When you stop and think of the video games industry, you probably think of big-budget companies like Rockstar, Square Enix, or Activision. Or do you? A few years ago this was probably true, but what about now? In the past few years, there has been a veritable explosion around the world of popularity in independently produced games. Let’s take a look at some of the things leading up to it.
Click the images to check out some indie games I liked from the past decade.
The evolution of internet technology over the past decade or so is easily the single greatest factor in the recent surge of the indie games scene. To start with, when high-speed internet technology came around, it made the distribution of much larger files viable. Using the internet, developers were also able to send game updates and patches directly to their customers at any point. Realizing the potential of the online platform for game distribution, dedicated services like ‘Steam’ and ‘Desura’ were created as central marketplaces for both game developers and consumers.
The boom in online marketing systems also presented an unprecedented opportunity to aspiring game developers; by marketing and distributing their games entirely online, they could effectively be their own publishers. Few commercial publishers wanted to commit to the risk of supporting a game outside of the formula established by the AAA game companies. By removing the need for a publisher, online distribution platforms greatly reduced many of the risks faced by small developers in putting the time and effort into making their games. The independent game was born.
Since most independently produced games aren’t produced on a formal budget or time-constraint, many developers produce games over very long periods of time. For example, the indie sensation game ‘Minecraft’ (arguably the game that started the indie boom) was first released in 2009, but remained in development until the ‘official release’ in 2011. What this means is that indie developers aren’t usually under pressure to meet deadlines, so they’re free to spend as much time as they like perfecting all aspects of their game. With so much time to tweak the smallest details, indies can be extremely expressive and immersive experiences. And because many developers try to push the boundaries of the previously established game formula, many successful indie games have one particularly strong or experimental area, for example the art, story, audio, gameplay, etc.
However, indie games didn’t really begin to get a lot of attention until the late 2000’s. The majority of gamers were still focused on AAA games and either weren’t aware of indies, or weren’t interested. But that started to change with the advent of more powerful mobile phones. You’ve probably heard of a little game called ‘Angry Birds’ by now, right? This game is a prime example of how the mobile market can get a great game in front of millions of people, including non-gamers. Mobile game development is big business right now, and it’s also one of the things that really helped get independent games into the mainstream. It’s also an attractive platform to develop for (particularly for newcomers), since mobile games don’t usually need to be as long or complex as other games; the platform is better suited towards casual games which even non-gamers can enjoy, which means development time is often much lower.
Mobile devices aren’t the only market though; PC and console-based indies have become hugely popular in a past few years. I think a large part of this is because of all of the promotion that has been going on. There are numerous websites that offer regular ‘bundles’ of independent games. The first of these was ‘The Humble Indie Bundle’, which was so popular during its first event that other bundle sites started popping up all over the place. These bundles offer groups of indie games for a very low price, often with bonuses for people who choose to pay more. The recent Indie bundles have been a massive source of exposure for many developers. Better still, large portions of bundles’ profits often go to support charity, as well as supporting the developers directly.
So there we have it. The indie game phenomenon. One of the fastest growing ‘industries’ in the world, and also one of the most creative. I sincerely hope the scene continues to expand and evolve.
DisJointed 