• News

Astroneer studio joins Devolver Digital as a first party developer

System Era has joined with the publisher that almost published them eight years ago.

Sam Chandler

November 1, 2023 1:35 AM

System Era

9

It’s an exciting day for System Era, the developer behind Astroneer, as it has announced the team has joined Devolver Digital as a first party studio. Devolver Digital has long been a massive champion for indie games and developers, so this is a natural fit. The press release also hints that a project is already in development.

In the early hours of November 1, 2023, System Era announced via its blog that it has joined Devolver Digital as a first party studio. “This is an amazing milestone for both System Era and for Devolver,” the post reads, noting that this will enable the team to continue to deliver the best experiences in the team’s unique style.

The post also offers a little bit of insight into the studio’s history. Eight years ago, Devolver Digital nearly became the publisher of Astroneer. While that never eventuated, Devolver has since made a name for itself as the place to go for all things indie games, and the company’s creativity has made it a natural match for it and System Era.

While the press release doesn’t reveal much, it does note that the team will continue to work on Astroneer and that there’s a whole roadmap for 2024. Furthermore, it sounds like the developer is hard at work on another project: “Most of our team has already been working on something new and exciting.” What this could be is anyone’s guess, but there’s a good chance we’ll be hearing more about it at a future Devolver Digital press conference.

A post by MauroNL on X (formerly Twitter), has highlighted the acquisition deal of System Era Softworks. The total consideration of the deal is up to $40 million, which is to be satisfied by a combination of cash and shares. Over its lifetime, Astroneer has made $87 million in sales and has been played by 13 million people.

Shacknews has been a long-time fan of System Era, for many great reasons. It was just at the start of last year that Astroneer was released on Nintendo Switch after many long years of us asking them when the game is finally coming to Nintendo’s incredibly popular platform. It should come as no surprise that we loved our time with Astroneer on Switch. Be sure to keep it locked to Shacknews as we bring you the latest on System Era and whatever exciting things the team is working on now that it’s a first party studio at Devolver Digital.

Sam Chandler

Head of Guides

Hailing from the land down under, Sam Chandler brings a bit of the southern hemisphere flair to his work. After bouncing round a few universities, securing a bachelor degree, and entering the video game industry, he's found his new family here at Shacknews as Head of Guides. There's nothing he loves more than crafting a guide that will help someone. If you need help with a guide, or notice something not quite right, you can message him on X: @SamuelChandler