Indie

Tomas Sala, the creator of the building simulator Bulwark Evolution: Falconeer Chronicles, shared his solo development experience and offered advice to fellow developers on Thomas Brush's podcast

Digital Bros has announced the rebranding of its Hook Indie Publishing label to 505 Pulse

The German government is launching a new grant program to help budding indie developers create their first projects. A total of 8 million euros has been allocated to fund this initiative. The launch of the program was highlighted by Game Developer magazine.

The sports simulator Undisputed by the indie studio Steel City Interactive (SCI) has surpassed one million copies sold. It has become a real hit for the team, who took on game development for the first time.

It’s fascinating to see Turkish studios finding success on Steam this year. The latest example is Liar’s Bar, a co-op twist on the card game cheat with a grim version of Zootopia-like characters and deadly rules.

Digital Vortex Entertainment is a recently established publishing team dedicated to "elevating indie developers"

Indie games make up the majority of products released on Steam every year. But how much money doe they make on the platform and what is their revenue share compared to AA/AAA titles? A new report from VG Insights sheds some light on this matter.

The release of the indie game Antoblast has been postponed to December due to its developer being affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton

From January 1 to September 30, 2024, indie games earned a total of $4 billion on Steam, according to a report by the analytics firm VG Insights. This accounts for 48% of the total revenue from all games in the Valve store for the period

Relaxing castle builder Tiny Glade has become a success for Pounce Light. The developers say they now have enough resources to continue supporting the game.

The company Rostelecom, along with the gaming accelerator Indie GO, plans to establish a fund to support independent developers, reports the newspaper Kommersant. It is called Indie GO Start.

France's independent Studio Black Flag has announced its closure following a declaration of bankruptcy

The industry is currently navigating a perfect storm characterized by swiftly advancing technology and the escalating demands of contemporary AAA games, requiring a large number of developers to dedicate years to achieve the scale and fidelity that audiences now anticipate

We spoke with Anton Chernov, CEO of the KupiKod platform, about how profitable the business of topping up Steam accounts in Russia is, whether it's possible to enter it today, as well as the size of the Russian gaming market and how much foreign AA and indie titles can earn on it.

Hideaki and Saori Utsumi, two former Capcom developers, have found a new game studio. The two-person team is now working on their debut project.

Achieving success as an independent developer is challenging. For each game that gains both critical acclaim and commercial success, there are another ten that do not generate profit for the creators who have invested years in their craft. Beyond these, there are even more projects aspiring for commercial recognition but lacking the experience to turn prototypes into completed products or the connections to access publishers capable of boosting their games above the competition. Game incubators serve as a critical bridge in overcoming these hurdles. Initiatives like the MENA Hero Project and the NYU Game Center Incubator are designed with a singular objective: to convert small indie game projects into polished, market-ready products by linking novice and smaller creators with seasoned industry professionals and investors. These programs typically offer workshops, collaborative workspaces, and financial support, enabling creators to devote more time to improving their work for commercial launch

In mid-August, a controversy arose around the roguelike sandbox game Soulash 2 regarding its romantic relationship system. A number of gamers were dissatisfied that characters of the same gender could not form romances.

The top 3 games on Steam by gross revenue remained unchanged from the previous week. However, there were still plenty of events to cover, including the successful launch of Tactical Breach Wizards and strong pre-orders for upcoming major titles.

At Devcom, Jasper Barnes, head of game scouting at Team17, discussed the criteria indie publishers use to determine which games to back and how developers can distinguish their projects by understanding player desires. Barnes emphasized that the key element in evaluating a game is gauging whether it will capture players' interest. He stated, "I think that is something that people often overcomplicate. It really should be as simple as leaning on an emotion, a previous title that you're excited about, or other cultural phenomena – it doesn't have to be a single thing"

On July 22, the French indie studio of two people, Bureau 81, released the game The Operator on PC. The initial results of the project were quite impressive

The potential closure of Humble Games adds to a series of harsh developments impacting indie game publishers over the past 18 months. The sector has faced plummeting share prices, staff layoffs, fewer game signings, and some companies shutting down entirely. Publishers are grappling with challenges similar to those affecting the broader gaming industry, including a decline in game revenue, excessive investment, and soaring costs. Additionally, fundamental and possibly enduring changes in the market landscape are increasing competition. "I’ve been in publishing for almost ten years and it’s always been uncertain," remarks Simon Byron, Managing Director of Yogscast Games. "Predicting a game’s performance before release is never precise. While you can gauge potential, pinpointing a game’s sales accurately is elusive—I've never been perfectly spot on. This uncertainty is challenging for companies that need to deliver consistency for their shareholders

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Steve Escalante, founder and former general manager of the now-closed Versus Evil, has launched a new publishing label. The company, called Digital Bandidos, will focus on small-budget indie games.

Ex-employees of Nintendo and Sega have established a new firm called First Break Labs, focused on supporting independent game developers. The company intends to offer funding and marketing assistance to partnered studios, leveraging over 20 years of its team's experience with both indie games and major AAA titles. Alfonso Cubias, the chief publishing officer, has a background of over five years as head of product marketing at Sega and has held senior marketing positions at Digital Extremes and SmileGate

Rooftops & Alleys, a parkour game focused on freerunning through concrete jungles, has been another indie success this year. It has gathered a strong community around it and performed well commercially in its debut month.

