Psychonauts, Keeper and Kiln developer Double Fine, like South Of Midnight studio Compulsion, is now officially free and clear of Microsoft. If you buy their games, you’re supporting an indie that, frankly, needs it, as opposed to a megacorporation that incites genocide. But it’s not all good news: Double Fine’s union push, which we first reported on in May, is no more for now. Double Fine’s marketing and communications director James Spafford confirmed Double Fine’s independence from Aftermath. “I can confirm that we are officially independent, the deal is closed and the purchase of our games now directly supports us in the same way as Compulsion,” he said. The studio is bringing back its in-house game jam, Amnesia Fortnight, with a Kickstarter. “We’re going to do a Game Jam, live on the Internet, where our backers will be able to choose which of our countless ideas will become four new prototypes, and which of the final four will become a real (small) game,” the Kickstarter page reads. “You can even get some candy and oddities along the way.” The Kickstarter, which will also include a documentary of the entire process made by 2 Player Productions, will launch on August 31. During Kinda Funny’s appearance, Schafer compared Double Fine’s current state to the time period after Brutal Legend ended, only for EA to cancel the sequel, ultimately leading the studio to focus on smaller Amnesia Fortnight projects like Stacking and Iron Brigade. A little track at the exit. [from Microsoft] “We want to sign some game deals, get going, it’s a scary time to be out there.” It’s a track, not a highway, it doesn’t last forever. It’s just a small area where we can take off under our own power and we want to expand it a little. …So we’re doing a game jam, something we used to do a lot.” Shortly after announcing that it would regain its independence from Microsoft in July, Double Fine laid off 23 members of its staff. As for the Double Fine workers union, the original petition was filed with the National Labor Relations Board in early May. At the time, it covered all regular full- and part-time employees, a total of 42. Today, however, CWA, the union that has helped thousands of Microsoft game workers to organize, reported After the workers withdrew their petition just a couple of weeks after filing it (and long before the layoffs or Double Fine regained its independence), the union did not explain why. “Beyond that, we have no update,” said a CWA spokesperson. Aftermath asked Double Fine for additional details, but did not receive a response at the time of this publication. The money spent on South Of Midnight now supports its developers, not Microsoft. “I can confirm that we have regained ownership of our IP, and that. publishing rights are being transferred back to Compulsion.”
