So for a long time I "thought" I had an idea of what the indie game scene was, it seemed fairly self explanatory. It was basically the opposite of AAA right? Games with limited teams, limited resources, no publisher agreements, etc.
Then I guess that image finally was shattered when I found out Rovio is considered Indie. Really? I mean sure they aren't as huge as some other AAA developers but they have released their game on virtually every modern platform there is, PC, iOS, Android, PS3, 360, PS4, Vita, Wii, Wii U, I even have the damn thing on my Roku... and you can't say it's not "well known" or "not in the public eye", the game is immensely popular, it even has a Star Wars licensed version of it.
I'm not hating on Rovio, but I have such a hard time calling them "Indie". Maybe that word isn't as subjective as I'd like it to be, but it feels like it's been hijacked. Like how Indie films went from just meaning "independently made films without a huge budget or a production company backing them" to "art for art's sake" weird films and "social conscience" pieces that Film Hipsters at festivals cheer over.
When I think of an indie game, I imagine things like Terraria, Minecraft in it's infancy, Gnomoria, Starbound, Game Dev Tycoon, etc. Minecraft even presents an interesting case... it seems that if you were at any point considered Indie, you are Indie-4-Life. I have a really hard time calling Mojang an Indie company when they break 1 Million in profit and have their own team, offices and multi-platform game releases, yes they started Indie, but how are they now different from other big time players?
The only thing I can think of is the amount of money spent developing their game. Minecraft and Angry Birds doesn't take a multi-million dollar budget to make, but is that the entire definition we're going with?
The reason I am even concerned with this at all is because it's always been a struggle for indie developers to get noticed and get their game out there in the past, it's certainly gotten easier in the recent years but I worry that if companies that reap major profits from their games are still considered Indie that it sets the bar higher for what publishers expect of an Indie, meaning you will see more Angry Birds and Minecraf take over the market, but Joe Blow with his Rogue-like never gets a real chance at getting publisher or content delivery backing because he's too "niche"
What do you say? Do you feel that all games and companies considered Indie are labelled correctly? What's your definition of Indie?
Then I guess that image finally was shattered when I found out Rovio is considered Indie. Really? I mean sure they aren't as huge as some other AAA developers but they have released their game on virtually every modern platform there is, PC, iOS, Android, PS3, 360, PS4, Vita, Wii, Wii U, I even have the damn thing on my Roku... and you can't say it's not "well known" or "not in the public eye", the game is immensely popular, it even has a Star Wars licensed version of it.
I'm not hating on Rovio, but I have such a hard time calling them "Indie". Maybe that word isn't as subjective as I'd like it to be, but it feels like it's been hijacked. Like how Indie films went from just meaning "independently made films without a huge budget or a production company backing them" to "art for art's sake" weird films and "social conscience" pieces that Film Hipsters at festivals cheer over.
When I think of an indie game, I imagine things like Terraria, Minecraft in it's infancy, Gnomoria, Starbound, Game Dev Tycoon, etc. Minecraft even presents an interesting case... it seems that if you were at any point considered Indie, you are Indie-4-Life. I have a really hard time calling Mojang an Indie company when they break 1 Million in profit and have their own team, offices and multi-platform game releases, yes they started Indie, but how are they now different from other big time players?
The only thing I can think of is the amount of money spent developing their game. Minecraft and Angry Birds doesn't take a multi-million dollar budget to make, but is that the entire definition we're going with?
The reason I am even concerned with this at all is because it's always been a struggle for indie developers to get noticed and get their game out there in the past, it's certainly gotten easier in the recent years but I worry that if companies that reap major profits from their games are still considered Indie that it sets the bar higher for what publishers expect of an Indie, meaning you will see more Angry Birds and Minecraf take over the market, but Joe Blow with his Rogue-like never gets a real chance at getting publisher or content delivery backing because he's too "niche"
What do you say? Do you feel that all games and companies considered Indie are labelled correctly? What's your definition of Indie?