One of the many minds that helped bring cult classics like Psychonauts and Brutal Legend to life, we found Scott Campbell (who is mostly known as Scott C.) at the Alaska Robotics Mini-Con in Juneau, Alaska and talked to him about some of the latest trends in video games, his work with Double Fine Productions, and maybe even a hint at what to expect in the upcoming Psychonauts 2.

Campbell was the art director for both Psychonauts and Brutal Legend, as well as the upcoming Psychonauts 2. He was also the artist behind an alternate DVD cover for "King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters", which has recently had some closure after more than a decade. Outside of gaming, Campbell continues to put out his designs in print, where his famed Igloo Head and Tree Head characters keep popping up.

The King of Kong cover that Scott C. created for the DVD cover.

TG: What do you think about the push for esports to be more mainstream? How might esports look in the future?

“I think it could be an exciting thing; you can fill stadiums with that. Those players are superstars and people seem to love watching it.”

TG: Have you watched anyone speedrun any of the games that you have worked on?

“I’ve seen some Psychonauts runs and it’s very impressive. When we were making Psychonauts near the end, crunching on it and spending the night there, I felt that we were all pretty good at speedrunning it. I could speedrun the game pretty well. Although, I feel like once you make a game and you feel that you’re really good at it and put it out into the world, everyone is instantly way better at it than anyone at the company.”

“People are good; I am incredibly impressed.”

TG: When it comes to working with Double Fine and seeing your creations come to life, is this something that you’ve always wanted to do?

“I found myself making games after college, making backgrounds for LucasArts. I played them casually; I’m not a huge gamer. I just found myself in it. It wasn’t like an aspiration of mine, but once I was in it I loved it. The process was amazing.”

“Working with Tim Schafer has been a blessing, a wonderful, wonderful blessing, because he is someone that loves the art of it, the story, and loves every aspect of what the gaming experience is. I feel very fortunate to be working with him and everyone else at Double Fine. They are such a creative bunch of people.”

“Even more than movies or anything else, if you are surrounded by people like that, then you will end up doing your best work and you will be proud of what you do and you will push yourself really far. It has been a wonderful experience.”

TG: Do you have any details on Pyschonauts 2 that you can share?

“It’s going good. All of the main characters I feel pretty good about. The story is incredible. I think we’ve been revealing stuff here and there on the forums and such, but I do know that they have revealed that Raz’s family is in it so players will get to know them a lot more.”

“It was really fun to revisit them; I think I drew the parents in the vaults or something like that in the first game. There was a little bit of that in Raz’s background when you visit his own mind. It was fun to go back and see those designs, pull them out, and see Raz’s upbringing.”

TG: What is it like to have those characters be able to take on new life with the use of new technology?

“It’s all magical to me, because I don’t understand the technical side of it at all. Anytime I see a design even modeled and start to move around in an engine, it’s like Christmas morning every time. So we’ll have a test room with all of the characters standing around and doing flips or whatever they’re doing and I’m like 'Oh my god! This is incredible.'”

A take on Pacific Rim by Scott C.

Scott C. is also known for his work in picture books where he creates images that are both simple in their design, complex in their ideas, but easy to enjoy across all ages. He also has a tendency to tackle things in pop-culture in his style and loves to draw things that are inherently cute. You can find more of his work at his personal website.

Want to see more players making the most out of the artist's work? We spoke with one of the best speedrunners of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze!