Fall Guys publisher Devolver wants off the stock market
Devolver Digital has proposed delisting from the London Stock Exchange and going private again, five years after its IPO. Its reason: indie publishing and quarterly investor expectations don’t mix. Shareholders vote September 8.
Devolver Digital wants to stop being a public company, and its explanation is refreshingly blunt: the stock market and indie games don’t get along.
The publisher behind Hotline Miami, Cult of the Lamb, and Baby Steps has proposed delisting from the London Stock Exchange‘s AIM market and returning to private ownership. Shareholders vote on September 8, and if they approve, trading stops around September 16.
Devolver went public in November 2021, valued near $950 million. Five years later, it wants out.
Why Devolver wants to go private
The core argument is that indie publishing can’t be run on a quarterly clock.
Devolver told investors the unpredictable nature of indie games isn’t “readily compatible” with the semi-annual reporting that demands predictable, sequential growth. You can’t promise a chart that always goes up when your business is releasing weird, risky games that hit or don’t.
The board pointed to a “valuation disconnect.” Its numbers improved for six straight halves through the end of 2025, revenue grew over 60% year-on-year in its June 2026 update, and the stock still closed at £0.16 on August 5, more than 25% below where it sat after the 2024 annual results. Performance up, share price down. That gap is the whole case.
What going private actually gets Devolver
The move is about focus and cost, not a cash crisis.
Devolver estimates it saves about $1.6 million a year just by not being listed, dropping the regulatory, legal, and administrative overhead of a public company. It’s also proposing to return up to $5 million in cash to qualifying shareholders as part of the deal.
The company framed the goal plainly: being private lets the team focus on the long-term health of the business instead of satisfying public-market requirements that, in its words, have nothing to do with being a good game publisher.
The IPO always looked strange anyway
Zooming out, the odd part was Devolver going public in the first place.
It was a weird fit from the start. Devolver is a relatively small publisher of intentionally strange indie games, and it rode onto the market on the back of Fall Guys‘ 2020 explosion and the cash that came with it.
A studio that trades in games like Gunbrella and Shotgun Cop Man trying to deliver quarterly growth for institutional investors was always going to strain.
The wider timing didn’t help. The games industry Devolver listed into looked very different from the one it’s leaving, mass layoffs, studio closures, valuations down across the board. Going public near the top and going private after the correction is its own kind of sense.
If this means more strange Devolver games without a “line must go up” mandate hanging over them, most players will take that trade. The vote’s September 8. The stranger path was arguably the public one.
Article compiled and edited by Derek Gibbs (entertainment editor) and the Clownfish TV newsroom.
D/REZZED is part of Clownfish TV. For more news, views, and rants on gaming, tech, and pop culture, visit clownfishtv.com. Watch the show on YouTube at @ClownfishTV where new episodes drop daily. Subscribe to the Clownfish TV podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, and wherever else you get your podcasts. Sign up for the free newsletter at more.clownfishtv.com.
Hat Tips:
Game Developer (August 6, 2026), verified for the AIM delisting proposal, the September 16 cease-trading date, the “valuation disconnect” and “readily compatible” language, the £0.16 share price versus £0.215 post-2024-results, and the 60% revenue growth
GamesBeat (August 6, 2026), verified for the up-to-$5 million return of capital, the $1.6 million annual savings estimate, and the “significant disruption and volatility” framing
Checkpoint (August 7, 2026), verified for the September 8 shareholder vote, the November 2021 IPO, and the catalog of published titles
PocketGamer.biz (August 6, 2026), verified for the ~$950 million IPO valuation, the January 2022 share-price peak, and the company spokesperson’s “simple and positive” statement
Kotaku (August 6, 2026), verified for the Fall Guys 2020 success preceding the IPO, the Mediatonic sale to Epic, and the impairments-of-underperforming-titles context