Digital Bandidos shaped final yr as an indie sport publishing firm simply as many publishers have been going out of enterprise.
Led by Steve Escalante and Lance James, the corporate has raised tens of millions of {dollars} and helps to fill the hole and supply funding for indie sport builders. It’s not a simple job, contemplating 17,000 small video games debut in a given yr and sport studios have been disappearing by the handfuls.
However with a long time of expertise, Escalante mentioned in an interview with GamesBeat that his firm can present skilled steerage and function scrappy outlaws who can combat injustice on behalf of indie sport builders — therefore the identify Digital Bandidos.
One of many firm’s newest initiatives is Let Them Come: Onslaught, a survivors-like horror expertise the place all the pieces from alien hordes to dynamic climate is out to get you. It’s being developed by Denver, Colorado-based Tuatara Video games. It’s being unveiled at The Combine Kinda Humorous Spring Showcase at GDC 2025. The sport will likely be printed by Digital Bandidos throughout PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Change, and PC later this yr.
Let Them Come: Onslaught strands gamers on an alien world overrun by horrors with just one
method out — nuke it from orbit! Each alternative of weapon and improve impacts your possibilities of
survival. Battle towards overwhelming odds till the timer hits zero and the nuke drops, leveling
the battlefield in spectacular style.
“It’s nice to be partnered with the proficient crew at Digital Bandidos, who I’ve had the pleasure
of working with earlier than on a earlier title within the Let Them Come franchise,” mentioned Klemen Lozar,
Recreation Director at Tuatara Video games, in an announcement. “We’re very excited to be bringing the sport to a large
viewers by hitting all the key platforms: Xbox, PlayStation, PC, and the Change.”
Tuatara Video games is simply one of many studios that has beforehand labored with the indie publishing
veterans at Digital Bandidos. The writer can be re-engaging with different former studio companions, signifying the belief builders have within the crew. Extra updates on this and lots of different titles from Digital Bandidos will likely be delivered within the coming weeks.
“You all the time hope that the groups you’re employed with prior to now want to work with you once more,”
mentioned Escalante. “Relationships on this business are vital; the lifeblood of my 25 years working in video games. Having already signed a former crew with Soulstone Survivors and including Let Them Come: Onslaught to our slate helps two firm objectives. First, signal video games that may cross-promote one another via a shared viewers. And second, work with folks you want, know they will ship, and might create wonderful sport experiences. “Though Soulstone Survivors and Let Them Come: Onslaught each match within the survivors-like/bullet heaven style, every unleashes a uniquely electrifying spin on the formulation. Followers of the
style can count on explosive motion and intense challenges, rapidly discovering that every title’s distinct tone, model, and gameplay ensures two utterly totally different—and equally thrilling—experiences.”
“As a substitute of wielding a rapier, bow, or blaster, we stock a long time of sport publishing data and cutting-edge expertise. We goal to arm unbiased builders to tackle the ever-more aggressive video games market—and win, the corporate’s internet web page says.
Escalante believes his firm can assist builders and perceive them as a result of they’ve been passionate players since childhood. Escalante desires to create a contemporary writer that offers with the large challenges that builders are dealing with.
Unveiled in August 2024, Digital Bandidos was based by former workers of Versus Evil, together with founder and basic supervisor Escalante. The corporate lately added CFO Richard Iwaniuk, advertising head Richard Iggo and communications supervisor James Batchelor.
Digital Bandidos is planning to take the cell sport City of Salem 2, the sequel to a social deduction sport, to current-generation PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Change consoles later this yr.
The corporate can be getting ready updates on a lot of different initiatives on account of arrive in 2025 and past, together with the most recent on Soulstone Survivors and the disclosing of a number of new video games in growth.
Digital Bandidos is a full-service writer at the moment in search of PC and console titles with growth budgets of as much as $3 million. It makes a speciality of role-playing, technique and motion video games, however is open to any style on any platform.
Robust vibes within the business
“Clearly, there’s a really totally different vibe and somber tone. With the turmoil and the stuff that occurred after promoting Versus Evil final yr, we’ve been making an attempt to determine the issues of the business,” Escalante mentioned. “What are the business’s wants? What’s thrilling for me is getting again to speaking about sport pitches and issues that may assist indies.”
Escalante famous that triple-A video games are nonetheless in a troublesome state, with the Warner Bros. and Ubisoft groups nonetheless having large layoffs in 2025, when issues have been presupposed to get higher. An estimated 35,000 sport business folks have been laid off prior to now three years.
“Indies are nonetheless not getting funded. These issues are nonetheless weighing fairly heavy on the business proper now,” Escalante mentioned. “I’m speaking with so many groups and lots of of them are operating out of cash.”
