Devolver Digital Inc. is an American video game publisher and film distributor based in Austin, Texas, which is primarily associated with the Serious Sam and Hotline Miami series. The company was founded in June 2009 by Mike Wilson, Harry Miller and Rick Stults, who were the previous founders and executives of Gathering of Developers and Gamecock Media Group.
Overview[]
Devolver Digital is a video game publishing company based in Texas. It was founded by Mike Wilson, who's been in the video game publishing industry for over 14 years. He worked with Croteam back when he worked at Gathering of Developers, and was set to publish Croteam's T.E.O.R with GameCock, another publishing group started by him. His previous work made his company a natural choice for publishing the latest Serious Sam games.
Devolver Digital has played an important role in the development of recent Serious Sam games, as they spearheaded the Serious Sam indie series, which lead to the creation of Serious Sam: Double D, Serious Sam: Kamikaze Attack!, and Serious Sam: The Random Encounter. Their unofficial mascot, Fork Parker, has also made appearances in several Serious Sam games, such as The Random Encounter and as a player model in Serious Sam 3: BFE.
Currently, they are interested in expanding towards publishing and financing games from other indie developers. To facilitate this, they have set up a bus near Game Developer Conference 2012 that will let indie developers walk in and pitch a game to members of Devolver Digital's staff. If they like what they see, they'll help finance and publish it.
Marketing[]
Despite being a small publishing firm, they have made quite a few notable advertisements for Serious Sam games.
They are the people behind the unusual advertisements for Serious Sam HD and Serious Sam 3. They were the ones who thought up the original infomercial-style ads for Serious Sam HD. These ads featured things such as a Serious Sam HD-themed singalong, customer testimonials, and a series of fake infomercials involving an unhinged man rant and go crazy with footage of the HD version of Serious Sam: The Second Encounter played between his rants.
They decided to go a different route with Serious Sam 3. They made a series of videos called about people calling to a fictional helpline for Serious Sam 3, with a sassy guy on the other side Rich Knuckles, dispensing advice. Devolver Digital also managed to have their own E3 booth at E3 2011 by renting out a part of a nearby hotel and inviting members of the gaming press to preview Serious Sam 3.
History[]
Devolver Digital was founded in Austin, Texas, by Mike Wilson, Harry Miller and Rick Stults.[2][3][4] The three had previously co-founded Gathering of Developers in 1998, and later Gamecock Media Group in 2007.[5] Founding partners were Nigel Lowrie and Graeme Struthers, also business partners of Wilson.[6] They announced the company's establishment on June 25, 2009, coinciding with the reveal of their first game, a high-definition remake of Serious Sam: The First Encounter.[7][8] The First Encounter was originally published through Gathering of Developers, in a deal where Croteam retained the series' intellectual property, using which they chose to cooperate with Devolver Digital.[9]
Working on the Serious Sam series[]
After partnering with the Crotian-based company Croteam for the Serious Sam series, they published their first game, Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter, in 2009. Devolver Digital continued publishing more Serious Sam games, but also began focusing on smaller video game developers. Their first major indie success was Hotline Miami by Dennaton Games in 2012. Alongside the release of Hotline Miami, Devolver Digital opened a second office in London, England. In 2013, the company opened their film distribution arm, Devolver Digital Films, which aims at helping independent filmmakers by digitally distributing and promoting their work.
Prior to the release of Serious Sam 3, Devolver Digital and Croteam experimented with the idea of shifting its focus towards publishing games of smaller independent companies. Using Serious Sam as a test bed, Devolver Digital contracted Mommy's Best Games and Vlambeer for smaller high-concept titles, publishing Serious Sam: Double D and Serious Sam: The Random Encounter, respectively. Afterwards, fan-made titles Serious Sam: Kamikaze Attack! by Be-Rad Entertainment and Serious Sam: The Greek Encounter by Eric Ruth Games, were taken into the official "indie series" portfolio and also published by Devolver Digital.
