Wilson & Miller Form Devolver
JUNE 25, 2009 • Gathering of Developers/Gamecock veterans Mike Wilson and Harry Miller have formed a new production and distribution company, Devolver Digital. The firm will be supporting the release of Croteam’s Serious Sam: The First Encounter HD on PC and Xbox Live Arcade. The original Serious Sam was released through g.o.d., with Croteam retaining rights to the IP. Having worked with Wilson and Miller previously, Croteam wanted to do so again.
Impact: Wilson and Miller are definitely plucky businessmen. We’d like to think their dogged determination to stick with a publishing model that better rewards independent developers for more innovation is deserving of success the third time around. But these are much tougher times than a decade ago when g.o.d. was hitting its stride. There’s no margin for error, or titles that don’t sell. The good news is that with the iPhone and other mobile devices rising to prominence, there’s certainly plenty of lower cost platform opportunities for a executive team this experienced to capitalize on.