20 Psychonautical Years!
Where to even begin? Was it all just a dream? Or maybe a vision? Psychonauts released twenty years ago today on the original Xbox! From there it spread like a mind-melting virus to various other platforms, like Playstation 2 which came later in June of the same year. But today is THE day that Raz leapt off our hard drives and into the hearts of thousands of players!
Psychonauts was our first game here at Double Fine and maybe I'm a little biased because Tim signs my checks but that's one HELL of a game to kick off a studio with. The way it rippled out and influenced other games simply can't be understated.
We've documented the creation of Psychonauts in many different ways from mini-documentaries and even reminiscences during a Let's Play which we stacked with developers, programmers, voice actors, artists and other contributors to the game. When the time came for both the VR interquel Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin and the much-requested sequel, Psychonauts 2, the cameras were rolling. For a burst of history we recommend diving into Episode 1 of the Psychodyssey above, the most comprehensive making-of story we've put together, featuring ancient footage from the Schafer vaults.
Psychonauts and the rest of the games in the series are unique in the sense that the fans have often been able to see, in sometimes painful detail, the work that went into making all the psychic shenanigans. The game is pretty damn great but I think that extra pulling back of the curtain is also important. The fans know who made their favorite bits and pieces, and how.
In order to celebrate, we have a variety of things to share here at Double Fine DOT com over the upcoming week. We have special artwork, collections of data for things like character popularity, cool side projects, and more. We're also putting the original game on sale for literally the highest possible amount; Steam won't let us turn the dial any higher! 91% off! That's the deepest discount we're ever going to get, so now is the time! Spread the word!
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A close up image of the cake Double Fine served for the 20th anniversary of Psychonauts. It had shocking orange frosting and a design of Raz, the game's protagonist, made in green and white frosting.
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An image of the Psychonauts 2 anniversary cake after it has been cut. The inside of the cake is layered with green colored cake split with spreads of white frosting.
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The Psychonauts cake and macaroons rest on a table with a glass top. Two plushies of Raz and Lili rest by the cake. There are also many glasses of champagne.
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A picture of the very original Psychonauts cake from 20 years ago. It also have orange frosting and a design of Raz but there's also frosting text which says "It's done! Yay!"
Some of the spread from the party. That last picture is of the original P1 cake from 20 years ago!
We're finding ways to celebrate all around. Earlier this week, we held a lovely party here in the Double Fine studio. With cake and awesome macaroons from Always Yours Bakery here in San Francisco! We have a fair share of the original team still working here and a few others others came back to celebrate with us. The cake was even an homage to the design used at the original launch party back in 2005. For us, that's also a part of this. Finding time with others, remembering those unique early days at Double Fine. Sitting and looking at the things that inspired Tim and the team, or else helped other folks build amazing worlds. We'll have some of that this week!
Heads up that we don't have some super secret announcement. That's not me employing some misdirection. There's no remake shadow-dropping this week and no teaser for Psychonauts 3: The Doom Pit Of Doom. Who knows what might come in the future but for the moment, in terms of this week of celebration, we wanna focus on what was accomplished. Twenty years ago, a little digital daredevil sneaked his way into Whispering Rock and kicked off Double Fine's slow but measured process of taking over the world.
Keep an eye out on our social spaces and swing back to the site for some cool stuff. There might even be a few giveaways here or even on your favorite podcasts or whatever. It'll kick off on Monday and go from there.
Thank you all for your support over the years; Raz's adventures remain "kind of a big deal" today because of folks like you.
