Devolver has a new publishing label for licensed indie games

Devolver Digital puts out a lot of good games and it’s looking to spread that magic around to licensed content. The company just announced a sub-label called Big Fan Games that will specialize in developing indie titles based on pre-existing IPs.

Devolver describes Big Fan Games as “a brand new label giving developers license to create original game adaptations using the worlds and characters of iconic film, television, and comic properties.” To that end, the team is staffed with industry veterans who have worked with companies like Disney and Dark Horse Comics.

The label already has a few games in its library, all of them based on pre-existing IPs. These titles include Reigns: Game of Thrones, Hellboy Web of Wyrd and John Wick Hex. These games were already released before being moved to the new label. For instance, Reigns: Game of Thrones came out six years ago, but back then it was published by Devolver. John Wick Hex came out in 2019 and Hellboy Web of Wyrd hit digital store shelves last year.

Today’s announcement doesn’t bring any new games, but the company website currently features a big “coming soon” tab, though it’s currently empty. We should expect some reveals in the near future. Big Fan Games wrote in a press release that its goal “is to nurture fun and inventive games that stand on their own, rather than serving as marketing tie-ins for other media launches.”

Licensed games have been hit and miss since the dawn of modern gaming. For every DuckTales, there’s a Superman 64. Recent releases, however, have been well-received. Respawn’s Star Wars games were bona-fide hits, as was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge.

While we don’t know what Devolver and Big Fan Games are cooking up, we do know of some upcoming licensed games. MachineGames will release Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on December 9 and Arkane Lyon is busy working on a game based on Marvel’s Blade.

I personally think it’s pretty great that Big Fan Games will give indie developers a chance to work on licensed properties. To that end, the company encourages developers to reach out with ideas for a licensed game. “Have a favorite game you’ve always dreamed of rebooting or a cult classic film or book you’d love to see adapted into a game? We’d love to hear from you,” the studio writes on its website.