I believe in what it means to support indie developers. I believe in indie games and creators. I believe that the video game industry can be a cesspool of workers rights violations, sexual harassment, exclusionary cliques, and money hungry capital-first executives, BUT only if we let it. I believe that publishers can hold a tight reign and snap a quick whip to make so much soulless slop ooze through our platforms that we'll never find each other in the ocean of Bad Games.
If. We. Let. It.
I don't like Bad Games. I don't like Bad Publishers or Bad Developers, either.
Not giving artists credit, not being truthful or transparent or even communicative with their fanbase, abandoning efforts and ghosting players who have supported them for years without handing over the code to someone else who could show it love.
I believe there are the Big Guys and that there are the Indies.
This is my line in the sand.
The technical, cut and dry, basic definition of Indie is not exactly a checkbox, but depends on different independent variables developers try to achieve and signal.
They are:
a) financial (how a game is funded and who controls it)
b) aesthetic (how it looks/plays relative to the mainstream)
c) cultural (the values and claims a game makes about dev practice and society)
Jesper Juul (a person who also decided to draw a line in the sand, but in an MIT journal) makes the triad explicit in talks/papers.
To be "Indie" (independent) a game/developer needs to have:
- Financial independence (self-funding, crowdfunding, or deals that avoid publisher control)
- Aesthetic independence (distinct formal/visual approaches without publisher interference (e.g., retro pixel art, experimental design, niche appeal))
- Cultural independence (a stance toward the broader cultural/political landscape (e.g. having community ethics, inclusive political underlying themes, and "healthier" development cycles without deadline-imposed crunch).
One of the most key themes is "authenticity".
Indie games go for "handmade" credibility in a digital medium. The pixel/voxel style of indie games is a marker of indie identity. It is both nostalgic and frugal, but regardless, it is a badge of honor, not embarassment.
That's what everyone, more or less, agrees on.
It's in scientific journals and what researchers consult.
I might have got a little passionate in places, but overall, it's a sound definition that brings Ethics firmly into the picture.
Some games don't DESERVE the Indie title (I'm looking at YOU SUNHAVEN!)