Double Fine Productions has reclaimed ownership of its intellectual property and publishing rights after separating from Xbox

Stylized cartoon logo for Double Fine Productions featuring a two-headed orange phoenix with feathered wings, set against a dark red textured background. A pink banner beneath the creature reads "DOUBLE FINE" in a bold, distressed font.

Image credit: Double Fine Productions

After departing from Xbox, Double Fine Productions has successfully reclaimed its intellectual property and publishing rights. According to CEO Tim Schafer, during a discussion on the Kinda Funny Games podcast (reported by Kotaku), remnants of Microsoft's ownership may still appear on some of their titles, but the transition takes time. He emphasized that purchasing their games supports the studio directly.

Last month, Double Fine, alongside Compulsion Games, parted ways with Xbox Game Studios amid layoffs impacting more than 3,200 workers.

The official separation of Compulsion Games from Xbox occurred recently, with CEO Guillaume Provost expressing the team's commitment to staying unified rather than being divided.

Independently, Double Fine has announced its fifth Amnesia Fortnight event post its Microsoft severance. This yearly event gathers developers into small teams to create game prototypes across a two-week span, with some evolving into full-scale projects like the recent release, Kiln.

This year's event, titled 'Amnesia Fortnight 2026 – Indie Reboot: A Double Fine Productions Game Jam Documentary and Kickstarter Campaign,' kicks off on August 31. It features a live Game Jam where supporters will vote on which idea gets developed into four new prototypes, eventually determining which becomes a full (albeit small) game.

Throughout this process, 2 Player Productions will document the experience, contributing to their acclaimed documentary series. Schafer mentioned to Kotaku that the primary goal is to secure financial backing via Kickstarter, granting the studio breathing room post-separation and ensuring stability while additional projects are underway.

In light of its departure from Xbox, Double Fine reduced its workforce by 23 positions. Schafer stated, "As a small, tightly-knit team, these actions are not taken lightly. Only the survival of our studio would ever make us consider such a painful action."