While the path to Psychonauts 2 has been long and arduous, it appears that the game will make it to its scheduled 2021 release window and also without the baggage of a problem common to the video game industry. In a developer update video from Double Fine Productions, president and CEO Tim Schafer revealed that the game is in the final stage of development and that it will not involve crunching to complete it.
Schafer, who is the director of Psychonauts 2, stated that this development period was “the last chance to put anything new in the game,” notably the addition of a post-game state that allows the player to visit completed levels. This particular feature was added to address fan complaints on the lack of a post-game state in the 2005 original. Schafer stated that he is currently in the process of writing it, complete with a shot in the video of him in the pose of the Lo-Fi Study Girl.
Despite the various stakeholders including Microsoft and crowdfunding backers having waited a long time for Psychonauts 2, Schafer remains committed to avoiding crunch following his own personal experiences when developing the original Psychonauts. He said of that particular time which involved 12-hour workdays: “You’re just so focused on making the game good and getting it done, then you look up and see a sea of dead bodies all around you and you’re like ‘What have I done?'”
Like virtually every other company, Double Fine Productions are working from home due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this setup and the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine now being distributed, it appears that the San Francisco-based developer is maintaining its no-crunch attitude. A tram ride platforming sequence was displayed in the video, with the team talking of removing it in favor of a rail slide section that would be easier to implement.
Crunch remains a problem endemic to the video game industry. The need to satisfy various stakeholders, particularly investors, forces developers to work extremely long hours in order to get their products out to the market by certain deadlines. This results in the quality of life of workers suffering immensely, particularly physically, emotionally, and psychologically. The discussion around crunch has flared up following The Last of Us Part II winning big at The Game Awards 2020 and the tumultuous launch of Cyberpunk 2077 with its multiple delays, including one that came after the game went gold.
Both of these games are alleged to have been produced in perpetual crunch conditions, with Cyberpunk 2077‘s poor technical performance, especially on last-gen consoles, speaking volumes on the effectiveness of this industry-wide practice. While the community has waited since 2015 for Psychonauts 2, being able to play it once it releases in 2021 should come with the peace of mind that it was not produced through crunching.
Psychonauts 2 is scheduled to release sometime in 2021 for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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