In what is clearly now set to be an ongoing annual tradition, Devolver Digital’s live-streamed digital event was as much about mocking the format of such events as it was about showcasing their upcoming games. You can catch the entire thing if you’re into their brand of offbeat, nihilistic, self-reflective humor, by heading over to their youtube page. These are probably the only ongoing series of video game marketing events with deep and consistent lore between each year, and there are some pretty cool cameos and in-jokes littered through the entire thing. If you’re only interested in the games that they are announced and showcased, check out the trailers for each below.
Shadow Warrior 3
This is the first real gameplay footage of this third entry in the rebooted Shadow Warrior series, and the big stand out for me is the variety and scale of the different enemies, the high levels of mobility you get as your traverse the level and slick and brutal environmental kills that look like a high risk but high reward strategy.
There’s no exact release date yet, it’s not going to be with us til 2021.
Fall Guys
We got a new look at this upcoming action platformer with a sprinkle of Battle Royale in there. 60 players have to run through various physics-based obstacle courses, but only one can survive the entire run. It looks bonkers fun, and all the different costumes and accessories are a blast. This will be out on August 4th.
Olija
This is a chunky pixelated sidescroller, with a very abstract and stark art style. There’s a clear focus on precise and punishing combat, with fast movement and nightmarish creatures to take out. It’s a unique looking game, and we’ll hopefully get to find out more before it comes out later this year.
Carrion
We’ve been waiting to hear what the release date for Carrion would be for some time, and it has finally been confirmed for a July 23rd release on PC, Xbox, and Switch. It’s also going to be coming to Xbox Game Pass. In addition to this all-new hyperviolent trailer, during the full show there were a few jokes about announcing a sequel already, although I don’t think those should be taken too seriously.
Serious Sam 4
Maybe the biggest game that was shown at Devolver Direct, the much anticipated and long-awaited new entry in the Serious Sam we first shown to the world in this explosive trailer. You can see the huge variety of weapons and enemies on display, and it looks to me like they’ve got more enemies on screen than any of the previous games. If you enjoy dumb fun first-person shooters, this is certainly one to watch out for.
Devolverland Expo
And beyond all these announcements, Devolver has also released a free virtual games expo for people to attend from the comfort of their own computer. Devolverland Expo is available for free right now via Steam, and even includes a few hidden game announcements that didn’t make it into the Direct. In a year where no one could attend events like E3, this is a creative way to replicate some of that experience without risking people’s health.
Devolver has a reputation for being the indie games label behind some of the best and most creative indie games released each year, and they really do seem to take their E3 presence far seriously than anyone could reasonably expect them to. They clearly have a lot of fun doing this kind of thing, and I hope it long continues on.