Devolver Digital has announced a brand new publishing wing called Big Fan Games, which is dedicated to publishing indie games based on existing licenses.
In a press release, Big Fan says that it thinks there's "room for a new approach" when it comes to licensed games. The studio says its goal is to give indie studios the chance to "make the call", take risks, and explore unique game ideas that "aren't dictated by spreadsheets".
The publishing label will be staffed by a "small but passionate team of industry veterans" with experience working with intellectual properties like Dune, Hellboy, The Lord of the Rings, and John Wick, among others.
Per an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Big Fan currently has "six active projects in development", although the studio is tight-lipped about what those projects are and what they're based on.
The studio says its aim is to release around four or five games a year, and it's also taking suggestions from indie developers and studios regarding licensed projects they might be working on.
Retroactively, the publishing label has also claimed a number of games previously published by fellow Devolver subsidiary Good Shepherd, including Hellboy: Web of Wyrd, John Wick Hex, and Reigns: Game of Thrones.
Judging by a rather strange official announcement, it's also apparent that Big Fan is now the publishing label that will be working alongside Rebellion to create a game based in the 2000 AD universe, best known for authoritarian anti-hero Judge Dredd.
John Bi
In the aforementioned press release, Big Fan says that although it knows it's making a lot of "grand statements", it has faith it can back those statements up.
Given that we don't currently know what projects are in the works at the studio (except for the aforementioned 2000 AD game, of course), it's difficult to guess whether or not that's true, but stay tuned to find out more about what Big Fan is up to.
