There are people who have literally made the history of videogames, others who are instead considered excellent authors and those who instead position themselves in the middle, between genius and madness, between attempts that went very well and others who instead have left the public with doubt. Among those who fall into this category we certainly find Tim Schafer, author of many video games, including Grim Fandango, Brutal Legends and the new Psychonauts 2, which debuted in 2021 after years of development. And it is Schafer himself who leaves us speechless once again, revealing the ins and outs behind the development of that second chapter of the series, awaited by many players.
Schafer rethought the launch of Psychonauts 2 and how, during development, he didn't want to believe what he was doing. The author stated the background behind the making of the title in an interview with NME, thus revealing some thoughts that were present in his mind while Double Fine Productions was developing the game. And no, they weren't good at all.
“A lot of things didn't go right, like with the first game. We lost our publisher at some point. It was a roller coaster, I didn't think it would go well,” Schafer said during the interview. In short, a decidedly not very positive attitude.
Ultimately Psychonauts 2 fared much better than expected and the game was a hit with critics and gamers alike. Also available on Xbox and PC Game Pass , it probably went much better than expected for Schafer, but these words remind us, once again, that behind great authors there are actually simple men, who are afraid of failure. A "normalization" of professionals, which should be told more often, also to reassure the many smaller developers while they are busy with their work.
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