Facetious video game publisher Devolver Digital’s Devolver Direct showcase for 2023 was unhinged as always, framing its showcase around the fictional completely true-to-life video game mascot, Volvy.
It began by running through the character’s design (including his one giant hand – ‘for gaming’), a fictional history of the character during the golden age of 1990s video games, his downfall during gaming’s ‘edgier’ phase in the 2000’s, and his modern-day revival as a souless robot called Volv-E that generates games via AI.
Anyway, here are all the games the publisher announced created by Volv-E:
Table of contents
Sludge Life 2 and Shadows of the Damned
Before the show officially kicked off, Devolver announced a release date for the grimy, graffiti-infused platforming game Sludge Life 2, which will release on 27 June 2023.
Grasshopper Manufacture also revealed that it would be working to remaster its schlocky 2011 third-person shooter, Shadows of the Damned. More will be revealed in a dedicated studio presentation on 14 June 2023 at 9am PT.
Wizard With A Gun
This is an isometric survival action game set in a Western-infused fantasy world – a little bit like Klei’s Don’t Starve by way of SuperGiant’s Bastion. You’ll craft enchanted bullets for your pistols and blunderbusses, and build out a tower sanctuary.
A demo is available now, and it’ll be released on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.
The Talos Principle 2
A new trailer for the sequel to mind-bending first-person puzzle game, The Talos Principle was shown. Beautifully haunting environments and an existential narrative were teased. It’s coming sometime in 2023.
Baby Steps
From the creators of Ape Out and Bennet Foddy (Getting Over It) comes a game where you control the legs of an unwitting protagonist, much like Foddy’s previous game, QWOP. It’s rendered in a surreal, realistic style, and certainly has a sense of humour about it.
It’s coming in 2024 for PC and PlayStation 5.
Human Fall Flat 2
A sequel to the physics-based puzzle game was announced in a very brief trailer. No details on release date or platforms were given.
At this point in the presentation, Volv-E became sentient, grew an organic giant hand (for gaming), and used it to kill the showcase presenters. He then urged his creator to end his suffering, thus ending the Devolver Direct for 2023.
You can watch the full showcase on YouTube.
