Double Fine Acknowledges Xbox Shutdown Talks With an Emoji

Double Fine Productions, founded over 25 years ago and purchased by Microsoft in 2018, faces renewed uncertainty as the tech giant reshapes its console strategy and weighs spinning off or closing the Psychonauts 2 studio. As Microsoft considers how to unload several smaller Xbox studios, Double Fine acknowledged the negotiations on social media with a single sweat smile emoji.

Microsoft is also in talks to close or spin off Compulsion and Ninja Theory. The limited-integration studio, based in San Francisco, has not responded to requests for comment about the negotiations. Last year the studio shipped Keeper, an excellent adventure game that seemingly not enough people played.

Earlier this spring it released Kiln, a clever pottery party game that also didn’t make a big splash. These are exactly the type of games you’d buy Double Fine to have it make—unique, experimental genre mashups that push creativity amid a field crowded by sequels and copycats.

United States, San Francisco

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