Two members of Devolver’s internal team remind us that delays aren’t always bad, actually.
This interview was recorded via Zoom and edited for clarity.
What sort of approach do you take when it comes to announcing a delay?
Do you attempt to have a theme like this Devolver Delayed every time?
What was the developers' reaction to taking the Devolver Delayed approach with their news?
Were any of them hesitant?
Let’s talk about why these particular games are getting pushed back.
When did the teams approach you with the delays, and what are some of the reasons behind them?
COVID was obviously a big deal.
There’s a lot of different reasons for a delay.
We want to check that those things happen.
Parsons:The emphasis for us, as it’s always been, is on quality.
Let’s say the previous example is a gameplay mechanic, and it’s complicated.
It needs sounds, animations, etc.
That’s alchemy, it’s a really intimate and incremental process.
Sometimes, that will make them want to explore things in their game more.
One of the more famous examples is The Talos Principle, the first-person puzzle game from Croteam.
We’re thinking, “Holy crap, they’ve just made anothergame,” and it was great!
It’s a big job.
Parsons: It does differ, it varies for every developer.
It varies all the time.
It happens, for sure, but we want to do our best to limit or mitigate that risk.
They’ve been working for 5-6 years in some cases, what’s three months more?
Doing all of that work just to fumble at the end just seems silly.
Can delays be seen as a good thing?
We always feel like we can stand behind the games that we select to publish.
Not all of them are going to fight toe-to-toe with Red Dead Redemption or Street Fighter on Steam.
We want people’s eyes on it, we want people to devote time to it.
Just take a look at the release schedule for this year: It’s crowded out there.
Parsons:This brings up an important concept when talking about delays.
Some delay reasons are external; during COVID, for example, there were genuine manufacturing problems.
If so, how do you mitigate that situation without souring the entire relationship?
Parsons:It’s not common, I will say.
If we’re lucky, that’s also more time for the marketing crew to gather round.
What we tend not to do is change the game itself too much.
All of our developers tread this delicate balance between experimentation and uncertainty, it’s what makes them unique.
How do delays, when they occur, affect post-launch plans?
They had to finish the base game before they started working on the other stuff.
Does the development team approach you with that, or do you sometimes identify those things?
Lowrie:It’s a little bit of both.
There are times where they’ve talked about it internally and then approach us.
Parsons:As much as possible, we make a run at have a coordinated effort with the teams.
Then, you have to ensure whatever you’re adding to the game is localized and QA’d.
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