Xbox doesn't need studios that make niche games for Game Pass, says Tim Schafer

The new leadership of Microsoft's gaming division has new priorities.

Tim Schafer, head and creative director of Double Fine, spoke about the reasons that ultimately led to the studio's departure from Xbox. According to him, the team's fate was practically sealed after Phil Spencer's departure.

Schafer noted that Spencer initially viewed Double Fine as a studio perfectly suited for Game Pass. The team was not required to constantly release huge commercial hits — it was assumed that Double Fine would create unusual and diverse games that could replenish the subscription service's catalog.

According to Schafer, this was a kind of unspoken agreement between the studio and Xbox management. However, the company's approach subsequently changed.

The head of Double Fine also commented on the commercial results of the studio's latest projects — Keeper and Kiln. He frankly admitted that both games were commercial failures. At the same time, Schafer believes that even significantly higher sales would hardly have changed Double Fine's fate.

In his opinion, the situation could have turned out differently only in the event of a truly phenomenal success — at the level of Minecraft. That is, even noticeably better performance of Keeper and Kiln would probably not have been a sufficient reason to maintain the previous strategy.