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Double Fine is tailoring its publishing process to the diverse needs of indies

Double Fine publishing

Yesterday’s launch of Escape Goat 2 wasn’t just a big deal for developer MagicalBeanTime; it’s also a new chapter for Double Fine, which has gone from needing publishers, to independently publishing its own games and now to publishing other indies. 

But Double Fine have been trying to play it down. The company wants to leverage its experience to promote and assist other developers without taking away attention from the game, said CEO Justin Bailey in a chat with Game Informer.

“For Escape Goat 2, we’re primary providing promotional assistance and distribution,” Bailey explains. “Our goal is to help indies build their own community and empower them with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed on their own.”

Double Fine realised that there was a gap in publishing; an absence of publishers that catered for indies, tailoring their services around the diverse needs of that type of developer with creating codependence.

With Early Access, Greenlight and crowd-funding, indie developers are taking lots of different approaches, and Bailey explains that the process will be on a case by case basis. “Some will want help with Kickstarters and other funding, some will want development feedback, others will want promotional or even advice porting to other platforms,” he says. “We’re open to working with each developer and figuring out how we can help make them successful.”

The studio-turned-publisher put out a call for other developers looking to work with them yesterday. But it’s still in its infancy. At the moment, the publishing team consists of Bailey and publishing manager Greg Rice, but there’s room for growth. “The current focus is just on making the titles we publish successful and something that both the developer and Double Fine can be proud of,” Bailey says.

Cheers, Game Informer.