He famous it’s an enormous deal that sport engine makers Unity and Epic Video games received’t have a lot presence on the present flooring at GDC this yr.
“That’s a recurring them. The publishers are gone. The devs have their rights again,” he mentioned.
Who wants a brand new writer?
The encouraging factor is that new publishers like Digital Bandidos and extra lately Acclaim Leisure have been shaped. Escalante believes the elemental duties of publishers don’t go away even throughout a downturn. These duties embody offering funding, advertising, porting, growth assist and extra.
“Bandidos is admittedly centered on instruments and issues that we are able to do to assist the business, to assist these guys which are doing that,” Escalante mentioned. “We’re creating a few of that proper now. However I agree. The optimism of getting the publishers with the concept of funding is an effective signal, however, as I mentioned, we’re nonetheless seeing a number of the fallout of these publishers both not making it or operating out of cash.”
As for the current Matthew Ball slide deck, Escalante had robust opinions. He spent a number of time in conferences prior to now yr speaking in regards to the challenges.
“What I actually proceed to see because the primary problem is the necessity for retention and post-launch help for video games,” Escalante mentioned. “Funding in fact has to occur first. There are a number of groups that may nonetheless get into the trenches and do it themselves. However the different problem is discovery, and never lots of people are speaking about that as a lot as I feel that they need to.”
Escalante mentioned Digital Bandidos is hyper centered on that discovery, retention and post-launch help. That helps video games promote extra models, and that’s vital. He famous that Epic Video games Retailer and Steam present some help, however they’re doing that for a fraction of the titles which are launching.
“I feel neighborhood goes to be one of many strongest advertising instruments on the market for folks, whether or not that’s leveraging Discord, whether or not that’s leveraging the extra grassroots sort locations. How do I have to be constructing that guerrilla advertising technique to basically construct out the method by way of how I get folks excited a few sport?”
Devs want to interrupt down the journey that they’re on with gamers, and the way they will get a flywheel of viral progress going in the event that they plan a launch proper. Getting a number of wishlists are nice for a sport, however they’re not a lot good in the event that they’re two years previous.
“Triple-A corporations simply insert money and do an announcement on an enormous stage. The indies are compelled to punch via utilizing guerrilla advertising,” Escalante mentioned. “They’re they’re compelled to announce two or three years out. A triple-An organization may even shadow drop a sport on the day of launch.”
He added, “It’s been an attention-grabbing journey for me as I’ve been questioning myself and the way we ship content material for our companions. We’ll speak extra about that sooner or later, however for indies, it’s been an uphill battle. How can we mitigate these dangers.”
Whereas there have been shock indie hits like Balatro and Animal Properly, it’s nonetheless arduous to face out amongst 19,000 video games launched on Steam (2024 numbers).
Setting itself aside
Digital Bandidos has grown to seven folks and it’s trying to keep small and agile. Certainly one of its titles, Soulstone Survivors is already out there and it has executed over 1,000,000 models offered on the PC. Digital Bandidos will deal with the console launches. City of Salem 2 is coming, as is a brand new title dubbed Let Them Come Onslaught.
With one of many titles, Digital Bandidos hopes to advance the developer cash to get began on a brand new title whereas ready for the primary title to get off the bottom. Many of the new video games will likely be coming later this yr and early subsequent yr, Escalante mentioned.
Whereas new launches just like the upcoming Change 2 could possibly be attractive, Escalante is concentrated on the platforms which have an enormous put in base immediately, like PlayStation 5. Escalante additionally hopes to take some titles like City of Salem to different platforms, like Telegram or Discord.
“I’ve by no means been one to draw back from a platform if it will increase my revenues by 5%,” he mentioned. “If it solely prices me this a lot cash to get to those platforms, let’s do it due to the lengthy tail.”
Getting up within the morning
Escalante began in video games about 25 years in the past. He famous he lately misplaced his good friend, Carter Lipscomb, who additionally spent a long time within the business. Lipscomb helped Escalante self-publish his first sport. That began Escalante on the indie monitor. Some pals will likely be holding a wake for Lipscomb on the Recreation Builders Convention on Monday.
Escalante ran Versus Evil for about 10 years, and but he nonetheless felt there was good work to be executed. He had conversations with a 100 folks, and so they mentioned they nonetheless wanted publishers.
“So most of the builders we talked to mentioned, ‘I’m so glad you’re doing this. We might like to work with you,’” Escalante mentioned. “It was good validation by the best folks. I take pleasure in geeking out with the event groups about their sport, about how we can assist them. I rise up within the morning for it. I contemplate myself to be extraordinarily fortunate.”
