Devolver Digital

American video game publisher and film distributorTemplate:SHORTDESC:American video game publisher and film distributor[[Category:**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Pagetype/config' not found.**s with short description]]

Template:Use American English
Template:Use mdy dates

* Harry Miller
* Rick Stults
* Nigel Lowrie

**Devolver Digital** is an American video game publisher based in Austin, Texas, specializing in the publishing of indie games. The company was founded in June 2009 by Mike Wilson, Harry Miller and Rick Stults, alongside business partners Nigel Lowrie and Graeme Struthers. The three founders had previously operated Gathering of Developers and Gamecock Media Group, which published games on developer-friendly terms, but due to the high cost associated with releasing retail games saw themselves acquired and dissolved by larger companies. To avoid this, Devolver Digital instead turned to digital distribution channels.

Devolver Digital started by publishing high-definition remakes of games in the *Serious Sam* series of games. After success with these remakes and spin-off games based on the series, Devolver Digital began publishing games from other, smaller independent studios, one of the first being their breakout title, *Hotline Miami*. The company also operates **Devolver Digital Films** for film distribution, and majority-owns publisher Good Shepherd Entertainment. As of January 2020, Devolver Digital employs 20 people.

## History

### Founding and initial development (2009–2012)

Devolver Digital was founded in Austin, Texas, by Mike Wilson, Harry Miller and Rick Stults. The three had previously co-founded publishing companies Gathering of Developers in 1998, and Gamecock Media Group in 2007. With both Gathering of Developers and Gamecock Media Group, the co-founders had envisioned a publishing model wherein the publisher would handle all logistical aspects of releasing a game, so that the developer could focus on developing the game itself. This included offering deals wherein the developers could keep all rights to their games. However, at the time of these companies' existences, the primary distribution channel for games was retail, which was very costly. As a result, both companies saw themselves acquired by larger companies at some point, and were dissolved shortly thereafter. Devolver Digital thus aimed at not producing games in physical forms, and instead focusing publishing efforts for digital distribution platforms, such as Steam.

Devolver Digital started with six people, including the three founders, as well as founding partners Nigel Lowrie and Graeme Struthers, also prior business partners of Wilson. The company's establishment was announced on June 25, 2009. As the company did not occupy any office, its mailing address was that of a bird feed shop owned by Stults until 2018. Their first game, announced alongside their formation, was *Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter*, a high-definition remake of the 2001 game *Serious Sam: The First Encounter*, both developed by Croteam. The original *Serious Sam* games were published by Gathering of Developers, and Croteam had continued working with Wilson and his partners while at Gamecock Media Group. Since Croteam's deal with Gathering of Developers allowed Croteam to retain the rights to the series, they were able to work with Devolver Digital on further titles beyond the ownership of Gathering of Developers' assets. The partnership proved fruitful, and Croteam and Devolver Digital continued to co-operated for a high-definition remake of the second *Serious Sam* game, *Serious Sam: The Second Encounter*. To avoid having to bring in investors or otherwise raise funding, Devolver Digital at first avoided signing titles other than *Serious Sam*. The company then opted to work with smaller independent studios, such as the two-man team Vlambeer, to produces indie games based on *Serious Sam*. Between 2011 and 2012, these partnership produced four spin-off games based on *Serious Sam*, known as the *Serious Sam Indie Series*.

Following their success with the *Serious Sam Indie Series*, Devolver Digital became more open to other independent studios. The company signed a few new games, but also had to reject many offers due to a lack of capacities. One of the games they signed was *Hotline Miami* by the two-man studio Dennaton Games. The game, released in 2012, became Devolver Digital's breakout hit; it received critical praise, appeared on multiple "Best of 2012" lists, and sold over 1,700,000 copies by February 2013.

