When you think of E3 press conferences, big-name publishers like Bethesda, Xbox, or Nintendo probably come to mind. There are 24 hours in a day though, and even the AAA teams don’t have enough to fill all that air time. That’s where publishers like Devolver Digital come in. Taking a slightly unorthodox approach you won’t see from any other press conference, the Devolver Digital conferences from 2017 and 2018 were 50% satire, 50% profanity, 50% violence, and 10% games. Why they were invited back yet again in 2019 escapes me (probably lots and lots of money changed hands), but I’m glad they were. If you had kids in the room and couldn’t watch, don’t worry, for I have gleaned all the pertinent information from the 22 minutes of chaos that is Devolver Digital’s Big Fancy Press Conference.
This year’s show started off where last year’s show ended, with Nina Struthers on the operating table. Flash ahead to June 2019. Still unable to fix her, they are ready to call it quits. To the rescue comes Linda from marketing. Claiming big press conferences are outdated with most companies not even doing them anymore, her solution is Devolver Direct. Unable to get Nina ready for the stage, they can take their conference and broadcast it straight from Nina’s mind.
This is where we finally get to our first trailer. Fall Guys from Media Tonic. With enough bright colors to rival a Skittles commercial, Fall Guys – Ultimate Knockout will be coming to PS4 and PC in early 2020. From Mediatonic Games, Fall Guys flings 100 players together online in a mad dash to the finish line. You’ll battle bizarre obstacles and the laws of physics as you race through insane obstacles courses round after round until only one remains.
After watching the Fall Guys trailer, we are back with Nina. Zane Stults, Vice President of Grey Market Distribution is with her to share his great insight into how Devolver Digital can make revenue outside the lines. The idea: Create their own game store, Devolver Bootleg, where they can freely rip off their own games without recourse from the developers who errantly trusted them in the first place. Devolver Bootleg is now available on Steam for just $4.99. Act quickly to get the super sweet 1% discount!
We finally make it to our second game trailer: retro platformer Carrion, from developer Phobia Game Studio. Akin to games like Dungeon Keeper, Carrion is coined as a reverse horror experience where you get to play as the monster. You will grow and evolve as you tear down the prison around you, stalking and consuming your captors as you attempt to free yourself from the facility. Carrion is expected to release on PC and consoles in summer 2020.
After watching all the 8-bit gore of Carrion, we are back again with Nina. Now, looking for yet another revenue stream, Nina looks to the past for ideas. Not the “idiot” ideas they had the last couple of years (or last few minutes), but all the way back to the golden age of video games with Enter the Gungeon: House of the Gundead arcade cabinets. Coming early 2020 for a mere $4999. For real. No, it really looks legit, but who can tell at this point?
After trying to gain her composure, Nina finds out that Linda from marketing is making all kinds of announcements. Clearly, these are starting to push Nina to the edge. Up first is The Messenger Picnic Panic DLC, a free expansion coming to Nintendo Switch, PS4, and PC July 11. coming July 11th.
The Picnic Panic trailer is followed quickly by another upcoming title: side-scrolling shooter My Friend Pedro. Developed by DeadToast Entertainment, My Friend Pedro is “a violent ballet about friendship, imagination, and one man’s struggle to obliterate anyone in his path at the behest of a sentient banana.” Just the sort of eccentric title you would expect Devolver to pick up. Launching on PC and Nintendo Switch, you won’t have to go bananas waiting for the June 20th release date.
And that’s it for Nina. With her brain fried, Linda has successfully taken control of Devolver. The future: skipping big press conferences to push paid DLC to the masses any time they want. But wait, of course, that isn’t how Devolver will leave things. But I refuse to spoil the ending. You’ll have to watch the entire show to know what really happens.
