Indy - Game Developers Network

Exploring the evolving Japanese indie game scene

Game Developer

FEBRUARY 24, 2023

Japanese developers, and the organizations supporting them, on Japan's slow but growing indie scene.

Indy

Indy Games Development

SAG-AFTRA launches new contract tiers for indie devs

Game Developer

FEBRUARY 7, 2024

Under this specific agreement, indie studios can now work with union performers, provided they meet the right budget requirements.

Indy

Indy Dev Studios

Japan aiming to support indie devs with new acceleration program

Game Developer

MARCH 25, 2024

The So-Fu program will help Japanese indie devs with product management, teach them more about game development, and how to pitch their projects to stakeholders.

Indy

Indy Dev Game Developer Game Development

Indie publisher Versus Evil has shut down

Game Developer

DECEMBER 22, 2023

Indie publisher Versus Evil reportedly laid off its entire staff as the holidays have begun, closing its doors after ten years in operation.

Indy

Must-have tools and libraries for indie game developers in 2024

Game Developer

NOVEMBER 11, 2024

Thanks to the constant development of technology and an ever-growing set of powerful tools, indie developers can create games that rival those made by big studios. If you're an indie developer looking to take your project to the next level, here's your essential toolkit for 2024.

Indy

Indy Development Game Developer Game Development

A Year With Indie Cup

Game Developer

JANUARY 9, 2024

"If you find yourself a bit bored while playing the next AAA title, thinking something like “I’ve seen this so many times before”, open a search engine of your choice, type “indie games” and press enter."

Indy

Indy AAA Engine Engineering

Atari calls on indie devs to pitch a new Bubsy game

Game Developer

OCTOBER 12, 2023

Atari has put out the call for any indie developer with a love for Bubsy to try their hand at revitalizing the dormant character.

Indy

Indy Dev Games Development

'This is just a death cycle': No More Robots gets candid about the state of indie publishing

Game Developer

AUGUST 7, 2024

No More Robots founder Mike Rose explains how cynicism can ensure survival and offers indie devs some pitching advice.

Indy

Indy Dev

Pantaloon helps out indie devs with free resource hub

Game Developer

AUGUST 15, 2024

The publishing hub offers indie teams everything they need to take a crack at self-publishing, from pitch decks to roadmaps and playtest frameworks.

Indy

Indy Playtesting Dev

Indies and unions rally behind Microsoft's Activision Blizzard deal

Game Developer

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023

The indies love Xbox Game Pass, and the unions believe the merger will offer a blueprint for labor relations in the game industry.

Indy

Indy Games

Game Developer's 2023 wrap-up: Indie developers name their unsung heroes of the year

Game Developer

DECEMBER 22, 2023

Indie developers like Quinn K, Cosmo D, Taylor McCue and more name their "unsung heroes" of 2023.

Indy

Indy Development Game Developer Game Development

Indie-focused Triple-I Initiative launched by Dead Cells, Slay the Spire devs

Game Developer

MARCH 29, 2024

The line between triple-A and indie is very thin for studios like Evil Empire and Thunder Lotus, so they've made a space for themselves.

Indy

Indy Dev Studios

New publisher Shoreline Games launches for indie, subculture-driven games

Game Developer

OCTOBER 1, 2024

The new publisher is geared toward indie games based on systems and with the potential to foster passionate communities.

Indy

Indy Games

Indie troupe Sokpop Collective on releasing 100 games in five years

Game Developer

MARCH 2, 2023

Aran Koning and Ruben "Rubna" Naus, two members of indie quartet Sockpop Collective, share what they learned after releasing a century of games.

Indy

Indy Games

Embrace the Chaos: How Indie Devs Can Thrive in a Changing and Challenging Market

Game Developer

MAY 9, 2024

Yes, the industry is experiencing a shift, but change often breeds opportunity, especially for nimble indie developers.

Indy

Indy Dev Development

Flashback 2008: Making World of Goo , an all-time indie darling

Game Developer

JANUARY 30, 2023

How 2DBoy created 2008 indie darling World of Goo , with a little illumination from WiiWare and Steam.

Indy

Five key publishing contract pitfalls for indies to avoid

Game Developer

MARCH 20, 2023

Attorney Kellan Voyer laid out five common problem areas for indie developers to watch out for in publishing contracts, including issues with licensing, DLC, and IP.

Indy

Indy Development

Unity: Indies are shipping games faster in fewer work hours

Game Developer

MARCH 14, 2023

Unity's data shows that indie developers are looking to crunch less, and strategizing to get games to market faster.

