Broken Age may not be finished until later this year but Schafer says it’s already had a positive impact on the studio, with publishers coming to them now and Double Fine more able to define the terms: “We don’t have to take any bad deals. We don’t have to take deals where they have too much creative control or they want to own the IP. We can say no to those kind of deals now.” Since Double Fine owns (almost) all of their properties, they’re making money off their games dating all the way back to Psychonauts. Most importantly, Schafer has achieved what he set out to do by starting his own company—controlling his creations, making the games he wants to make.
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Back in 2012, when he first appealed to his fans on Kickstarter, the game he most wanted to make was a LucasArts-style adventure. Having had that chance, does he feel the same way today? “Yes and no. Now that we have this engine and this pipeline, it would be a shame not to make another one. But the whole reason a lot of games we make are different than the previous game is that I get this urge to try something different every time.” Of course, as he’s quick to point out, this has always been his style: “Even if you look at the difference between Day of the Tentacle and Full Throttle, and then the difference between Full Throttle and Grim Fandango, you can see that there’s always this pleasure… I’m going to do the complete opposite of what I did last.”
Our full interview with Schafer is available online or in print, in games™ issue 144.