- Double Fine, the game development studio behind games like Pyschonauts, Brütal Legend, and Broken Age, has been acquired by Microsoft
- Now Microsoft has 15 game development studios under its watch
Microsoft has been criticized in the past for a lack of exclusive titles, but the company has been quickly ramping up its studios to address that issue. And Microsoft’s head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty said that seven new game development studios have been welcomed to the Xbox team in the past year and many of them have been already sharing their new projects at E3 this year. Plus Microsoft has also just acquired game development studio Double Fine Productions. The terms of the deal were undisclosed.
“Under the leadership of industry veteran Tim Schafer, Double Fine has been a beacon of creativity and spirit in game development for almost 20 years with classic games like Pyschonauts, Brütal Legend, and Broken Age. At the root of every game is an emphasis on creating crazy worlds with originality, story, and fun. That commitment to creating a unique, player-centric experience is what drew us to the studio, and I’m looking forward to seeing what we create together,” said Booty. “With the addition of Double Fine, there will be a total of 15 unique, standalone studios that comprise Xbox Game Studios, including our newly-created Age of Empires studio headed by Shannon Loftis and our Publishing group headed by Peter Wyse. We are committing more resources and dedicated leadership to the Age of Empires franchise to ensure that its legacy on PC continues in service of the passionate community of faithful fans.”
Here are some humorous videos that Double Fine’s Tim Schafer put together about the deal:
As you may have heard from the @Xbox E3 briefing moments ago, Double Fine is joining Xbox Game Studios! How did this come about? let’s ask @timoflegend … pic.twitter.com/n6EACVo7OZ
— Double Fine (@DoubleFine) June 9, 2019
Microsoft showcased 14 games from the Xbox Game Studios during its E3 briefing, which is the most that the company ever presented. Some of the content that was featured by Microsoft’s studios at E3 include Bleeding Edge by Ninja Theory, a new Lego expansion for Forza Horizon 4 by Playground, Gears 5 footage from The Coalition, a new story trailer for Halo Infinite from 343, an expansion for State of Decay 2 called Heartland from Undead Labs, and Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition from Age of Empires studios.
Now Microsoft has 15 game studios under its watch including:
343 Industries
Age of Empires
The Coalition
Compulsion Games
Double Fine
The Initiative
inXile
Microsoft Studios Global Publishing
Mojang
Ninja Theory
Obsidian
Playground Games
Rare
Turn 10 Studios
Undead Labs