Fictional CFO[]
Fork Parker is a fictional character and the alledged chief financial officer of Devolver Digital. He made his first appearance in a promotional video for Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter on August 18, 2009, where he received a lot of fan acclaim. With rise in popularity, he was made into an advertisement figure, appearing on press releases and in-game credits, as well as receiving his own Twitter account where he promotes Devolver Digital's games and gives critical opinions about current trends or news.[10] Although he is a fictional character, Fork Parker has officially been listed as Devolver Digital's chief financial officer and is treated as such, appearing as an avaricious personality in the form of Easter eggs in various games.
Aside from a few cameos in several Serious Sam games, Fork Parker also appears as a playable multiplayer character in Serious Sam 3. He is also a playable character in Serious Sam Fusion for all other games included with it.
Games[]
Games published[]
For the full list of games published by Devolver Digital, see Devolver Digital on Wikipedia.
| Year | Title | Developer(s) | Platform(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter | Croteam | Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 |
| 2010 | Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter | Croteam | Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 |
| 2011 | Serious Sam: Double D | Mommy's Best Games | Microsoft Windows |
| Serious Sam: Kamikaze Attack! | Be-Rad Entertainment | Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows | |
| Serious Sam: The Random Encounter | Vlambeer | Microsoft Windows | |
| Serious Sam 3: BFE | Croteam | Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | |
| 2012 | Serious Sam: The Greek Encounter | Eric Ruth Games | Microsoft Windows |
| 2013 | Serious Sam: Double D: XXL | Mommy's Best Games | Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 |
| 2017 | Serious Sam VR: The First Encounter | Croteam | Linux, Microsoft Windows |
| Serious Sam VR: The Second Encounter | Croteam | Linux, Microsoft Windows | |
| Serious Sam's Bogus Detour | Crackshell | Linux, Microsoft Windows | |
| Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope | Croteam | Microsoft Windows | |
| Serious Sam 3 VR: BFE | Croteam | Linux, Microsoft Windows | |
| 2018 | I Hate Running Backwards | Binx Interactive | Linux, Microsoft Windows |
| 2019 | Serious Sam Classics: Revolution | Croteam Alligator Pit |
Microsoft Windows |
| 2020 | Serious Sam 4 | Croteam | Microsoft Windows, Stadia |
Games re-released[]
| Year of re-release | Year of original release | Title | Developer(s) | Platform(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 2001 | Serious Sam: The First Encounter | Croteam | Microsoft Windows |
| 2002 | Serious Sam: The Second Encounter | Croteam | Microsoft Windows | |
| 2012 | 2005 | Serious Sam 2 | Croteam | Microsoft Windows |
References[]
- ↑ https://www.hardcoregamer.com/2017/05/03/limited-run-and-special-reserve-games-team-up-for-strafe-physical-edition/256270/
- ↑ https://www.engadget.com/2009/06/25/gamecock-gathering-of-developers-founders-re-emerge-as-devolver/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer_us=aHR0cHM6Ly9lbi53aWtpcGVkaWEub3JnLw&guce_referrer_cs=BQp0fNKhdXrjf7IJRYBp0Q
- ↑ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gaming/what-to-play/meet-devolver-digital-gamings-own-death-row-records/
- ↑ https://www.pcgamesn.com/if-first-you-dont-succeed-mike-wilson-five-years-devolver-and-lifetime-publishing-struggles
- ↑ https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/gamecock-co-founders-start-new-publishing-company
- ↑ https://www.pcgamer.com/how-devolver-digital-is-redefining-videogame-publishing/
- ↑ https://kotaku.com/gamecock-resurrected-as-devolver-digital-5302626
- ↑ https://www.shacknews.com/article/59293/gamecock-and-god-vets-return
- ↑ https://www.vg247.com/2009/06/25/devolver-digital-formed-by-gamecock-god-games-founders/
- ↑ https://venturebeat.com/2015/12/01/a-very-special-holiday-interview-with-fake-devolver-digital-chief-financial-officer-fork-parker/view-all/