Double Fine Productions have put a number on the Brütal Legend 2 funding goal: $100 million (£74,068,500). The independent US studio, two months on from cutting ties with Xbox, say they will make the sequel to the 2009 heavy metal videogame if someone hands them that sum, or if a miracle occurs on their current Kickstarter campaign.
‘We aren’t joking,’ Double Fine wrote on X (formerly Twitter). ‘If someone wants to give us $100M (or some miracle happens and the Kickstarter makes more than double the current record holder, which is $44M raised), we’ll make Brütal Legend 2. We’d love to do it, but a game like that requires significant funding.’
A follow-up post spelled out exactly what that scale means in practice. ‘It would require the entire studio to solely focus on a single game for a long time, and funding would have to cover many elements of development. But if enough people want it that we raise $100M, who are we to refuse?’
Amnesia Fortnight: the Kickstarter behind the Brütal Legend 2 funding goal
The context for all of this is Amnesia Fortnight, Double Fine’s internal game jam that has been running since 2007. The studio describes it as ‘a two-week period in which we forget about all the things we should be working on to pitch one another our wildest game ideas, choose our favourites, and make prototypes of them.’ This year, they have turned it into a public Kickstarter campaign, and the 2026 edition brings 26 unique pitches from the Double Fine team to the table.
Backers who donate more than $15 (£11.11) can vote on which four ideas get developed into prototypes. Those donating $30 receive double voting power; $60 and above gets four-times the vote. Crucially, one of the four finalists will be developed beyond the prototype stage into a real small game, published under Double Fine’s new label for small, strange releases. The campaign runs through 30 September, and that label is Double Fine Action Labs.
At time of writing, the campaign has raised $385,867 (£285,856), just short of its $400,000 goal with 28 days remaining. The $100 million Brütal Legend 2 pledge sits, then, as a stretch goal that would need to shatter the current Kickstarter record by more than double.
Tim Schafer’s long-running dilemma over a sequel
Double Fine head Tim Schafer has wrestled with this question publicly before. Two years ago, in a blog post marking the original game’s 15th anniversary, he wrote that he was ‘torn’ about the prospect of a follow-up. ‘People ask about Brütal Legend 2 all the time, and I’m torn about that,’ he said. ‘I know some of them want it with an evolution of the RTS [real-time strategy] stuff and some of them just want God Of War with [main character] Eddie Riggs. I understand the logic of making the second option, but I’m much more excited about the first.’
Programmer Chad Dawson sees plenty of room to move in any direction. ‘There’s so much of a world to explore that could be done in many ways,’ he said. ‘It could be an RPG [role-playing game], it could be an RTS. Or even an auto battler!’
The original Brütal Legend was considered a commercial disappointment on release but found a devoted cult following. Its cast was stacked: Jack Black voiced protagonist Eddie Riggs, Ozzy Osbourne lent his voice and likeness to the Guardian Of Metal, and rock musicians Lita Ford, Rob Halford and Lemmy Kilmister all appeared. Decorated actor Tim Curry, who voiced antagonist Emperor Doviculus, died last month at the age of 80.
To mark his passing, Double Fine made Brütal Legend free to download for 666 minutes. It is the kind of gesture that tells you everything about where this studio’s heart is. Whether the cash ever materialises is another matter entirely, but the Amnesia Fortnight campaign closes on 30 September, and the clock is running.
