What Makes an ‘Indie Game’ an Independent Game?
October 1, 2009 | Geoff Gibson
Like with Hollywood, and the recording industry it has become increasingly harder to tell what counts as an independent game. Especially when there are so many big-time game corporations (EA, Activision, THQ, etc.) always scavenging to find the next big craze and capitalize on it. It makes sense for them. Why pay people to come up with a brilliant idea before it’s even tested when you can simply find the best indie games out there and offer the designer a once in a lifetime dream opportunity in exchange for their game? Indie games can draw large flocks of people, despite their relatively small distribution network, and it’s when one of these games “makes it” that the big companies begin to take notice of a possible acquisition target.
Anyways, seeing as how we are an indie games blog, it’d probably be best for us to lay down exactly what we believe is an independent game. This way you won’t ever have to wonder why some games get mentioned and why others do not, or why we may drop coverage of a certain title (in case of a buy-out). Anyways on to the list!
1. No Big Names Attached.
No I’m not talking about big designer names. I’m talking about big publisher names. I know, I know! It may sound like an obviously stupid point to post but it needs a mention. Big companies own little companies and often times it’s not quite apparent that they do. But we know which ones are which and who owns who. So if you ever find a game we aren’t talking about that seems like an obvious game TO talk about, check up who is really publishing the game because, while ValuSoft publishes smaller, cheaper games all the time, they are actually owned by THQ.
That said we aren’t unflappable so be sure to let us know if you think we are missing coverage on something.
2. Self-published Large Developers.
There are a number of large developers who aren’t actually publishers but they publish all their own titles. These are not indie developers because of this. While I love to see smaller companies get big enough to become a stable and affluent self-publisher we are here to talk about the little guys. For that reason, we do not consider these companies to be indie developers.
3. Licensed Games.
Spongebob, X-Men, Spiderman, My Little Pony, etc. They all have one thing in common: they are popular IPs that have been licensed to many game companies. Bottom line, is that a licensed game can never, ever be considered a independent game. No matter how you look at it, even if the smallest indie developer picks up a big licensed project there’s bound to be hoards of cash behind the project. Therefor, they aren’t true independent games.
Here’s where it gets a little sticky, however. If the license is small-time and serves only a very niche audience then the game can be considered an independent game on a case-by-case basis. This is pretty rare though.
4. Venture Capital is a no-no!
Everybody wants to be invested in. It’s a great feeling and it gives you the much needed cash to make a great game. There are plenty of developers out there who aren’t attached to a big name and simply make do based on their own ability to seek out investments. That’s awesome for them and we hope they make some awesome games! But they aren’t indie games. Look, we aren’t talking about investments from your family or if you borrow money from the bank. We are talking about true investment capital companies whose primary goal is to see a profit on whatever they are investing in.
5. Corporate of “Sponsored” Games.
Did you know there’s an entire industry within the game’s sector wherein game developers create sponsored games for big corporations? We aren’t talking about big game corporations, just big corporations; like Doritos, M & M, MySpace, etc. These games are more advertisement than actual games and, once again, because they have big money behind them we simply don’t consider them to be independent games. Indie games created out of thought, creativity, and new ideas and we just don’t believe such a thing can exist in a corporate-sponsored game.
And that’s about it. While every game requires a look-through to see if it really is an indie game, I’d say if none of these five items fit into your game or a game you want us to talk about then it’s a pretty safe bet. We don’t believe all indie games have to be artsy, puzzle games. We don’t even believe all indie games have to be original. Indie games can consist of every genre imaginable (FPS, puzzle adventure, RPG, etc.) and they can be blatant rip-offs or honorable homages as long as they truly are independent from the mainstream industry.
