Xbox has announced that Double Fine’s long-awaited Psychonauts 2 will release on August 25th, confirming a Steam leak from earlier this month.
The news comes from the big Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase during E3 2021, in which a new trailer for Psychonauts 2 was also unveiled:
Psychonauts 2 once again is a platformer that follows acrobatic psychic Raz, who’s now a full member of the Psychonauts espionage group and must use his special powers to stop a mole from bringing back the evil Maligula.
The original Psychonauts was released in 2005 on the original Xbox, PlayStation 2 and PC. Double Fine first unveiled the sequel in 2015 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC alongside a crowdfunding campaign. However, Xbox’s 2019 acquisition of the studio afforded it more funding and re-add boss fights, which had previously been cut due to budgetary reasons.
While Xbox is now publishing Psychonauts 2, the company has confirmed that it will still release the game on PlayStation 4 and PC as well as Xbox consoles. Additionally, the game will be available on Xbox Game Pass on day one, like all other Xbox Game Studios titles.
For more on Psychonauts 2, check out our interview with co-writer and director Tim Schafer about how the game is tackling mental health themes.