Oven is the next game from Double Fine Productions, recently revealed Xbox Developer Direct. Described as an “online multiplayer pottery party brawler,” the upcoming title marks a somewhat unexpected venture for both Psychonauts developers and the Xbox Game Studios family as a whole.
Double Fine's latest launched game is Keepera dreamlike platformer with a voiceless story, starring a walking lighthouse and its pelican-like friend. Keeper was released for Xbox Series X/S and PC on October 17. Barely three months later, the American studio has revealed its next project.
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Furnace is a game about making pots and then having them beat other, clearly inferior pots
Announced during the 2026 Xbox Developer Direct, Oven billed as an “online multiplayer ceramics party brawler.” The premise marks a fairly new direction for Psychonauts developers, even by Double Fine's experiment-friendly standards. It is named after a type of kiln often used to dry ceramics. True to its name, Ovens gameplay is centered on players creating pots that become their fighters, then continuing to control them to play it out in 4v4 online matches.
Ovens inventive premise wasn't invented overnight, but it didn't take much longer either. Its roots can be traced back to Amnesia Fortnight, one of Double Fine's annual traditions where the developer prototypes different game ideas over a two-week period. For the 2017 edition of the event, the studio chose several concepts: three voted for by fans, one chosen by Double Fine founding creative director Tim Schafer, and one that the team tasked with developing all the prototypes—led by lead artist Derek Brand—wanted to make. Oven was born out of the last choice.
Kiln Prototype from 2017, Long Thought Abandoned Until Today
How Kiln's pot making works
The game's pot-making mechanics have been significantly streamlined compared to the real thing, but Double Fine still thought it wise to include them given the premise. “It's just a button and a control stick,” Brand says of the ceramics experience in the game. In practice, this means aiming somewhere with a stick and throwing a piece of clay with a button. But the simple design still allows for quite a variety of creative applications, especially when paired with the ability to choose from three different clay sizes and eight wheelable shapes, including bowls, cups and bottles. “You can make any shape you want,” says Brand.
The whole pottery part is such that it grabs people who maybe don't want to jump into a multiplayer game… if we can, we just slowly ease them into “I want to hit something now with this pot.”
Why Kiln's pot making is important
Each pot-making session will essentially act as an engaging and highly granular class picker. In addition to dictating the pot's shape, the player's decisions during this stage will determine things like durability, speed, and movement, including 24 special attacks inspired by shapes, or rather functions associated with shapes. For example, massive cylinders will transform into hammers, while hockey puck-like pots will be able to pull off a trick shot that ricochets between enemies. Ultimately, the pot creation and 4v4 battles work together to create a unique casual multiplayer experience. “The whole ceramics part is such that it grabs hold of people who might not want to jump into a multiplayer game,” explains Brand. “If we can, we just slowly ease them into, 'I want to hit something now with this pot.'”
Oven will arrive in spring 2026
Oven is currently aiming for a Spring 2026 release. It will debut simultaneously for Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5 and PC. As a first-party Microsoft game, it will also be an Xbox Game Pass title, available on PC and the Ultimate tiers of the subscription service. While still awaiting a concrete release date, Double Fine's final game was announced and launched within a period of just over four months. If it's any prediction for the immediate future, it would help narrow the spring of 2026 to late April or early May.
