Indie game
An indie game, short for independent video game generally refers to a video game made by a single developer or small team without the support from a large video game company. Some indie games have become very successful like Minecraft.[1]
Overview
Indie game has no true definition,[2] but has certain features, they are often made by one person or a small team,[3] often smaller than mainstream titles,[4] often not getting money from a publisher. But being without a publisher means that they have no-one telling them what they can and can't do, giving them much more freedom to make a game they want to make.[5] But making a Indie game does not mean they have no publisher. Indie game developers often go to crowd-funding sites to help fund the game, but often make very little profit.
History
Indie games started on PCs[3] where it currently remains. Indie games become popular as shareware. But as better technologies came out people began to expect more from these small teams, indie games have seen a huge rise in the later half of the 2000s.[6]
Indie Game Media
Nidhogg is an example of an indie game that relies on a retro pixel-based 1980s style for its presentation.
The 1982 ZX Spectrum was popular with hobbyist programmers in the UK.
N is a 2004 browser game that later was developed into a commercial indie game, N++ in 2015.
Fez was one of several indie games highlighted in Indie Game: The Movie as indie games entered mainstream coverage.
The number of games, by year, published on Steam, estimated by Steam Spy in January 2020. The years 2004 and 2005—with seven and six games, respectively—are not visible on this chart.
And Yet It Moves is an example of a student-developed game expanded to a commercial title following the team's graduation.
The Independent Games Festival exhibition during the 2013 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, California, where indie developers can showcase their games to attendees
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References
- ↑ Plunkett, Luke. Why Minecraft Is So Damn PopularKotaku. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
- ↑ Gnade, Mike. What is an indie game?. The Indie Game Magazine. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Gril, Juan. The state of indie Gaming. Gamasutra. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
- ↑ Carroll, Russell. Indie Innovation?. GameTunnel. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
- ↑ Crossley, Rob. Indie game studios 'will always be more creative'. Market for Home Computing and Video Games. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
- ↑ Irwin, Mary Jane. Indie Game Developers Rise Up. Forbes. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
Other websites
- The Creativity of Indie Video Games Archived 2015-11-22 at the Wayback Machine