Some fans have taken online to discuss the possibility ofPsychonauts 3after Xbox shared a cryptic image seemingly alluding to the iconic series. WhileDouble Fine Productions has been working on multiple new projectssince at least 2021, it has so far given no indication that it’s planning a follow-up onPsychonauts 2in the foreseeable future.
The originalPsychonautsfrom 2005found a cult following after bombing at launch, with Double Fine taking more than a decade before deciding to pull the trigger on a sequel to its first-ever game.Psychonauts 2was eventually announced in 2015 and financed via crowdfunding platform Fig. Double Fine took over half a decade to finish the game, which eventually came out in 2021, two years after the studio was acquired by Microsoft.
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Xbox Australia and New Zealand recently fueled fan speculation thatPsychonauts 3is in the works with a cryptic social media message that’s seemingly alluding to Double Fine’s iconic puzzle-platformer series. The Monday post, shared on Facebook, features an image of a Tic-Tac-Toe board containing letters that spell out the word “psycho,” along with three Xs. While some fans interpreted this as aPsychonauts 3teaser, others were more realistic, positing thatPsychonauts 2was already willed into existence against all odds and that hoping for another installment in the franchise is naive, at best.
Irrespective of any social media teasers from Xbox,Psychonauts 3seems unlikely to happen based on what Double Fine itself has been saying about its unannounced projects since the turn of the year. In an early February interview that saw himdismiss the idea of movie adaptations of Double Fine’s games, the studio’s founder and CEO, Tim Schafer, said that the company is currently focused on “new, original stuff.”
So, whileDouble Fine is not coy about having multiple new projects in the worksright now, the studio’s leadership does not appear to be interested in revisiting thePsychonautsseries. Any talk of a third installment in the franchise is hence somewhere on the spectrum between implausible and wishful thinking.
Long-time fans of the San Francisco-based developer might not necessarily be disappointed with this state of affairs. After all, Double Fine put out plenty of other critically acclaimed titles over the years, includingBrutal Legend,Broken Age, andGrim Fandango Remastered. Therefore, a portion of the fandom might argue that the prospect of multiple new Double Fine IPs is at least as exciting as the unlikely notion of anotherPsychonautsgame, if not more so.
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