### Growth and film distribution (2013–present)

In March 2013, at the SXSW Film Festival, Devolver Digital announced Devolver Digital Films, a film distribution subsidiary. The partnership would be led by Devolver Digital's Wilson, alongside Andie Grace, who became vice-president of acquisitions. In the films business, Wilson had previously produced the film *Austin High*, while Grace had held oversight roles for film projects created at the Burning Man Festival. Devolver Digital cited the lack of support for independent filmmakers at the point of distribution and financial support in production as primary reason for the opening.

Devolver continued to expand its publishing catalog from 2013, publishing roughly ten games per year. They have typically focused on smaller indie developers, and while they are often associated with weird and bizarre games, such as *Genital Jousting*, this is only by happenstance, according to Wilson.

## Public appearance

### Fork Parker

Devolver Digital presents Fork Parker, a fictional character, as their chief financial officer. The character first appeared in a promotional video for *Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter* in August 2009. A Twitter account is operated under Fork Parker's name, which, as of September 2015, has 10,000 followers. He is also credited on Devolver Digital's blog posts and press releases. Fork Parker is intentionally presented as satirical and inappropriate. A game based on Fork Parker, *Fork Parker's Crunch Out* was developed by Mega Cat Studios for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and released by Devolver Digital in February 2019, with all profits going to Take That, a non-profit organization for mental health in the gaming community.

### Big Fancy Press Conferences

Devolver Digital announced in May 2017 that they were to hold a press conference at the E3 2017 exhibition event. The conference deviated from common practice, as it was a pre-recorded satirical video, entitled the *Big Fancy Press Conference*, of a supposed live show, hosted by Devolver Digital's supposed chief synergy officer Nina Struthers, played by actress Mahria Zook. It included several mock announcements, such as that of a new microtransaction method where the customer could throw money at the screen to purchase items, and that of "Earliest Access", a parody on early access in which players could pre-order games that had yet to enter production. The video was directed by Don Thacker, the head of film production company Imagos Softworks.

Another *Big Fancy Press Conference* was held at E3 2018, with Zook reprising her role. This show introduced on a new item called the "Lootboxcoin", a parody of both cryptocurrency and loot boxes, which was a plastic coin that had no actual value, but was made available for purchase from Devolver Digital's online store for a fluctuating price. The presentation explicitly stated that the coin was not a cryptocurrency, should not be considered currency and warned viewers that they could not buy anything with it.

Devolver Digital held another *Big Fancy Press Conference* at E3 2019, revealing a direct-to-consumer "Devolver Direct" video. The show contained several announcements for actual games, including *Devolver Bootleg*, a collection of games parodying other games published by Devolver Digital. The game was released alongside the announcement, at a 1% discount. The music for the three conferences was composed by John Robert Matz; a compilation album, titled *Devolver Digital Cinematic Universe: Phase 1 (Original Soundtrack)*, was released through label Materia Collective in June 2019.

## Corporate affairs

As of January 2020, the company employs 20 people, all of whom work remotely. These included event planning team and staff focused on bringing the company's games to China, though this was later shut down. One key hire was vice-president of mobile publishing Mark Hickey in December 2018, who had been the business manager for Apple Inc.'s App Store.

Devolver Digital operates a film distribution arm, Devolver Digital Films, which was established in 2013. The company also majority-owns another publisher, Good Shepherd Entertainment. A close collaborator to Devolver Digital is Special Reserve Games, a limited-run distributor of physical versions of games. Special Reserve Games was founded in 2016 by CEO Jeff Smith, after he had pitched Wilson the idea of creating a physical release of the PC version of *Shadow Warrior 2*. Since then, Special Reserve Games has released further physical game releases, limited to only Devolver Digital games, though it is considering to partner with different companies in the future.

