Playdius rebrands as Dear Villagers

The publisher of BAFTA-nominated Bury Me, my Love and A Normal Lost Phone, Playdius, is rebranding as Dear Villagers.

Following a recent funding round that secured €2 million ($2.25 million), the French publishing branch of Plug In Digital is celebrating the rebrand by releasing a major free content update for JRPG Edge of Eternity, offering promotions on their current line-up, and hosting a free weekend for futuristic parkour game, Hover.

"We’re reborn!" says a message on the company’s YouTube channel. "Dear Villagers is a warm hearted invitation to join us in the little unusual neighborhood we are building within the gaming industry, a place where talented studios can unleash their creativity and where players enjoy distinctive and audacious games."

"With Playdius we built a very eclectic line-up from mainstream narrative games on mobile to hardcore RPGs on PC and console. We are proud of what we have accomplished but we also think our message wasn’t clear enough," says Guillaume Jamet, Head of Publishing of Dear Villagers. 

"As our company grows, we decided to roll out a new ambitious publishing strategy based on a strong new brand, that clearly identifies as a provider of mid to hardcore games on PC and console. Dear Villagers is a warm hearted invitation to join us in the little unusual neighbourhood we are building within the gaming industry, a place where talented studios can unleash their creativity and where players enjoy distinctive and audacious games."

Dear Villagers states the first titles of the new line-up will "be announced shortly" and are expected to be playable at the upcoming GDC show.