Microsoft acquires Double Fine Productions

Microsoft has been putting a lot of time and money into expanding its stable of first-party games, and that means buying a relatively large number of game studios. The company announced the purchase of four studios and the creation of a fifth at E3 last year, and later purchased Obsidian Entertainment and inXile Entertainment as well. Microsoft is on a roll, and the wallet is most definitely open.

And now Microsoft has announced that it has purchased Double Fine Productions, creators of Psychonauts, Grim Fandango, and Brutal Legend, among many others. Tim Schafer then took the stage to joke about being willing to work on whatever Microsoft would like, including “Excel stuff.” The news was punctuated with a new trailer for Psychonauts 2.

This acquisition will give Microsoft an ongoing source of adventure games in the future, as well as the possibility of a rich collection of catalog titles to add to the Xbox Game Pass so that players can catch up on the history of Double Fine’s games.