The founder of Double Fine Productions, Tim Schafer, took the stage at the Xbox press conference this afternoon to show off a new trailer for Psychonauts 2.
This latest trailer is packed full of new gameplay and story details that should please longtime fans waiting patiently for the game's release. Viewers should expect to see plenty of familiar characters returning, as well as lots of the typical psychic hijinks.
The last we saw of our hero Raz was in Rhombus of Ruin, a VR prequel where the titular team of psychic operatives is tasked with saving Truman Zanotto. Now, Raz is a fully-fledged member of the Psychonauts and this is his first day on the job. His first official task appears to be exploring the mind of Dr. Loboto, one of the main antagonists from the original title. The inside of his head is just as twisted and strange as one would expected.
Many of the powers Raz learned in his first adventure return in Psychonauts 2, and the video shows him making use of them to battle baddies both old and new. The trailer ends with the first good look at the new villain of the sequel, who evidently possesses a mind so powerful that even the zany Dr. Loboto fears it.
Unfortunately, there was no release date announced at the conference, so the loose 2019 release window we got from the first Psychonauts trailer is still all we have for now. If the goal remains to launch later this year, we should get a date in the near future.
A new trailer wasn't the only thing shared with audiences at the conference. In a surprise to those tuning in, it was announced that Xbox Game Studios has acquired Double Fine Productions. This won't affect development too much, except that now Double Fine will likely have many more resources at its disposal. Tim Schafer will still be at the helm of the project and reiterated his team's commitment to Xbox Game Studios, even cracking jokes about making Halo and Forza stuff if need be.
Psychonauts 2 will launch on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in 2019.