Pencil it into your diaries, this E3-less summer’s most entertaining publisher presentation has a firm date. Devolver Direct, the annual showcase hosted by everyone’s favorite indie publisher Devolver Digital, is set for July 11th at 12 pm PST/8 pm BST.
Devolver Direct streaks toward the future's future on Saturday, July 11 at 12PM Pacific via @Twitch! #checkalook pic.twitter.com/xkDnaWsfGC
— Devolver Digital (@devolverdigital) July 1, 2020
As has become all too customary in the new COVID-19 reality, Devolver Direct is a strictly digital affair that will be streamed over on Devolver’s Twitch channel, Steam, YouTube, and the like.
With all publisher presentations online this year, we’re losing out on the unexpected, cringe-inducing blunders that so many eagerly anticipate from E3 showcases. With the thrill of the unexpected definitively scrubbed from the bill this year, Devolver’s broadcast will be among the few that deviates from the over-produced, often drab, highly structured format of the big-bucks publishers.
True to form, Devolver’s spirited press release for the announcement brims with self-effacing humor:
“The seventh-best indie game label will step up to the plate once more and whiff real hard with a live pre-recorded presentation on Twitch and Steam.
This year’s showcase continues the tradition of overpromises with new game reveals, gameplay reveals, release date announcements, and special guests from the industry to help usher in these important marketing bullet points. And it’s nearly all gameplay because that’s what the youths of today demand.
The astonishing misuse of marketing budget will end with a few surprises and game demos available to play by the unwashed masses including Carrion, Disc Room, and an unannounced game. Maybe another game too, who can really tell where this is all leading.
Devolver Digital fans and detractors can catch up on the unnecessarily intricate narrative to the on-going saga by watching last year’s Devolver Direct and begin their uninformed speculation on Discord.”
The Devolver Saga Continues
To get a sense of what its in store for the July 11th stream, we recommend revisiting last year’s Devolver Direct. Aside from an enviable roster of indie titles, the show will get you up to speed with the zany narrative Devolver weaves into its showcases. At this point, it’s a multi-year drama that puts to shame the traditional E3 press conference formula, despite Devolver having only a fraction of the budget the likes of Sony, EA, and Ubisoft throw at these things.
Expect gore, blood, fire, tongue-in-cheek satire of the games industry, and so much more. And of course, we’ll get the next chapter in the on-going Nina Struthers saga. Last we heard, the chief synergy officer had her consciousness ported to the internet after a bloody death a year earlier.
Next weekend is stacking up nicely for gaming news. Alongside Devolver Digital, Ubisoft will broadcast its Ubisoft Forward showcase on July 12th, where we’ll undoubtedly get a new look at Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Watch Dogs Legion, Gods & Monsters, and hopefully a surprise or two.
A week or so later, Microsoft is expected to host its long-awaited Xbox Series X showcase focused on upcoming first-party titles from its 15-studio-strong Xbox Game Studios stable on July 23rd. After May’s underwhelming pseudo-Xbox Series X gameplay reveal event and the overwhelmingly positive reaction to Sony’s PS5 showcase in early June, Microsoft will be eager to up its cred among gamers, so expect the gaming giant to pull out all the stops to make that happen.