GamesIndustry.biz

FEBRUARY 26, 2024

Getting your game noticed isn't easy, and it's particularly tough for indie game developers right now. Of course, there's been a concerted effort by the industry to give indie games their time in the spotlight, and it's great to see major publishers such as PlayStation, Nintendo, and Xbox hosting their own indie showcases throughout the year.

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GamesIndustry.biz

JULY 11, 2023

Chris Charla, strategic director of Microsoft's indie programme ID@Xbox, says the need to separate indie titles from AAA is diminishing in many regards. He added that few people who play indie games would define themselves as indie gamers. For consumers, we actually need to separate it less and less.

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Game Wisdom

NOVEMBER 8, 2024

Why You Can’t Objectively Build Great Games Josh Bycer josh@game-wisdom.com I was reading a piece over on Game Developer that gave me pause for a second about whether this is what game design at the AAA level is about now — focusing on analytics and trying to “math” the perfect … The post Why You Can’t Objectively (..)

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GamesIndustry.biz

JUNE 15, 2023

Yet in the past few years we've seen the rise of several showcases that do a great job of presenting everything happening in the indie space, from Wholesome Direct and Guerrilla Collective to the veteran-run Day of the Devs.

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GamesIndustry.biz

MARCH 30, 2023

Shuhei Yoshida, head of Sony Interactive Entertainment's Independent Developer Initiative, has been working with indie studios for decades. The fact that a small game from a small team took Game of the Year titles everywhere, not just AAA titles," he says. "It It wasn't just best indie game, but the best game of the year. "The

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Radiator Blog

FEBRUARY 10, 2025

And now since I no longer teach for a living, I thought I'd try an even more difficult way of earning money - why not try "going indie"? Not to mention the rather neglected rugby game genre, abandoned by AAA since 2008.) But I've been threatening to make a sports game for a while.

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Ask a Game Dev

MARCH 12, 2024

I've seen plenty of programmers who had experience working at smaller or mobile studios move to AAA games and many go in reverse. When we hire engineers for game dev, be it AAA or indie, we look for candidates who can work with a team and have a knack for solving problems with performant, legible, and elegant code.

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GamesIndustry.biz

JULY 18, 2024

2024 has been the year of surprising indie titles topping the Steam charts. Palworld, Balatro, Manor Lords and many more have all sold incredible amounts and outshone many big AAA releases on the platform, becoming some of the most successful launches of the year so far.

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iXie gaming

MARCH 2, 2025

From indie studios to AAA developers, 2.5D This makes it perfect for indie developers and cross-platform releases. Metroidvanias & Indie Games: Innovation Without Complexity Dead Cells and Cuphead prove that 2.5D Works While 2D and 3D have traditionally been viewed as separate paths in game development, 2.5D

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PreMortem.Games

OCTOBER 2, 2023

Midnight Girl , from indie studio Italic , oozes French cool. Ryder: “Making and releasing a game in general is extremely taxing, whether you’re making a small indie title or releasing a AAA-game on PS5. The point-and-click adventure unfolds in a stylish 1960s Paris that exudes both an inviting and eerie ambiance.

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The Bottom Feeder

JULY 24, 2023

I've been writing indie games for a living for 30 years now and so have been shipping them continuously for longer, as far as I know, than anybody else, ever. Never trust professional reviews of AAA games. They were written by professional indie game developers who should know better. (I’m Don't do that. That was is.

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Game Wisdom

NOVEMBER 21, 2023

The Strange State of the AAA Market Josh Bycer josh@game-wisdom.com width="560" height="314" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" Last Key to Games cast we spoke about the indie space, for this topic, recent news surrounding major names in the AAA space make us wonder what is exactly happening at the major studios.…

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GamesIndustry.biz

JULY 15, 2024

More than 100,000 visitors from over 70 countries came to the São Paulo Expo centre during the final week of June to play everything from locally-developed indie curios, to AAA blockbusters and first-party smash hits. It's safe to say the first ever Gamescom Latam was a success.

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GamesIndustry.biz

JUNE 24, 2024

The indie space is incredibly exciting, and increasingly competitive. Conducting influencer outreach on AAA projects was a vastly different experience from working on an indie gem like The Case of the Golden Idol. But how can you effectively utilise the PR resources you have at your disposal? Read more

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GamesIndustry.biz

JUNE 7, 2023

From AAA to indie and midsized titles, various presentations will be dedicated to showing the public what they can look forward to. Sign up for the GI Daily here to get the biggest news straight to your inbox Although E3 is canceled this year , this week marks the start of 2023's summer games showcases.

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GamesIndustry.biz

AUGUST 15, 2024

With Rare sharing insight from within a major Microsoft-owned AAA studio, and Dlala discussing their experiences on the indie side, the discussion will centre on the role of leadership in helping their employees navigate change, and will offer actionable advice and tips for leaders and HR professionals.

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Played with Fire

APRIL 14, 2022

As game fans, we can choose from both big AAA productions and less known (but not always) indie productions. A few words about indie games. Indie , which is short for independent , means independent of the creator – financially, conceptually, or in terms of time. What are indie games and why are they popular?

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Starloop Studios

JANUARY 12, 2023

It has become an integral part of game development, from small-scale indie gems to AAA blockbusters. Visual effects in modern gaming can be a transformative process that brings a title’s presentation and immersion to the next level.

