New full-service publisher Digital Bandidos has emerged from obscurity.
Launched by Versus Evil alumni Steve Escalante and Lance James, Digital Bandidos has been up and running for a few months now, but has only just been formally unveiled.
Escalante, former CEO and founder of Versus Evil, will serve as CEO, while James (formerly head of production at Versus Evil) will serve as executive producer for the publisher.
The new label will focus on independent titles and will specialize in PC and console games with a budget of less than 3 million dollars. It will focus especially on role-playing, strategy and action games.
The announcement clarified that the publisher is also interested in “acquiring new and established intellectual properties to bring to new platforms and expand them with additional content, HD versions and more.”
Digital Bandidos will offer a funding model consisting of “small acquisitions of existing games” as well as a “sliding scale of investment funding” based on the developers’ needs.
The publisher has already signed two projects: The Town of Salem series from Blank Media, the second installment of which will soon be released on mobile devices, and the Early Access title Soulstone Survivors, which will be brought to more platforms.
Escalante commented: “I spent the first half of 2024 speaking to studios across North America and Europe about the challenges they face in today’s market. The message is clear: they need good partners, funding, publishing expertise, and help to make their products a reality. That means continuing the path I started over ten years ago of championing the independent game developer. We have even better tools, more experience, a proven track record, and an incredible team. We couldn’t be happier with the direction we’re headed in, and we’re incredibly excited about the future of Digital Bandidos.”
Versus Evil shut down in December 2023, a few weeks after its management settled a legal dispute with parent company TinyBuild. Steve Escalante had left the company earlier in December.
TinyBuild acquired Versus Evil and its sister company Red Cerberus in November 2021.