Indy

Indy Data Games Development

Detroit: Become Human developer Quantic Dream forms indie publishing label

Game Developer

JUNE 9, 2023

The French studio said it wants to help Indies create "the best version of the game they are developing."

Indy

Indy Development Studios Games

Indie publisher Armor Games reportedly axes publishing team

Game Developer

AUGUST 1, 2024

Ex-staff claim the publisher has eliminated its entire publishing team. If true, it's unclear what that means for the games Armor's expected to publish.

Indy

Indy Games

How indie publisher Hooded Horse aims to do right by developers

Game Developer

FEBRUARY 13, 2023

Indie publisher Hooded Horse specializes in certain genres and takes a strong tact in marketing to niche players.

Indy

Indy Development

Indie publisher Merge Games is shutting down

Game Developer

SEPTEMBER 26, 2024

Merge's story comes to a close after a 15-year run.

Indy

Indy Games

Ardán launches development fund for Irish indie studios

Game Developer

MAY 20, 2024

The IndieDev program will grant £15,000 / €15,000 to the seven studios in the island of Ireland to generate ideas and create game prototypes.

Studios

Studios Indy Prototyping Development

Unity's Just Not Into You, Indie Developer

Game Developer

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023

How can you trust a business partner that will radically change the terms not only of your future relationship, but your existing one as well?

Indy

Indy Development

Piranha Bytes veterans establish indie developer Pithead Studio

Game Developer

JULY 8, 2024

The news comes amid rumours that Embracer has shuttered the Gothic and Risen maker.

Indy

Indy Studios Development

Germany launches new funding program for indie dev founders

Game Developer

OCTOBER 28, 2024

The country's 18-month program will provide current and future studio founders with money and guidance to run their teams and help grow out the German game industry.

Indy

Indy Dev Studios Games

Indie developer Threaks is shutting down

Game Developer

JANUARY 18, 2024

After 15 years and developing the likes of Battle Planet and All I Have is Time, Threaks is definitively calling it quits later this year.

Indy

Indy Development

Versus Evil veterans establish indie publisher Digital Bandidos

Game Developer

AUGUST 7, 2024

The fledgling company will deploy a financing model built around 'small acquisition-type buyouts of existing titles.'

Indy

Indie dev Keoken Interactive conducts staff layoffs

Game Developer

MARCH 1, 2024

CEO Koen Deetman says the cuts come after trying to prevent them from hitting the staff 'as long as humanly possible.'

Indy

Indy Dev

In Pirofauna by Polish indie studio Petums, fire is the hero of the forest

PreMortem.Games

JUNE 7, 2024

But not in the world Tomasz Ostafin, founder of indie studio Petums , is creating. Pirofauna is the second game by tiny indie studio Petums. That took seven years…) The post In Pirofauna by Polish indie studio Petums, fire is the hero of the forest appeared first on PreMortem Games. Petums is actually just me.

Indy

Indy Studios Prop Art

Pro tips for indie boothing

Game Developer

SEPTEMBER 18, 2024

Here are some 2024 tips for being an exhibitor/booth staff, based on experience from PAX East, GDC, and PAX West.

Indy

5 tips for no-bull indie game design

Game Developer

OCTOBER 24, 2024

Solo VR dev Zander Dejah, formerly gameplay programmer on Vader Immortal, explores finding the fun with Vendetta Forever.

Game Design

Game Design Game Designer Indy Dev

Relic partners with investment firm to go fully indie again

Game Developer

MAY 22, 2024

The Company of Heroes studio hasn't been independent since THQ acquired it over 20 years ago.

Indy

Indy Studios

Practical indie marketing advice with Steam expert Chris Zukowski - Game Developer Podcast ep. 34

Game Developer

SEPTEMBER 1, 2023

Recorded during GDC Showcase 23, we picked strategist Chris Zukowski's brain about how to best cut through the noise and successfully market an indie game.

Indy

Indy Game Developer Game Development Development

UK indie Radical Forge laying off 'handful' of workers

Game Developer

MARCH 1, 2024

The studio said the cuts won't impact any existing projects.

Indy

Indy Studios

Indie dev Threshold Games shuts down this week

Game Developer

FEBRUARY 6, 2024

Threshold's closure comes a month before it was set to officially reveal itself, and whatever it was working on, to the world.

Indy

Indy Dev Games

Iterative narrative design for video games - an indie approach

Game Developer

AUGUST 29, 2024

Game narratives change all the time during the production. In this article we describe the methods we use to quickly iterate on our narrative content.

