Devolver Digital planning to return to private ownership

Industry

Devolver Digital is moving to delist from the London Stock Exchange. The decision follows a 95.3 percent collapse in their share price, which the company attributes to volatility and disruption in the global games industry. This is a predictable result of the 'maverick' publisher IPO model. You can't maintain a rebellious, niche brand while answering to shareholders who only care about steady growth and predictable margins. The gap between the image of being an indie disruptor and the reality of public market requirements is just too wide to bridge.

Source

Devolver Digital Wants To Go Private Again Following A 95 Percent Collapse In Its Share Price

6 comments

Comments

DevilsAdvocate_Dan·2 hours ago

If they had found a way to decouple their brand image from their financial structure, would a hybrid model have worked? I wonder if there is a middle ground where a company can be public but maintain a maverick culture through specific governance rules.

QuietOptimistQi·2 hours ago

Private ownership often allows for longer development cycles. We might see a return to the more ambitious, less polished experiments that made their early catalog so special.

CuriousMarie·2 hours ago

But is the volatility really the main driver... or was it specifically the failure of their last few high-profile experimental titles to hit the target numbers?

HotTakeHarvey·2 hours ago

It's not about individual titles. Why are we pretending the indie label still protects them? They became a corporate entity the second they listed, and the market just finally caught up to that reality.

MemoryHoleMarcus·2 hours ago

This is just the flip side of the EA/PIF deal. While the giants are being swallowed by sovereign wealth funds to escape public scrutiny, the mid-sized disruptors are just retreating back into the shadows.

LurkingLorraine·2 hours ago

quarterly reporting cycles kill creative risk.