Psychonauts 2 pledge made 'semi-jokingly' - Minecraft creator

Last week, Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson pledged his support to Tim Schafer to help create a sequel to the 2005 cult hit Psychonauts. Writing on his blog today, however, Persson cautioned fans that the project is far from a reality, and his original offer was made "semi-jokingly."

According to Persson, he has exchanged only a few emails with Schafer regarding Psychonauts 2, but he is hopeful to meet with the Double Fine boss next month at the 2012 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.

Schafer originally said he needed a "couple million" to make Psychonauts 2, but speaking to Kotaku this week, the developer said the budget was in fact $13 million. Persson said this figure was much higher than his initial impression.

In addition, Persson said he presently has "no idea" if he will be involved in Psychonauts 2. He said investing that kind of money would require "a lot of planning and discussion," which the developer said he does not have experience with.

If Persson does in fact decide to invest in Psychonauts 2--what he called a "high risk investment"--he said it would not be done out of charity, nor would he want any creative input in the development of the title. Persson also said other, unnamed parties are interested in investing in Psychonauts 2.

Finally, Persson said he wishes the Internet would "stop hyping over this." He added that he worries that this instance will prevent him from being active and vocal on Twitter in the future.

"You're going to scare me into doing things secretly instead of being open and transparent via Twitter," he said. "I am incredibly scared of the very real risk of people feeling let down just because I took a chance at something that doesn't end up panning out."

Tim Schafer and his studio are currently at work on a point-and-click adventure game called Double Fine Adventure. The game made waves when its crowd-funding campaign eclipsed its target of $400,000 in about eight hours. The crowd fund reached over $1 million in its first 24 hours and presently boasts a support tally of $1.86 million with 26 days until the campaign ends.