Today marks a very important day in the storied history of one of the largest and arguably most respected indie publishers in the world, Devolver Digital. After several years of being an independent private company, they finally made themselves public on the London Stock Exchange, and what an amazing first day they had. Upon going public, the company was quickly valued at very high margin, roughly $950 million, just falling short of the $1 billion mark. On top of that, they’ve already received minority stakes from two major players in the gaming industry, Chinese powerhouse NetEase and Sony, both of whom purchased 8% and 5% stock respectively. In doing this, Devolver Digital is now the largest ever US-based company to go public on the London Stock Exchange in history.
Devolver Digital made note that despite these stake purchases, their main staff are still the majority owners of the company as all employees have a stake in it as well. CEO Douglas Morin states that regardless of this dramatic shift, the company will remain the same as it always has. “An IPO is the right choice for us to ensure our continued growth and support even more wonderful games. Most importantly, it will allow us to retain our culture.” He also adds that this new venture will allow them to continue to invest in their future, immediate and long-term.
Devolver Digital has long been known as the upstart of the gaming community, usually rebelling against the normalization of what it means to be a video game publisher. This notion is amplified during E3 when they run their now-famous Devolver Direct, which is essentially their own version/parody of a video game showcase where they unveil new IPs and updates to current ones. Now that the company has become a publicly-traded company it’ll be interesting to see just how their overall work rate changes. Only time will tell, but for the time being, they’re going to stay as the roguish publishers that always puts smiles on our faces, right before they make a funny comment and go back to creating chaos in the gaming industry.