Astroneer Dev System Era Softworks Acquired By Devolver Digital Worth $40M

American independent publisher Devolver Digital has announced its acquisition of System Era Softworks, the studio behind the sandbox space adventure game ASTRONEER. The announcement was made by the developer in a blog post, citing that the acquisition deal between them and Devolver was an "amazing milestone."

This recent partnership is one that was forged years prior to System Era joining as a first-party studio more than eight years ago, as Devolver was one of the publishers shortlisted to publish ASTRONEER. The studio opted to self-publish the game; however, it remained closely aligned with the publisher since and is now joining the indie publisher who "has become a standard bearer in the industry for indie development."

System Era Softworks was founded in 2014 by former employees of 343 Industries, Disney, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, and Valve, boasting years of game development experience among team members. The studio only developed and launched ASTRONEER in 2016 in Early Access for Steam, Windows PC, and Xbox One before it was subsequently released on PlayStation 4 in 2019 and Nintendo Switch in 2022.

According to the studio's announcement blog post, they have "been working on something new and exciting," but confirmed that a 2024 roadmap for ASTRONEER will be announced soon. With this recent acquisition, the studio will continue to focus on doing projects that they love and in the way they love to do so without losing their independence.

But with Devolver, we don’t think System Era is losing independence; we think it’s finding a home among a like-minded confederation of talented people under a banner that is synonymous with the indie ethos, and we can’t wait to continue our journey together.

System Era Softworks' law firm, Fieldfisher, who acted on the studio's behalf, commented in their official acquisition post that the deal for the studio is estimated to be worth up to $40 million. This deal includes the initial payment of $22 million by the developer, which consists of $20 million in cash upon closing and $2 million worth of shares and cash to be issued and paid out a year later.

Furthermore, "$10 million deferred consideration, and up to $8 million potential earn-out, both payable in cash and shares." This acquisition deal epitomizes "a strategic opportunity for Devolver to extend its reach beyond its core strength of premium indie titles, leveraging System Era’s knowledge of Expandable Game style development, as well as its live operations technology and existing IP."