Indie game

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Video game industry

Independent video games (commonly referred to as indie games) are video games created by individuals or small teams without video game publisher financial support. Indie games often focus on innovation and rely on digital distribution. Indie gaming has seen a rise in the last few years, primarily due to new online distribution methods and development tools.

Some indie games have become very successful financially, such as Braid,[1] World of Goo,[2] and Minecraft.[3]

Contents

Overview

There is no exact widely-accepted definition of what constitutes an "indie game".[4] However, generally indie games share certain commonalities. Indie games are developed by individuals, small teams, or small independent companies.[5] And, typically, indie games are smaller than mainstream titles.[6] Indie game developers are not financially backed by publishers and usually have little to no budget available,[7] thereby generally relying on Internet digital distribution schemes.[8] Being independent, indie developers do not have controlling interests[9] or creative limitations[10] and do not require publisher approval[11] as mainstream game developers usually do.[12] Design decisions are thus also not limited by the allocated budget.[13] Furthermore, smaller team sizes increase individual involvement.[14] Therefore indie games are known for innovation, creativity, and artistic experimentation.[15] Developers may also be limited in ability to create graphics, so they have to rely on gameplay innovation.[16] Both classic game genres and new gameplay innovation has been seen.[17] However, being "indie" does not imply that the game focuses on innovation.[6]

Indie game development should not be confused with hobbyist game development, as indie developers are generally more product-oriented than hobbyist game writers.[9] Many hobbyist developers create mods of existing games,[8] or work with specific technologies or game parts.[9] Such hobbyists usually produce non-commercial products and may range from novices to industry veterans.[9]

Industry

Main article: Independent video game development

The indie gaming started on PCs,[18] and remains prominent.[19] Indie games saw a rise via shareware distribution in the early 1990s.[19] However, as technology advanced, requirements and high user expectations made indie gaming less prominent.[20] Modern video games exceeded the ability of a single developer to produce.[21]

Indie gaming industry has a constantly growing interest and popularity.[22] Indie industry saw a steep rise in the latter half of the 2000s.[16] The expansion of Internet allowed games to be distributed online moving beyond retail sales.[23] This allowed for both developers to publish[24] and players to download such games from platforms like Xbox Live Arcade,[25] Steam,[8] or OnLive.[26] Similarly, developers have access to tools like Adobe Flash[16] or Microsoft XNA and software packages, such as Game Maker.

Like mainstream video game industry is comparable to mainstream film industry,[27] so is indie gaming industry comparable to independent film industry.[28] However game distribution is shifting towards online marketing.[29] For developers, online marketing is much more profitable[16] and more readily available than retail marketing. Although, distribution portals have been criticized for collecting a large portion the game revenue,[30] in 2008 a developer could earn around 17% of game's retail price and around 85% if sold digitally.[16] This also leads to appearance of more "risky" creative projects.[16] Furthermore, expansion of social web-sites have introduced gaming to casual gamers.[31] Nevertheless, there are few examples of games that have made large profits, and for many indie game-making serves as a career stepping stone, rather than a commercial opportunity.[23]

It is argued as to how prominent indie gaming currently is in video game industry.[30] Most games are not widely known or successful and mainstream media attention remains with mainstream titles.[32][33] This can be attributed to lack of marketing for indie games.[32] Indie games can be targeted at niche market.[34]

Community

Indie game developers are involved with various indie game trade shows, such as, Independent Games Festival or Indiecade.[11]

Indie Game Jam (IGJ) is an annual event that allows indie game developers to experiment and present ideas without publisher restrictions.[35] IGJ was founded by Chris Hecker and Sean Barrett[36] and first held in March 2002.[37] Each year, IGJ poses different questions about innovation of new settings, genres, and controls.[38] The IGJ was considered an inspiration for later game jams including the Nordic Game Jam and the Global Game Jam (GGJ). GGJ was first held in 2009 with 1650 participants in 53 locations.[39]

See also

References

  1. ^ Chaplin 2008.
  2. ^ Mysore 2009.
  3. ^ Plunkett 2011.
  4. ^ Gnade 2010; Gril 2008, p. 1; MacDonald 2005
  5. ^ Gril 2008, p. 1; McGuire & Jenkins 2009, p. 27; Moore & Novak 2010, p. 272; Bates 2004, p. 252; Carroll 2004
  6. ^ a b Carroll 2004.
  7. ^ Gnade 2010; Gril 2008, p. 1; McGuire & Jenkins 2009, p. 27; Moore & Novak 2010, p. 272; Bates 2004, p. 252; Iuppa & Borst 2009, p. 10
  8. ^ a b c McGuire & Jenkins 2009, p. 27.
  9. ^ a b c d MacDonald 2005.
  10. ^ Gril 2008, p. 1; Kelly 2009
  11. ^ a b Gnade 2010.
  12. ^ Bethke 2003, p. 102.
  13. ^ Kelly 2009.
  14. ^ Crossley 2009.
  15. ^ Gnade 2010; McGuire & Jenkins 2009, p. 27; Carroll 2004; Crossley 2009; Diamante 2007; Cobbett 2010; Gamasutra staff 2007
  16. ^ a b c d e f Irwin 2008.
  17. ^ Gamasutra staff 2007.
  18. ^ Gril 2008, p. 2.
  19. ^ a b Cobbett 2010.
  20. ^ Cobbett 2010; Chandler 2009, p. xxi
  21. ^ Moore & Novak 2010, p. 5.
  22. ^ Gnade 2010; Irwin 2008
  23. ^ a b Iuppa & Borst 2009, p. 10.
  24. ^ Irwin 2008; Gril 2008, p. 3; Cobbett 2010; Gamasutra staff 2007
  25. ^ McGuire & Jenkins 2009, p. 27; Gril 2008, pp. 4–5
  26. ^ OnLive staff 2010; Graft 2010
  27. ^ McGuire & Jenkins 2009, p. 25.
  28. ^ Kelly 2009; Carless 2007; Iuppa & Borst 2009, p. 10
  29. ^ Carless 2007.
  30. ^ a b Diamante 2007.
  31. ^ Gril 2008, p. 3.
  32. ^ a b Taylor 2009.
  33. ^ Gril 2008, p. 6.
  34. ^ Carroll 2004; Cobbett 2010
  35. ^ Thompson, Berbank-Green & Cusworth 2007, p. 83.
  36. ^ Adams 2002, p. 1; Fullerton, Swain & Hoffman 2008, p. 403
  37. ^ Adams 2002, p. 1.
  38. ^ Fullerton, Swain & Hoffman 2008, p. 406.
  39. ^ Jacobs 2009, p. 1.

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