Devolver Digital just announced the creation of Big Fan Games which will focus on developing titles based on licensed intellectual properties.
The new label will be led by industry veterans who have previously worked with high profile studios, such as Disney and many others.
Devolver Digital's press release noted that the goal of the new company is to help independent game developers. This is to breathe new life into their favorite movies, comics, TV shows, and cult heroes.
Launch of Big Fan Games
Big Fan Games already has plenty of titles planned, such as Reigns: Game of Thrones, Hellboy Web of Wyrd, and John Wick Hex. The 1980s and 1990s featured a lot of licensed games in the video games industry.
A lot of those titles have been enshrined in older gamers' imagination as being more difficult than most of the games released in recent times. These include Disney's Lion King and DuckTales, according to The Verge.
The team at Big Fan Games is aware of the stigma and shared that their goal is to nurture fun and inventive games. These would stand on their own instead of serving as marketing tie-ins for other media launches.
The studio's launch seems to come right at a time when licensed games are experiencing a new renaissance. They have also started to get more and more attention from the industry's biggest studios, such as Respawn Entertainment and MachineGames.
Big Fan Games is made up of people from the Good Shepherd Team. Devolver Digital acquired the latter in 2021. The former will be led by general manager Lincoln Hershberger. He is a video game veteran who has 27 years of experience, Games Industry said.
Focus on Licensed Games
He has held senior roles at Westwood Studios, Electronic Arts, and Twitch. Hershberger will be joined by the head of business development Amanda Kruse. The latter had been part of the Good Shepherd team for five years.
Kruse said that she loves adaptation and was excited about the prospect of being part of a team that focused on these kinds of games.
Hershberger also noted that Devolver Digital co-founder Nigel Lowrie was interested in fan-favorite intellectual properties such as Monkey Island.
Big Fan Games' press release noted that there is a lot of room for a new approach when it comes to licensed games. It added that this is where indie developers are able to make the call themselves.
The statement said that they should be able to take some risks and explore unique ideas without being restricted by spreadsheets. This was partly the reason why they formed Big Fan Games, according to Gematsu.