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PreMortem.Games

JANUARY 8, 2024

In AAA, the roles are typically very specialized and each individual doesn’t have much room to experiment outside of their responsibilities. The advantage of the indie space in general is that we get to work on smaller, more niche ideas. “Motivation is a limited resource that will inevitably wear out in a year or two.

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PreMortem.Games

OCTOBER 27, 2023

The market is so saturated, that every little defect becomes an ‘elephant in the room’ for players that often compare a low-budget indie title to AAA games. The more you raise the bar, the more you risk disappointing somebody, especially if you don’t have AAA budgets.”

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GamesIndustry.biz

JUNE 9, 2023

Organised by GamesIndustry.biz parent ReedPop, the event will once again offer attendees the chance to play a mix of AAA and indie games (as well as tabletop and retro titles), take part in esports competitions, and watch developers discuss their work on stage. Read more

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GamesIndustry.biz

APRIL 20, 2023

This norm, however, may soon be a relic of the past as software from technology company Move hopes to revolutionise motion capture for AAA and indies alike, as well as beyond games.

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GamesIndustry.biz

JANUARY 12, 2023

It tracks all physical sales in major European countries (see list below), and digital sales from most major AAA publishers (the main exception is Nintendo, which doesn't share digital data) in every territory across Europe. The data does not include games from indie teams. Read more.

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GamesIndustry.biz

JULY 3, 2023

It's been a bit of an unusual year for the AAA games industry. But there have been a handful of new indie games that have broken through, and Hi-Fi Rush found an audience via Xbox Game Pass. New IP has fared less well, with Forspoken and Redfall missing in terms of quality and popularity. Read more

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PreMortem.Games

JUNE 29, 2023

A game trailer (especially for indie games) is part story and part instructional video. Fine line between flashy and simple editing I think one of the biggest mistakes a lot of indie games make is to chase the editing style of AAA games or Hollywood movies in hopes of looking like a ‘real’ or ‘legitimate’ trailer.

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PreMortem.Games

AUGUST 16, 2023

There are plenty of indie developers that say this and it’s possibly the most crucial part of game design and development. Trying to develop an indie game on the scale of a AAA title is the reason why a lot of indie studios fail.”

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Game Dev Unchained

SEPTEMBER 18, 2023

” “I’m the founder and CEO of Strange Loop Games,” began Krajewski, detailing his journey from working on AAA titles at prominent companies like EA and Midway to establishing his own remote studio. While the significance of platforms like Steam is evident, there’s been a notable evolution in the indie gaming scene.

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Ask a Game Dev

MAY 13, 2024

I still get plenty of cold call recruiter emails from both independent and well-known AAA studios, so I think there are still openings for people. I don't think that the industry will get smaller - there's more to the game industry than AAA games after all.

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Game Wisdom

NOVEMBER 2, 2023

Why Horror Is the Hardest Game Genre Josh Bycer josh@game-wisdom.com This year I was all set to play the latest crop of indie (and AAA) horror games for Halloween, except this time I didn’t find a lot of games compared to last year.

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Game Dev Unchained

JANUARY 16, 2025

Every single AAA studio is trying to copy that model. According to IGN (2024) , 70% of new AAA releases now have some form of live-service monetization whether its battle passes, microtransactions, or subscription-based expansions. Jordan: “We all saw it happening, right? At Hi-Rez, it was all about live-service.

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Radiator Blog

JUNE 15, 2022

So whatever's left of Quake's counter-culture vibe fades faster, in favor of clean original high-production polish, which to me feels like a bit of bleed from today's contemporary indie game culture. I'm waiting for Quake to descend into a Wholesome Ghibli phase too.) But hey, presumably Quake modders are getting paid for their work now.

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GamesIndustry.biz

SEPTEMBER 5, 2023

As reported by IGN , the entertainment union known as the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) collected data from hundreds of AAA, mobile, and indie developers between March and mid-August 2023. 57% of those surveyed said they most recently worked on an AAA game.

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PreMortem.Games

SEPTEMBER 6, 2024

Midnight Girl , from indie studio Italic , oozes French cool. Ryder: “Making and releasing a game in general is extremely taxing, whether you’re making a small indie title or releasing a AAA-game on PS5. The point-and-click adventure unfolds in a stylish 1960s Paris that exudes both an inviting and eerie ambiance.

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The Bottom Feeder

FEBRUARY 9, 2023

I’m only being driven out of my shell by my need to push the Kickstarter for our next indie RPG, Geneforge 2 - Infestation. There is a surprise hit indie game I really like, and breaking down that kind of thing is very much in my job description, so let's talk about Vampire Survivors. I did my begging. What Is It? It's a banger.

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Radiator Blog

JUNE 2, 2023

that a bigger US AAA or a non-US indie would've failed to capture. The hub for the second region is a "maritime center" that features its own branding, graphics, and pitch perfect museum-voice wall text about supporting boaters, helping the environment, and embracing local heritage.

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PreMortem.Games

JULY 22, 2024

And finally, indie developers often underprice their games. “Indie games have actually gone down in price while AAA games have been raising their prices.” . “If you discount too deep, you just gave away your game to everybody who would have bought it at 25% off.”

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Ask a Game Dev

AUGUST 3, 2023

If he wants a career in AAA games, he will need specialized expertise. If he wants to go into the indie space and work with an extremely small team, he's going to need to wear a lot of hats. If your friend is looking at a career in game design, he only needs to be multidisciplinary if he's going the indie/small team route.

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