San Francisco based developer Double Fine has entered the world of publishing in an effort to help "indies to stay indie".

The Psychonauts and Broken Age developer wants to extend a helping hand towards its indie counterparts, with the firm looking to empower, rather than shackle, smaller developers.

"Our goal is to help indies build their own community and empower them with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed on their own," explained Double Fine COO, Justin Bailey.

"Lots of indies have approached us and asked if we could help them out with publishing, so we knew there was value in what we have to offer."

Indie pride

Double Fine aims to put its 14 years of industry experience to good use, and is encouraging developers to reach out and ask for help. 

"They all had a unique request and that's where we started to see there was a real need for the knowledge we've gained over the last 14 years on how to prototype, fund, develop, and publish our own games," said Bailey.

"Some will want help with Kickstarters and other funding, some will want development feedback, others will want promotional or even advice porting to other platforms."

A better alternative

Bailey revealed that Double Fine decided to step up to the plate after the team noticed there wasn't a publisher currently offering its services in a "flexible format". 

"We're open to working with each developer and figuring out how we can help make them successful," said Bailey.  

"The current focus is just on making the titles we publish successful and something that both the developer and Double Fine can be proud of.

"That's the alternative we want to offer – a way for indies to stay indie."

[source: GameInformer]