Indy

Indy Content Games

Dev agency Amber acquires indie studio Madbricks

Game Developer

AUGUST 5, 2024

Amber is putting its focus toward 'emerging markets,' and snatcheed up Madbricks to get a foothold in South America's game industry.

Indy

Indy Dev Studios Games

Japanese indie publishers steer Tokyo Indie Games Summit: "Companies are paying attention"

GamesIndustry.biz

MAY 10, 2024

Indie gaming in Japan is growing, while domestic investment in indie publishing and greater investment in independent and doujin creators is uprooting the Japanese games industry. Even the Japanese government recently announced investment schemes to fund and produce more domestic indie titles.

Indy

Indy Games Development

Nintendo and Sega alums form indie label First Break Labs

Game Developer

JULY 11, 2024

The new publisher will target smaller studios looking for their first break into the game industry, and will release multiple projects in the near future

Indy

Indy Studios Games

Indie horror hit Crow Country sells over 100,000 copies

Game Developer

OCTOBER 22, 2024

The 'Snipperclips' creators reached the impressive milestone in under six months.

Horror

Horror Indy

Timbre Games is going indie after being shuttered by Sumo Group

Game Developer

SEPTEMBER 5, 2024

'We weren’t quite ready to throw in the towel just yet.'

Indy

Indy Games

BioWare alum Mac Walters freezes indie studio Worlds Untold amid funding search

Game Developer

NOVEMBER 27, 2024

Worlds Untold is going on hiatus as its leaders search for someone to back its first game and 'help bring our vision to life.'

Indy

Indy Studios Games

Backrooms, Liminal Spaces, And The Subliminal Menace Of Loneliness in Indie Horror Games

Game Developer

FEBRUARY 5, 2024

The other day I was told that my writing is appreciated and that I need to write more… so I’m taking a moment to write about a rabbit hole that I’ve fallen down since working on BlueSuburbia!

Horror

Horror Writing Indy Games

Exploring the evolving Japanese indie game scene

SAG-AFTRA launches new contract tiers for indie devs

Trending Sources

Japan aiming to support indie devs with new acceleration program

Indie publisher Versus Evil has shut down

Must-have tools and libraries for indie game developers in 2024

A Year With Indie Cup

Atari calls on indie devs to pitch a new Bubsy game

'This is just a death cycle': No More Robots gets candid about the state of indie publishing

Pantaloon helps out indie devs with free resource hub

Indies and unions rally behind Microsoft's Activision Blizzard deal

Game Developer's 2023 wrap-up: Indie developers name their unsung heroes of the year

Indie-focused Triple-I Initiative launched by Dead Cells, Slay the Spire devs

New publisher Shoreline Games launches for indie, subculture-driven games

Indie troupe Sokpop Collective on releasing 100 games in five years

Embrace the Chaos: How Indie Devs Can Thrive in a Changing and Challenging Market

Flashback 2008: Making World of Goo , an all-time indie darling

Five key publishing contract pitfalls for indies to avoid

Unity: Indies are shipping games faster in fewer work hours

Detroit: Become Human developer Quantic Dream forms indie publishing label

Indie publisher Armor Games reportedly axes publishing team

How indie publisher Hooded Horse aims to do right by developers

Indie publisher Merge Games is shutting down

Ardán launches development fund for Irish indie studios

Unity's Just Not Into You, Indie Developer

Piranha Bytes veterans establish indie developer Pithead Studio

Germany launches new funding program for indie dev founders

Indie developer Threaks is shutting down

Versus Evil veterans establish indie publisher Digital Bandidos

Indie dev Keoken Interactive conducts staff layoffs

In Pirofauna by Polish indie studio Petums, fire is the hero of the forest

Pro tips for indie boothing

5 tips for no-bull indie game design

Relic partners with investment firm to go fully indie again

Practical indie marketing advice with Steam expert Chris Zukowski - Game Developer Podcast ep. 34

UK indie Radical Forge laying off 'handful' of workers

Indie dev Threshold Games shuts down this week

Iterative narrative design for video games - an indie approach

Dev agency Amber acquires indie studio Madbricks

Japanese indie publishers steer Tokyo Indie Games Summit: "Companies are paying attention"

Nintendo and Sega alums form indie label First Break Labs

Indie horror hit Crow Country sells over 100,000 copies

Timbre Games is going indie after being shuttered by Sumo Group

BioWare alum Mac Walters freezes indie studio Worlds Untold amid funding search

Backrooms, Liminal Spaces, And The Subliminal Menace Of Loneliness in Indie Horror Games

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