Tim Shaffer and his studio Double Fine put the question to the community if they would like to see his studio work on a new adventure title, and have the process filmed for a documentary. The answer was a resounding “Yes!” with people putting their money where their mouth is, by committing over $975,000+ to the project by using Kickstart. (This blows the original goal of $400,000 away!)

Using Kickstarter to fund development isn’t exactly new, but so far it has been limited to smaller scale software developers; and for Shaffer and Double Fine to try this approach is new. The money raised much more than expected, and the extra funding will go toward things linking and releasing the finished product for additional platforms and localizing it into other languages.

So, what is this new project you might ask? Well, it does not actually have a name other than Double Fine’s Adventure. We could have hoped for Grim Fandango 2 or a sequel to Full Throttle, but we will just have to trust that Shaffer and company will deliver something unique and well worth playing.

Those lucky enough to have invested will get some perks for doing so, but that has yet to be determined what it might be. Now that the money has been raised, look to hear more specifics regarding the plan soon.

We have to wonder if Double Fine and Shaffer have hit on something here. Can other studios or will other studios be brave enough to also try this approach? It could be a new stream of funding, where the actual players help chart the developmental direction of studios. We will have to see where it leads, but it could prove to be an interesting move when it is all said and done.

Learn more about it here.