While players can look forward to Double Fine Productions' Keeper, the Xbox studio is also working on other games, and they are all new IP.
During the Xbox Day 1 at Gamescom 2025 stream on Wednesday, Double Fine Productions studio head Tim Schafer showed up to talk about Keeper, the studio's next title and the first new game since it launched Psychonauts 2 in 2021.
"Well, I'm here to announce right now...that we are making other games too," Schafer says with a chuckle. "We have multiple games going on at the studio, and the thing I will say is that they're all brand new. They're all brand new IP, we did Psychonauts 2 and that's keeping us fine for sequels for a while."
Elsewhere in the stream, Schafer noted that Keeper is the result of director Lee Petty's vision. Petty is an experienced veteran at Double Fine who worked as the art director on Brutal Legend and Broken Age, as well as contributing to the art of other titles.
Keeper was first announced during the Xbox Games Showcase earlier this year, where it was revealed that it was slated to launch in October. The game revolves around a sentient lighthouse that explores a strange world while accompanied by a bird.
Schafer added that a lot of Petty's inspiration came from going on long hikes during the pandemic, observing how nature kept on going despite everything affecting humanity.
"He's also a weird guy who has a lot of interesting tastes, he grew up on The Dark Crystal and Cronenberg films and surrealist painters," Schafer explains. "And so, [he] put those things together to make something that was chill like nature but a little weird, and I think you'll see that in the game."
More new IP is great, but there's one specific sequel I would like to see
I'm excited to see Keeper, as the game seems extraordinarily unique. Schafer and the rest of the Double Fine team have repeatedly emphasized that it's a story without any dialogue, and that's a fascinating approach to take.
I'm also quite happy to hear that Double Fine is still working on multiple games. The team did say that was the case in the months after shipping Psychonauts 2, but a lot can change in four years, so it's awesome that it's still the case right now.
It's also understandable that the studio would want to mainly focus on new IP and avoid sequels for a bit. Psychonauts 2 was a masterpiece (and my personal game of the year for 2021), but the team has been extremely open about how challenging its development was, with a full documentary tracking all of the problems they faced.
That said, I will admit there's a single sequel I'd like to see, and it's the one that Schafer even made a point of saying isn't happening later on in the stream: Brutal Legend 2.
Brutal Legend was an extremely fun mash-up of ideas, and I really wouldn't mind seeing the team take another stab at those concepts. Plus, it would give the team another excuse to collaborate with Jack Black!
Still, at the end of the day, I'm really just happy that there are other new IPs coming. Double Fine's creative spark is a wonderful thing for Xbox and the gaming industry as a whole, especially at a time when layoffs and studio closures are rampant.
Keeper is slated to launch on Oct. 17, 2025, for Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC (Steam and Xbox PC). Like all Xbox first-party games, it'll be available day one in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
