Shafer said he began to understand that Double Fine would be “falling off” Xbox even before the official announcement. He noticed changes in communications with Microsoft employees and gradually came to the conclusion that Double Fine’s position was changing. At the same time, the developer has no negative feelings toward Xbox, noting that Double Fine has been with the company for seven years and the investment it received during that time should help the studio’s future.
Microsoft has been really good to us. We spent seven wonderful years there. They’ve invested a lot in our studio, which will be good for us in the future. We don’t have any hard feelings.
Let’s remember that Double Fine has already announced its first game since leaving Microsoft. However, a release on Xbox has not yet been announced.