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. 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.
As the company did not occupy any office, its mailing address was that of a bird feed shop owned by Stults until 2018. The company's establishment was announced on June 25, 2009. ĭevolver Digital started with six people, including the three founders, as well as founding partners Nigel Lowrie and Graeme Struthers, business partners from Gamecock. Devolver Digital thus aimed at not producing games in physical forms, and instead focusing publishing efforts for digital distribution platforms, such as Steam. As a result, both companies saw themselves acquired by larger companies at some point, and were dissolved shortly thereafter. However, at the time of these companies' existences, the primary distribution channel for games was retail, which was very costly. This included offering deals wherein the developers could keep all rights to their games. 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. The three had previously co-founded publishing companies Gathering of Developers in 1998, and Gamecock Media Group in 2007. Wilson (pictured in 2022) co-founded Devolver Digital in 2009 and led it until 2017ĭevolver Digital was founded in Austin, Texas, by Harry Miller, Rick Stults, and Mike Wilson. The company went public on the Alternative Investment Market in November 2021. As of January 2020, Devolver Digital employs 20 people. The company also operated Devolver Digital Films for film distribution, and majority-owns publisher Good Shepherd Entertainment. 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. To avoid this, Devolver Digital instead turned to digital distribution channels.ĭevolver Digital started by publishing high-definition remakes of games in the Serious Sam series. The company was founded in June 2009 by Nigel Lowrie, Harry Miller, Graeme Struthers, Rick Stults, and Mike Wilson, five executives who had been involved with 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. is an American video game publisher based in Austin, Texas, specializing in the publishing of indie games.