The Importance Of Indie Game Developers In The Gaming Industry

With a business that continues to defy expectations and a worldwide gaming market of $139.9 billion, there has never been a more exciting time to be a part of the gaming industry than right now. 

Platforms like Steam make it possible for almost anyone to develop a game.

However, over-saturation of different types of media makes it easy for large companies to mass produce content at a lower quality for fans to consume. 

This has birthed the emergence of indie developers. 

Typically speaking, an indie game developers team can range from two to 10 people. That pales in comparison to the hundreds and possibly thousands of workers in the highest triple A game companies.

However, what Indies developers don’t have in numbers, they make up for in quality. 

Big game publishers are constantly under pressure to avoid alienating their target audiences, to release new games as rapidly as possible and to avoid taking too many chances in general. In a nutshell, huge game publishers place a greater emphasis on profit.

With such large resources behind each game, they have a lot more to lose, therefore they tend to stick to a predictable formula. This, I believe, stifles innovation and pushes artists to stay within the boundaries. Indie game developers, on the other hand, are free to do whatever they want.

Indie games frequently give birth to new genres. They usually have their own story telling style and that leads to new subcategories of games and expands the talent market.

They also help new and upcoming game developers get their feet wet without having to worry about the profit side of the industry. 

Games like Undertale, Helltaker, Hollow Knight, Hyper Light Drifter, and Gris are examples of games that were made by smaller teams but are full of passion. 

For example, Hyper Light Drifter discusses themes of death and the fragility of life. 

The concept of the game was spurred by creator and lead developer, Alx Preston, who battled heart disease. 

It made him realize how vulnerable life is. That fueled the development of Hyper Light Drifter. 

Games are much more than the corporate cash grabs that many of these large companies make them out to be. They are portions of someone’s soul. 

While it’s challenging at times for a small team to develop a game, the impact indie game developers leave makes it worthwhile.