## References

1. ↑ Grant, Christopher (June 25, 2009). "Gamecock, Gathering of Developers founders re-emerge as Devolver Digital". https://www.engadget.com/2009/06/25/gamecock-gathering-of-developers-founders-re-emerge-as-devolver/.
2. ↑ McKeand, Kirk (August 31, 2016). "Meet Devolver Digital, gaming's own Death Row Records".
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Zacny, Rob (June 30, 2014). "If at first you don't succeed: Mike Wilson on five years of Devolver, and a lifetime of publishing struggles". https://www.pcgamesn.com/if-first-you-dont-succeed-mike-wilson-five-years-devolver-and-lifetime-publishing-struggles.
4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 Webster, Andrew (June 5, 2019). "Why gaming's most influential indie label has stayed small for a decade". https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/5/18652878/devolver-digital-anniversary-hotline-miami-serious-sam-indie-gaming.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Brice, Kath (June 26, 2009). "Gamecock co-founders start new publishing company". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/gamecock-co-founders-start-new-publishing-company.
6. ↑ Messner, Steven (September 23, 2016). "How Devolver Digital is redefining videogame publishing". https://www.pcgamer.com/how-devolver-digital-is-redefining-videogame-publishing/.
7. ↑ McWhertor, Michael (June 25, 2009). "Gamecock Resurrected As Devolver Digital?". https://kotaku.com/gamecock-resurrected-as-devolver-digital-5302626.
8. ↑ Faylor, Chris (June 25, 2009). "Gamecock and g.o.d. Vets Return with Devolver". https://www.shacknews.com/article/59293/gamecock-and-god-vets-return.
9. ↑ Nunneley, Stephany (June 25, 2009). "Devolver Digital formed by Gamecock, GOD games founders". https://www.vg247.com/2009/06/25/devolver-digital-formed-by-gamecock-god-games-founders/.
10. ↑ Smith, Quintin (March 9, 2011). "For Serious: The Serious Sam Indie Series". https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/03/09/for-serious-the-serious-sam-indie-series/.
11. ↑ Fisher, Liam (January 24, 2012). "Indieroyale kicks off a Serious Sam Lighting Bundle". https://www.destructoid.com/indieroyale-kicks-off-a-serious-sam-lighting-bundle-220272.phtml.
12. ↑ Roberts, David (April 29, 2015). "Digital humanity: how Devolver is the Sub Pop of gaming". https://www.gamesradar.com/digital-humanity-how-devolver-sub-pop-gaming/.
13. ↑ Hamilton, Kirk (January 3, 2013). "Kirk's Top 11 Games Of 2012". https://kotaku.com/kirks-top-11-games-of-2012-5972962.
14. ↑ Krupa, Daniel (February 19, 2013). "Hotline Miami Coming to PS3 and PS Vita". https://www.ign.com/articles/2013/02/19/hotline-miami-coming-to-ps3-and-ps-vita.
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Chiullan, Moisés (March 7, 2013). "SXSW: Videogame Developer/Publisher Devolver Digital Adds a Film Distribution Arm!". http://legacy.aintitcool.com/node/61334.
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 Pinsof, Allistair (March 3, 2013). "Hotline Miami publisher opens film subsidiary". https://www.destructoid.com/hotline-miami-publisher-opens-film-subsidiary-247984.phtml.
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Takahashi, Dean (June 28, 2019). "How Devolver Digital pursues the indie fringe and brings it to mainstream gamers". https://venturebeat.com/2019/06/28/how-devolver-digital-pursues-the-indie-fringe-and-brings-it-to-mainstream-gamers/.
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Newman, Heather (December 1, 2015). "A Very Special Holiday Interview with (fake) Devolver Digital CFO Fork Parker". https://venturebeat.com/2015/12/01/a-very-special-holiday-interview-with-fake-devolver-digital-chief-financial-officer-fork-parker/view-all/.
19. ↑ Dealessandri, Marie (December 14, 2017). "Being Fork Parker – Devolver Digital's marketing masterstroke". https://www.mcvuk.com/being-fork-parker-devolver-digitals-marketing-masterstroke/.
