Tim Schafer: "Publishers don't often want to release anything new."

Tim Schafer has always been an outspoken game developer. Renown for his work on LucasArts adventure titles Full Throttle and Grim Fandango, Schafer's signature humor can be found in critically acclaimed titles like Psychonauts and Costume Quest, developed by his studio Double Fine Productions.

"Publishers don't often want to release anything new, I mean they're scared of new IP, and Double Fine specializes in new IP," said Schafer in an interview with Digital Spy about his new game, Happy Action Theater.

"That's always been our challenge, is getting a publisher to invest millions of dollars in something brand new like Brutal Legend," he said.

Schafer extolled the virtues of developing smaller titles, as they were easier to publish and required smaller budgets.

"It has helped to have games that are smaller, like digital download games are smaller so the budget sare smaller, like Happy Action Theater," he said. "The whole reason it got made was that I was asking for very little money to get it made."

"And once it proved the power of it, money was invested in it, but the original thing that we were asking for was very small."