14 DAY TRIAL // Markus Persson, aka Notch, says that the development project to create a sequel for Psychonauts would cost about 18 million dollars (13.2 million Euro), a sum that he is not yet prepared to invest in a game he has no control over.
The developer of Minecraft states in a Reddit thread that, “I somewhat naively thought ‘a couple of million’ was two million. I had no doubt in my mind that a Psychonauts 2 would earn that money back easily. Turns out they wanted 18 million dollars, haha.”
He adds, “Perhaps in some distant future when I’m no longer trying to make games, I could get into angel investing. I’ve made one private investment into a game so far, at $100K, and it’s frankly a lot more work than I thought.”
In 2012, Tim Schafer, who is currently leading Double Fine, and Notch talked about working together on Psychonauts 2.
At the moment, Notch and his Mojang studio are working on a new fantasy card-based game called Scrolls and on the space sim 0x10c.
It’s unclear whether the developer will continue to talk to Tim Schafer about Psychonauts 2 and a potential collaboration.
The veteran developer has already revealed that he has more stories linked to the game universe that he would like to tell, but that he currently lacks the resources to create them.
At the moment, Schafer is working at Double Fine on a classic adventure game project that has received funding using the Kickstarter service.
The game is supposed to launch later during the year and will use mechanics and puzzles designed to satisfy fans of the experiences that the genre delivered during the 90’s.
If that project is successful in the marketplace, the company might get the money it needs to make Psychonauts 2 a reality without requiring funds from Notch or a classic publisher.