What is Indie?

A talk on Independent Games and their history.

Indie Games are games that are usually developed by small groups or teams without a video game publisher and financial support. They tend to focus on innovation and often rely on digital distribution. Indie gaming has seen a rise in recent years due to new methods of online communication and new distribution methods. Some Indie games become very successful, such as Limbo, Super Meat Boy, and I don't think there's a soul in the world that hasn't heard of Minecraft.

A drawback on Indie games is that they are not backed by publishers, and unlike the bigger mainstream titles, have little to no budget. This, however allows developers to creative and free-thinking with no limitations, since publisher approval is not required. Another positive aspect is that smaller teams allow for more more individual involvement, which is why indie games are known for innovation, creativity, and artistic experimentation.

Indie gaming started on PCs, and saw a rise via shareware distribution in the early '90s. Unfortunately, advancement in technologies increased game requirements and user expectations, lowering the prestige of indie games. But now, with the widespread expansion of the internet, developers can now market their games online, a much more profitable and available method than retail marketing. Players can now download games from the Xbox Live Arcade, which has it's own category for Indie Games. Today, there are festivals such as IGF and Indiecade, which allow developers to experiment and present ideas to one another without publisher restrictions.

It may at first look bad for Indie Games that lack publishers and budget. But in a way, it has worked to their advantage. Developers are allowed to make innovative decisions when creating games, that can lead to beautiful works of art. Yes, art. If we can just make these games more prominent in the gaming industry and let names like, Braid, Fancy Pants Adventure and World of Goo be heard next to titles such as Portal, Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed and Halo, then the world will finally come to know the creative genius of Indie Games.