In a release to investors, games publishing company Devolver Digital has announced an intention to delist from the UK’s Alternative Investment Market and once again become a private company.
Shareholders will make a decision on this proposal in September, with a successful vote leading to the company’s re-privatisation, and as it says, a renewed focus on its long-term health and sustainability.
As it shared with investors and media, in typically blunt Devolver Digital style, being in the public market has led to high expectations of consistent growth for Devolver that don’t necessarily reflect its mission to publish great games.
Devolver Digital seeks privatisation – quick links
Devolver Digital on its desire to become private again
‘Devolver and its board are seeking shareholder approval to delist, believing becoming a private company is in the best interests of Devolver, its employees, its partners, and its Shareholders as a whole,’ a Devolver Digital spokesperson told GamesIndustry.biz.
‘The purpose is simple and positive. Being private will allow the Devolver Digital team, especially the finance, legal, and executive team, to singularly focus on the long-term health of the company and less on satisfying the requirements of the public market, which have nothing to do with being a successful game publisher.’
As the company says, being a public company has led to a pressure of expectation in the market, with particular guidance on how to grow. Per the company, it’s faced ‘ongoing challenge’ in meeting this expectation due to ‘difficult sector conditions’ in the modern video games market.
In addition to sharing frustration with this market, the company’s directors have also shared a belief that Devolver Digital is not valued appropriately, and that its share price does not reflect its true market value.
As GamesIndustry.biz notes, the company’s share price has reportedly dropped by 96.27% over a number of years, lowering the company’s market cap to around USD $46.6 million (AUD $66.3 million).
It’s believed that going private would not only allow the company to refocus its goals and pursue publication of great games without adhering to market expectations, it would also reportedly save the company around USD $1.6 million per year.
What happens next for Devolver Digital
Should the vote to privatise be successful, Devolver Digital will cease to be a publicly traded company on 16 September. All shareholders will be paid out for their portions, and the company will again focus on its own private business.
According to Devolver Digital, this move would pave the way for renewed next steps, allowing various people across the business, including in finance, legal, and the executive team, to continue working without the pressure of conforming to expected growth or new developments in the market.
It will also allow teams to focus on publishing the next big indie hits, with several already in the pipeline.
As Devolver Digital has previously announced, it will soon publish the likes of Australian game The Dungeon Experience, Pikuniku 2, Human Fall Flat 2, Serious Sam: Shatterverse, and Team Lazerbeam’s Shroom and Gloom.
Also on ScreenHub: The Dungeon Experience was born of ‘hubris’ and ‘brain vomit’
Australian-made point-and-click adventure Paradigm, helmed by developer Jacob Janerka, was one of the first video games I reviewed professionally. It set a standard of strangeness than no game since has matched, with an oddball sense of humour defining an increasingly bizarre journey through a fictional version of Eastern Europe.
Janerka’s next game, The Dungeon Experience, set to be published by Devolver Digital in 2026, looks to exceed Paradigm‘s high bar for oddity. Early demos reveal an esoteric adventure brimming with novel ideas – from an eager Dungeon Master mud crab, to his ramshackle ‘pyramid scheme’ dungeon filled with off-putting traversal challenges and danger.
Read more …
