Double Fine’s documentary series PsychOdyssey takes us through the highs and lows of development

Double Fine Productions and 2 Player Productions have released Double Fine PsychOdyssey, an “unprecedented documentary experience seven years in the making”.

Documenting the development of Psychonauts 2, the free series – which can be seen in full on YouTube (opens in new tab) and will take you the best part of a full day to get through – is described as “the direct continuation of the acclaimed series Double Fine Adventure, and offers even deeper insight into the passion, humor, and heartbreak of video game development”.

“Ten years after the release of their flagship video game Psychonauts, Double Fine Productions returns to its most celebrated franchise with Psychonauts 2,” states the playlist’s description.

“Now facing the pressure to produce a worthy sequel, the studio must confront overly ambitious designs, poor morale, technical challenges and financial woes, all during a turbulent span of time for the world.”

Psychonauts 2 is now Double Fine’s best-selling game (opens in new tab). That’s according to art director Lisette Titre-Montgomery, who recently claimed that her “leadership resulted in shipping [Double Fine’s] highest-rated and best-selling game to date”.

“April Fools Day was my last day at Double Fine,” she tweeted at the time. “I have learned so much over the past four years+ about who I am as a leader and what it means to be a creative visionary,” she said. “Thank you for trusting me to bring the world of Psychonauts 2 to life.”

Double Fine boss Tim Schafer has confirmed that the studio’s next project will not be Psychonauts 3 (opens in new tab) but something brand new. After revealing that Psychonauts 2 was “the first real big follow-up to a big story” that the studio had done, Schafer said: “I think it leads me to want to do new, original stuff for the next phase. Coming up with new ideas is really where my head is at right now”… although as Tim Schafer said himself, “never say never” to Psychonauts 3. (opens in new tab)

It was also revealed recently that the first Psychonauts originally started life as a peyote trip scene in Full Throttle. (opens in new tab)

Did you enjoy Double Fine’s sequel? Find out how Psychonauts 2 and its mental metaphors gave Hope a new way to combat negative feelings. (opens in new tab)

Vikki Blake is GamesRadar+’s Weekend Reporter. Vikki works tirelessly to ensure that you have something to read on the days of the week beginning with ‘S’, and can also be found contributing to outlets including the BBC, Eurogamer, and GameIndustry.biz. Vikki also runs a weekly games column at NME, and can be frequently found talking about Destiny 2 and Silent Hill on Twitter.