Crowdfunding For Psychonauts 2 Goes Live!

Tim Schafer along with the rest of his team at Double Fine studios announced that they will be working on Psychonauts 2, a direct sequel to the hit 2005 3D action/adventure platformer for the original Xbox.

Schafer, the creative mind behind genre-defining games such as Monkey Island, Brutal Legend, and the first Psychonauts, said that he will be “bringing the band back together.” Double Fine enlisted the services of the original voice actors led by Richard Horvitz (Raz) and Nikki Rapp (Lilli), writer Erik Wolpaw (more recently known for his work on Portal), composer Peter McConnell, and a bunch of other industry vets who worked on first Psychonauts game.

Following the recent success of Broken Age, Double Fine’s first crowdfunded game that raised USD 3.45 million, the studio once again turned to fans and backers to help make the Psychonauts sequel. Though the target funding goal over nine times of the USD 400,000 that they needed for Broken Age (Psychonauts will need to raise USD 3.3 million), Schafer said that the studio itself will be fusing some of its own money into the project, along with some additional investments from an unspecified major partner.

As can be seen from the announce teaser video, it seems the story picks up after Raz and Lilli officially become full-fledged Psychonauts. The video opens with a scene from a military briefing room wherein they find out that they are in need of the elite psychic operatives known as the Psychonauts. As the commanding officer calls for the unit, Raz and Lilli enter along with their mentors Sasha Nein and Milla Vodello, who also appeared in the first game.

Double Fine is giving away some pretty nifty rewards to some of the more generous backers, from a Raz mini-fig, a boardgame night with the Double Fine crew, to a visit to the actual Camp Whispering Rock (Yep, they really made one.), the psychic summer camp where the entire game is set.

As of this writing there are over 5,600 backers who have pledged at least USD 660,000 to the development of the game. You may check out the Psychonauts 2 Fig campaign page for more information. Or, if you’re like this writer who’s hankering for more of mind-bending adventures of Raz and the rest of the Psychonauts, why not pledge while you’re there?