Industry News February 9 Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision ‘strikes fear’ in indie devs that might be outshined by AAA blockbusters While Microsoft’s deal to acquire Activision Blizzard is yet to be approved, some indie developers are now raising concerns over its possible aftermath. They worry that the industry’s consolidation might leave them buried under tons of AAA games.
Marketing January 17 Why indie platformer Neko Ghost, Jump! only sold 100 units at launch despite getting 17,000 wishlists Neko Ghost, Jump! has generated more than 17,000 wishlists on Steam. The game, however, only sold 100 copies on day 1. Developer Victor Burgos tried to figure out the reasons for the failed launch.
Industry News December 15, 2021 PlayStation to reportedly fix its relationship with indie devs by improving discoverability and communications Sony might be planning to improve its relationship with indie developers and publishers. According to the global partner survey’s results, the company wants to fix some of PlayStation’s problems, including bad communication and poor discoverability.
Dev Interviews December 8, 2021 Flazm on Time Loader, indiedev, and publishers: “Only a few survive the valley of death” Time Loader is a new story-driven and physics-based puzzle game created by small indie team Flazm. We spoke to the studio’s head Alexey “Flazm” Davydov about the development process, the game’s mechanics, publishers, budgets, and the indie dev space in general.
Industry News November 2, 2021 Facts about Palestinian games industry and how indie devs create games about war in their spare time Palestina doesn’t have any successful game companies or any famous AAA games, which is why the country is not presented in the global market. There are, however, a lot of solo developers who try to change that situation by making games in their spare time, with many of them containing strong messages.
Marketing October 4, 2021 What mistakes devs should avoid when launching Kickstarter campaign Indie developer Seyed Nasrollahi has analyzed the results of the Kickstarter campaign for his game Operation Outsmart, which managed to reach only around 10% of its initial goal. Despite the bad results, he decided to share his experience with other devs.
Industry News September 22, 2021 SNKRX dev compares its average playtime to other roguelites, with Slay the Spire being absolute leader Roguelites usually have huge replayability, as their gameplay loop motivates players to come back to them over and over again. Indie developer a327ex, who created SNKRX, decided to compare his game’s playtime stats to similar titles on Steam.
Market Analysis September 8, 2021 What prevents indie games from striving in modern console market Discoverability expert Simon Carless has shared his thoughts on the problem of indie games selling poorly on consoles.
Industry News September 1, 2021 Indie games account for 40% of all units sold on Steam, based on analysis of over 60K titles Steam has always been a good place for indie games, and this market keeps growing every year. According to a new piece of analysis from VG Insights, indie titles make up 40% of all units sold on Valve’s store.
Industry News August 19, 2021 How Shapez.io, Zen version of Factorio, became hit on Steam with $1 million in revenue Indie developer Tobias Springer, who created Shapez.io as a more approachable and less stressful version of Factorio, has discussed his title’s viral success. So what helped it skyrocket from a simple web game to a $1-million hit?
Industry News August 16, 2021 Indie developer on exploitative terms of publishing contracts: “It’s the industry that’s failing devs” Imagine you are an indie developer who has been offered about half a million by a publisher. Sounds good, right? But what if the terms of this contract are so exploitative that it might be dangerous to sign it.
Industry News July 13, 2021 Steam wishlists benchmark: “5 wishlists a day is a catastrophe” Wishlists are important for indie developers because they show how many people are interested in a game. It also might be a key metric for publishers. So how many wishlists should a game have to show that you’re on the right track?
Events July 6, 2021 SAAM announces itch.io game jam for indie developers to find projects that embrace individuality Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) has offered indie developers a new creative opportunity with the announcement of SAAM Arcade 2021. This game jam won’t have judges and will be dedicated to projects about building community and embracing individuality.
Industry News July 1, 2021 Indie devs on PlayStation charging $25,000 for promotion and “leaving behind so many titles” Sony faced a new wave of criticism after it was revealed that PlayStation charges devs at least $25,000 for promotion. Indie developers started sharing their experiences of working with the company, pointing out the lack of support, bad discoverability, and low sales among other problems.
Industry News June 21, 2021 New subreddit “Destroy My Game” offers brutally honest feedback for developers Game developers always need honest feedback to see what’s wrong with their projects. That’s why the Reddit community created a new subreddit called “Destroy My Game.” Only honest thoughts and no sugar-coating.
Industry News June 16, 2021 Disney open to working with indie developers on games based on its franchises During its E3 showcase, Microsoft revealed that a new expansion for Sea of Thieves will be based on the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. And it looks like Disney also has plans to collaborate with other developers on bringing more of its IPs to video games.
Industry News June 10, 2021 Achievers Hub creates list of 140 investors for game developers Finding investors might be a problem for small studios and indie developers. Achievers Hub has compiled dozens of companies that invest in games into one list.
Industry News November 21, 2019 WolfEye: new studio founded by Dishonored devs Raphael Colantonio, Arkane Studios founder, is back after two years off the radar. Colantonio teamed up with Julien Roby, another ex-Arkane director, to found WolfEye Studios, a distributed indie company that’s already working on a new title.
Industry News October 11, 2019 Summerfall Studios announces its first game. It’s a musical Summerfall Studios, co-founded by Baldur’s Gate and Dragon Age writer David Gaider and Liam Esler, former designer at Obsidian, reveal its first title.
Industry News July 17, 2019 Subscriptions: good or bad for developers? There is no denying that subscriptions will once rule the gaming world. Is it good news for the industry?