Indie game publisher Devolver Digital has acquired the developer Doinksoft, in another addition to its line up of studios.
Doinksoft and Devolver first partnered when Devolver published their inaugural title, Gato Roboto. The acquisition means that Doinksoft will join a tight but growing catalogue of indie game developers including Serious Sam developer Croteam, creators of Enter the Gungeon Firefly Studios and more.
The group maintains a creator-first approach to game rights and mainly publishes on PC and console, but has taken a few steps into the mobile market including the release of their match3 title, Devolver Tumble Time last year. They also previously released a sequel to their shooter-platformer title, My Friend Pedro, to mobile with My Friend Pedro: Ripe for Revenge, indicating that despite some jokes directed at it that the mobile market is still a serious consideration for them.
The publisher has also partnered prominently with Netflix, releasing both reverse city-builder Terra Nil and strategy game Reigns: Three Kingdoms onto their Netflix games platform.
Creative-first
The latest acquisition by Devolver indicates a strong working relationship with their partner studios, having worked closely with Doinksoft already, including on Devolver Bootleg, a selection of demakes (intentionally simplified versions of more complex games) based on the Devolver catalogue.
It also further indicates the strength of the publisher, and it’s especially notable that in spite of their most recent mobile entry being the slightly parodical Devolver Tumble Time, that Devolver has also published two new games to the Netflix platform.
It’s also not the first time that Devolver Digital has dabbled with mobile game subscription services, as the publisher also previously put Gris+ to the Apple Arcade. It’s further indication that indie game publishers and indeed many indie game developers themselves should be a serious consideration for the wider mobile game market. And that they may be what truly drives forward platforms like Netflix Games as they grow to encompass so many developers.
