Devolver Digital will become a private company again because creating value for investors is going to kill them

Devolver Digital, the publisher of indie games like Hotline Miami or Cult of the Lamb, became a public company five years ago. After going public on the London Stock Exchange, these past few years haven’t been a particularly rewarding experience, because they’ve decided to reverse course. They want to go back to being a privately held company, according to a statement posted on the company’s website.

A publisher with clear priorities

According to the statement, “Devolver has faced the constant challenge of generating growth in line with market expectations, despite the difficult conditions in the industry”. Which has caused “the delivery of long-term and long-tail revenues inherent to the video game business” to become irrelevant, forcing them to seek short-term wins. Something they aren’t interested in and that they believe could end up killing them.

In fact, a Devolver representative at GameIndustry has been even more specific. “going private again will allow the Devolver Digital team, especially the finance, legal, and executive departments, to focus exclusively on the company’s long-term health rather than satisfying public market demands, which have nothing to do with being a successful video game publisher”, stressing how they could not only run the business better, but also make better games.

While it remains to be seen how this plays out, it’s obvious that they have a clear plan and why they think it’s the best move. And with Devolver Digital being one of the most interesting publishers in the video game industry, all that’s left is to see how this plays out.