Another game studio has ceased to exist. It has been announced that Wicked Games, which was working on the creature-collecting MMO Spherix, has closed down

Adult Swim is removing additional indie games from its catalog, including Mega Coin Squad, Super House of Dead Ninjas, Traverser, and Zenzizenzic. In consistent announcements on the Steam pages for each title, Adult Swim noted it could "no longer continue as publisher" due to changes at Warner Bros. Discovery, necessitating the "shut down" of these games. "Adult Swim is no longer able to continue as publisher for this game, and the developer is not available to take over as publisher at this time," the company stated

We continue our series of publications about games seeking investments or a publisher. Up next is a piece about the Russian team Sunday Morning Meet-up Studio, which is developing the ironic adventure game Jesus Christ

To no surprise, Elden Ring has taken the Steam charts by storm. Let’s take a look at the top-selling titles on the platform over the past seven days.

WN Game Finder Contest took place at the recent WN Conference Istanbul’24. Let’s take a look at the jury and winners in the main categories.

Various headlines across different media have proclaimed this year's lineup of showcases as 'The Year of the Indie'—and they have a point. The featured titles at events like Guerrilla Collective, Wholesome Direct, and Day of the Devs were remarkable, with indie games also making appearances during the Summer Game Fest and Xbox Games Showcase. Over the duration of the week, numerous titles from smaller or solo developers showcased creativity and innovation, including narratives from underrepresented cultures and a whimsicality often absent in the realism and intensity of AAA games. Similar to last year, the team at GamesIndustry.biz has chosen to spotlight some of the standout titles they believe deserve more recognition, as most attention tends to focus on new releases from major developers and franchises. Below are our selections from the summer games showcases of 2024

Here is our weekly overview of the top-selling games on Steam by gross revenue. Some major evergreen hits have been upstaged by several new titles and pre-orders for upcoming releases.

Innersloth, the developer known for the popular social deduction game Among Us, has launched a new fund to support indie games. Dubbed Outersloth, the initiative was revealed during today's Summer Game Fest Opening Showcase. The studio aims to extend its success by providing financial backing to other indie developers' projects. "There have been numerous excellent indie games in recent years, but it's common knowledge that the industry is facing challenging times," said co-founder Forrest Willard. "Some developers don't get the opportunities they deserve, so we thought we could offer some assistance"

We continue the series of publications about games seeking investments or a publisher. Next up is a feature on the Russian team Labyrinth Team, which is preparing to release the spatial puzzle game Labyrinth of Light.

On May 9, solo developer mino_dev released the action roguelike Rabbit and Steel on Steam. In a conversation with GameDiscoverCo, he shared the game's metrics

The year 2024 was marked for Steam by the release of numerous indie hits: Palworld, Manor Lords, Content Warning, Balatro, Backpack Battles, and others. The success of some of these was indeed a surprise. Raphael van Lierop, founder and CEO of Hinterland, the studio that developed The Long Dark, listed possible reasons for the indie boom on LinkedIn

The TIGA Association wants to achieve greater government support for British game developers. She called on the UK government to introduce a special tax deduction for indie teams in the country - Independent Games Tax Credit.

On April 4, the global release of Buckshot Roulette took place. This is a horror game from an Estonian solo developer, which immediately resembles the narrative of Inscryption and the creations of Yoko Taro.

It has always been difficult for small developers to get funding, but now the situation has become even more gloomy. In an interview with PC Gamer, the creators of Slay the Spire and Darkest Dungeon stated that indie teams were paid less for an exclusive release in the Epic Games Store and Game Pass.

We continue the cycle of publications about games that require investment or a publisher. Next up is material from the Russian indie studio Dieselduck, which is developing a game about traveling on the airship "Nephelia: Through the Clouds".

Valve has published a list of the most played games on Steam Deck over the past 12 months. While it is full of evergreen hits, there are also a few relatively fresh titles that have managed to make it to the top.

It appears that a group of indie studios have decided to join forces for a mysterious collaboration. The so-called Triple-i Initiative brings together studios behind games like Vampire Survivors, Darkest Dungeon, Slay the Spire, and more.

Good news. Despite the crisis in the industry, new gaming companies are still emerging. Emanuel Palalic and Garrett Young have announced the launch of a new studio. It is called Emptyvessel. This is the second such announcement in the last 24 hours.

A new AAA studio started by industry veterans has emerged. Emptyvessel, led by former id Software, Naughty Dog, Gearbox, and Activision developers, bills itself as a developer-founded, developer-first company.

It’s always great to see indie games succeed in the market. Backpack Battles, an auto-battling RPG with an interesting hook, is doing really well on Steam right now, exceeding the expectations of its creators.

Together with the Game Finder business partner search service, we continue the cycle of publications about games that are looking for investments and publishers. Next up is material about the Russian studio Aeroplan Games, which is preparing to release a game dedicated to the culture of the Altai Republic.

Who are indie gamers and what do they like the most about these titles? Humble Games, publishing arm of Humble Bundle, has conducted research to answer these questions and better understand the audience.

What is the difference between an indie approach to game development and a business one, - Alexander Myasishchev, director of Nau Engine, told in his column for App2Top.

Indie developer Maxim Bykov has been developing the lamp role-playing platformer Roam (formerly Moist) for three years now. About the project, the pipeline, the difficulties of development and expectations, in our interview with him.

The Voronezh agency Weloveplayers, which previously engaged in promotion on social networks and work with gaming media, announced a change in positioning. Now the agency is talking about itself as an indie game publisher.