Double Fine says "suits around a table" don't always know best

Massive Chalice project lead Brad Muir has said he has a hard time believing "suits" know what gamers really want.

Speaking to GamesIndustry, the Double Fine designer said the year he spent pitching the now-cancelled Brazen to publishers left him disenchanted with the prospect of having "businessmen" greenlight games.

"I don't want to name any names, but the stop-motion aesthetic - that game was based on the Ray Harryhausen stop-motion animations - was always the sticking point. That people wouldn't relate to it or think it was cool," he said.

"This was just a bunch of businessmen, like suits around a table. It was very hard for me to listen to their opinions of what gamers might actually like. It's a very weird thing, taking your ideas to a small group of businessmen and having them tell you whether they think it's going to sell or not. I don't think they always know best."

Having given up on Barzen, Muir moved on to Massive Chalice, which Double Fine took straight to Kickstarter even though the project is still in its infancy. The project has already garnered over $670,000 of its $750,000 goal.

It's Double Fine's second Kickstarter; its first project, now known as Broken Age, is credited with beginning a major rush on crowdfunding for indie developers. It is still in development; Double Fine is a multi-team studio.