20. ↑ Faylor, Chris (August 31, 2009). "Serious Sam HD 'Testimonials' Offer Video Confusion". https://www.shacknews.com/article/60264/serious-sam-hd-testimonials-offer.
21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 junglist (September 15, 2015). "The Best Of Fork Parker's Publisher Satire". https://www.kotaku.com.au/2015/09/the-best-of-fork-parkers-publisher-satire/.
22. ↑ Bell, Brian (May 10, 2018). "Devolver Digital's New SNES Title Addresses the Plague of "Crunch" While Raising Money for Charity". https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/05/devolver-digitals-new-snes-title-addresses-the-pla.html.
23. ↑ "Fork Parker's Crunch Out – Super Nintendo Launch Trailer". February 21, 2019. https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/02/21/fork-parkers-crunch-out-super-nintendo-launch-trailer.
24. ↑ Lemne, Bengt (May 18, 2017). "Devolver Digital to host an E3 press conference". https://www.gamereactor.eu/devolver-digital-to-host-an-e3-press-conference/.
25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Alexander, Julia (June 10, 2018). "The story behind Devolver Digital's legendary, ridiculously last-minute 2017 E3 press conference". https://www.polygon.com/e3/2018/6/8/17437730/devolver-digital-e3-2017-2018-press-conference-twitch.
26. ↑ Jackson, Gita (June 12, 2017). "Devolver Digital's 'Press Conference' Was A Nightmare Vision of E3". https://kotaku.com/devolver-digitals-press-conference-was-a-nightmare-visi-1796020570.
27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 Farokhmanesh, Megan (June 10, 2018). "Devolver Digital mocks loot boxes and cryptocurrencies with its latest E3 stunt". https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/10/17447914/devolver-digital-e3-loot-box-coin-gag.
28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 Kuchera, Ben (June 10, 2018). "Yes, you can actually buy Devolver Digital's Lootboxcoin". https://www.polygon.com/e3/2018/6/10/17447478/devolver-digital-lootboxcoin-e3-2018-conference.
29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Macgregor, Jody (June 10, 2019). "Devolver's E3 conference was bloody and weird, as usual". https://www.pcgamer.com/devolvers-e3-conference-was-bloody-and-weird-as-usual/.
30. ↑ Kuchera, Ben (June 9, 2019). "Devolver announces 8-in-1 'bootleg' game collection, out tonight". https://www.polygon.com/e3/2019/6/9/18659136/devolver-digital-bootleg-steam-download-e3-2019.
31. ↑ "Devolver Digital® Cinematic Universe: Phase 1 (Original Soundtrack)". June 9, 2019. https://www.materiacollective.com/music/devolver-digital-cinematic-universe-phase-1-original-soundtrack.
32. ↑ Valentine, Rebekah (May 22, 2019). "The accidental authenticity of Devolver Digital". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-05-21-the-accidental-authenticity-of-devolver-digital.
33. ↑ Template:Cite twitter
34. ↑ Valentine, Rebekah (December 18, 2018). "Devolver Digital names former Apple games business manager to lead mobile charge". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2018-12-18-devolver-digital-names-former-apple-games-business-manager-to-lead-mobile-charge.
35. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
36. ↑ Osborn, George (September 13, 2016). "A Gambitious Proposal?". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2016-09-13-a-gambitious-proposal.
37. ↑ Sinclair, Brendan (November 13, 2019). ""I believe I am preserving digital art in a physical form"". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-11-13-i-believe-i-am-preserving-digital-art-in-a-physical-form.
38. ↑ Devolver Digital (May 18, 2012). "Devolver Digital Launches "To-Fu: The Trials of Chi" on Android". https://devolverdigital.tumblr.com/post/23288681084.
39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 39.2 Devolver Digital (November 14, 2012). "To-Fu and Spacelings Bounce Onto PC". https://devolverdigital.tumblr.com/post/35703700379.
40. ↑ Devolver Digital (August 8, 2012). "Spacelings Beaming to Android". https://devolverdigital.tumblr.com/post/28996211452.