![]() ![]() Just doing those 4 games at once felt so much more stable, because if any shenanigans happens with one publisher, we would still have three sources of revenue. But we had all these demos from these game jams we'd done, and we took them on the road and got all four of them signed and that's really what saved the company, to tell the truth. "When EA cancelled Brutal Legend 2, we didn't have anything else in the works, or any money or contacts to ensure this new income, so it was scary for sure. "That's what you would call a pivot!" jokes Schafer. "I'm not that interested in doing a sequel to anything after Psychonauts 2" Tim Schafer Once we had Jack, it just gave us the legitimacy to do everything else." Back in Blackīrutal Legend launched to largely positive reviews from the press and players alike, and remains Double Fine's best-selling game to date, but - despite the warm response - EA canned development of a sequel well into its pre-production stage at Double Fine in 2010, at which point the studio split off its workflow into development of four separate indie projects. So I was excited about talking to him, and then as soon as we showed him the concept art and got talking about the character, he was in from the get go. "The way Jack approaches Tenacious D, where it's like they're not taking it too seriously, except they're taking it really fucking seriously… that's the kind of balance between comedy and drama that we wanted for Brutal Legend. ![]() It's no secret that the game's protagonist, Eddie Riggs, was inspired by the all-dancing, always singing musician turned actor-comedian (and, more recently, successful YouTube personality), so when Schafer met with Black to see if he'd be interested in the part, excitement was high. Of course, we can't talk about Brutal Legend without talking about Jack. It was surreal! These guys don't have the long and esteemed career they've had without being genuinely nice and professional people." Turns out it was Rob on the other line, saying he's going to be ten minutes late and profusely apologize for it in this polite, gentlemanly manner. "I remember waiting in the studio one day for Rob Halford, and I get this phone call from an unrecognised number on my phone. the fact that we got them in the game was incredible." They're such talented people who really think about how to create an image and a character and how to fit their music into that character, and so growing up loving Judas Priest and Rob Halford. "There's this image of rockstars as rebellious and difficult to work with, but as soon as they recognise you as a creative person, it's like you're just putting on a show together. For Schafer, himself a longtime headbanger, getting to work alongside these icons of the music industry was nothing less than a dream come true. In addition to Jack Black, the campaign featured the voices and likenesses of Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy Kilmister, Rob Halford, and Lita Ford, all of whom came to the studio to record lines for their in-game counterparts. Of course, it wasn't just licensed songs that gave Brutal Legend its authority amongst the metalhead crowd. Hands-on with Psychonauts 2: A sequel that delights in the chaos of its mind-bending mischief That whole series of events was one of the main inspirations for wanting to be independent later I didn't want to take any of the team through that ever again." Then they disappeared, and there were lawyers involved, and it really got ugly. When Vivendi merged with Activision, all of the great people that we had been working with and had originally greenlit our game were gone, replaced by some new people who were like 'Who are you guys?'. "It was very traumatic, and hadn't been handled in the best way either. "That day was one of the only times I actually said 'I need to go across the street and get a drink right now!'", admits Schafer. ![]() Without warning, Double Fine's new publishing partner then decided to drop Brutal Legend from its portfolio, despite the years of development time and effort that had already gone into making the title. The project had originally struck a publishing deal with Vivendi early on, but in 2008 the company's game division was acquired by Activision Blizzard. For a variety of reasons, Double Fine has maintained a decidedly indie focus ever since and, listening to Schafer's recollections of Brutal Legend's turbulent development, you can understand why. ![]()
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