Double Fine has revealed Thank You Bus Driver, its first game since regaining independence from Xbox Game Studios in July, alongside bold comments from founder Tim Schafer insisting no one but himself will ever shut the studio down. The quirky transport-sim title, in which players ferry passengers while enforcing rules, is the debut release under the studio's new Double Fine Action Labs label, aimed at smaller, quickly produced games in the vein of indie hit Peak. It signals the kind of offbeat, low-budget project the studio is keen to pursue now it is free of a major publisher's oversight.

The reveal capped a busy week for the San Francisco studio: its Kickstarter for the documentary and game jam Amnesia Fortnight 2026: Indie Reboot has already hit its funding target, with backers now voting on jam pitches, one of which will become a full release. Keeper was also shadow-dropped on PS5 during a State of Play, marking Double Fine's first post-Xbox launch, while staff showcased Thank You Bus Driver at PAX West. In a Bloomberg interview, Schafer said Xbox's CEO would not be the one to end the studio, declaring "no one puts Double Fine out of business except for me." Thank You Bus Driver has no release date yet and is currently planned for Windows PC only.