Post
The LucasArts adventure-game writer who launched the modern crowdfunding era with one Kickstarter video.
Joined LucasArts in 1989 and wrote/co-designed The Secret of Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, and Grim Fandango — defining the late-era classic adventure game. Founded Double Fine Productions in 2000, where he made Psychonauts (2005), Brütal Legend (2009), and Broken Age (2014, the breakthrough Kickstarter that raised $3.3M and proved the platform's viability for game development). Double Fine was acquired by Microsoft in 2019. Psychonauts 2 (2021) was widely considered one of his career high points.
Example
Schafer's 2012 Kickstarter pitch video for Broken Age (then 'Double Fine Adventure') broke crowdfunding records — it raised $400K in 8 hours and $1M in a day, demonstrating that fans would pay upfront for games from creators they trusted. It directly enabled the 2012-2015 indie crowdfunding wave.
Why it matters
Schafer is one of the most influential figures in indie publishing — both as a designer continuing the LucasArts lineage and as the proof-of-concept for crowdfunded mid-size game development.
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