Devolver Digital

Devolver Digital is a publisher.

Devolver Digital Webpage, Facebook

Devolver Digital is the brand of GHI Media, LLC, an American company founded in 2009 that specializes in publishing and distributing games and films from independent creators. The company is headquartered in Austin, Texas, with a second office operating in London since 2012. Both branches employ a relatively small number of people. A fun fact about the company is that Devolver Digital's supposed chief financial officer is actually a completely fictional character named Fork Parker.

In just a few years, Devolver Digital has become one of the most important indie game publishers in the world. The company's publishing portfolio includes both indie remakes of classic hits, such as The Chaos Engine, Duke Nukem 3D, and Shadow Warrior, as well as entirely new projects and franchises, including Broforce, Titan Souls, The Talos Principle, and the Always Sometimes Monsters and Hotline Miami series.

The most interesting fact about Devolver Digital is that one of its key figures - Fork Parker, officially the company's chief financial officer - is completely fictional. His character was first introduced in the August 2009 trailer for Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter and quickly became quite popular. Since then, Parker has regularly appeared on the credits of most of the company's games, been featured in numerous press releases and promotional materials, and even has his own Twitter account.

The history of Devolver Digital

Collaboration with Croteam and the success of Hotline Miami

GHI Media, LLC was established in 2009 by Mike Wilson, Harry A. Miller IV, and Rick Stults, who had previously made their mark in the video game industry as founders of companies like Gathering of Developers, which operated from 1998 to 2004 (mostly owned by Take 2 Interactive), and Gamecock Media Group, which ran from 2007 to 2008 before being acquired and dissolved by SouthPeak Interactive. The first major milestone in the company's history was forming a partnership with the development studio Croteam, which led to the release of Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter, a modern remake of the Croatian franchise's 2001 hit, under the Devolver Digital brand. Finalizing the acquisition of the franchise rights, which had begun back in the days of Gathering of Developers, the company also released the third full installment of the Serious Sam series that same year.

At the same time, the company focused on investing in the rapidly growing indie game market and supporting young, talented developers from around the world. After teaming up with studios like Vlambeer and Mommy's Best Games, the company released Serious Sam: The Random Encounter, Serious Sam: Double D, and the entirely fan-made projects Serious Sam: Kamikaze Attack! and Serious Sam: The Greek Encounter. One of Devolver Digital's biggest publishing successes was Hotline Miami, released in 2012 by Dennaton Games. The PC version of the game sold 1.7 million copies and was later ported to other platforms, including a version for Android Nvidia Shield tablets, marking the company's first mobile game.

Fall Guys and other projects

After the success of Hotline Miami, Devolver Digital opened a new branch in London. Graeme Struthers and Andrew Parsons took charge, focusing on building collaborations with European indie game developers. At the 2013 South by Southwest Film Festival, Devolver Digital also announced its move into the film industry, creating a separate division called Devolver Films, led by Mike Wilson and Andie Grace, both with extensive experience in film. Just like with video games, the company aimed to support independent filmmakers in bringing their original artistic visions to life. In 2017, Wilson stepped down from Devolver Digital and later sold a large part of his shares in 2020.

In the following years, Devolver Digital kept releasing games that were well-received. Notable titles from this period include: Reigns (2016), Enter the Gungeon (2016), Ruiner (2017), Gris (2018), My Friend Pedro (2019), and finally Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout (2020). The latter was a huge success, earning $150 million by the end of 2020. In March 2021, the game's creators, Mediatonic, were bought by Epic Games. Devolver Digital reinvested the money from the sale of publishing rights into further development and new acquisitions.

Dynamic growth of the company

In October 2020, Devolver Digital acquired Croteam, the studio behind the Serious Sam and The Talos Principle series. In January 2021, the company acquired the publisher Good Shepherd Entertainment. In April, it acquired Nerial, creators of the Reigns series; in June, Firefly Studios, creators of the Stronghold franchise; and in July, Dodge Roll, known for the Gungeon series. In November 2021, Devolver Digital went public and was listed on the stock exchange. In the months that followed, Devolver Digital expanded its catalog with several high-profile titles. These included the unique hybrid of a card game and first-person horror, Inscryption; Shadow Warrior 3 from the Polish studio Flying Wild Hog; the isometric action RPG Weird West by WolfEye Studios (founded by former Arkane employees); the Kurosawa-inspired Trek to Yomi; the original roguelike Cult of the Lamb; the return of the Monkey Island series with Return to Monkey Island; and the humorous McPixel 3 from Polish developer Sos Sosowski.

In April 2023, Devolver Digital announced the acquisition of Doinksoft, a studio known for Gato Roboto and Demon Throttle. At the time of the acquisition, the studio was working on its next project, an action-platformer called Gunbrella. The latter was released in September 2023. Shortly after, in October, Devolver Digital released The Talos Principle 2. The game had the potential to match the success of the first installment, as reflected in high scores from industry media and "overwhelmingly positive" reviews on Steam.

Industry issues

Additionally, on November 1st, Devolver Digital announced the acquisition of System Era Softworks, the studio behind the popular game Astroneer. The streak of positive news for Devolver Digital came to a halt in February 2024. At that time, it was revealed that the company's CEO, Douglas Morin, was stepping down immediately and would be replaced by former CEO and co-founder Harry Miller.

Additionally, the ongoing wave of staff reductions in the video game industry also affected the publisher. On February 1st, 2024, it was announced that 28 employees would be let go from its Polish studio, Artificer. It's worth noting, however, that 10 of them were scheduled to leave only after completing their current projects.

In July 2024, the British company Kwalee acquired a minority stake in Devolver Digital. In October 2024, the company announced the creation of a new publishing division, Big Fan Games, which would focus on projects based on high-profile licenses. Former employees of Good Shepherd Entertainment, among others, joined the new division, whose future was secured through partnerships with companies like Disney, HBO, and Dark Horse Comics.