Indie gaming

Indie gaming is a term for games that are made independently (hence "Indie") without the financial backing of any major publisher or company. They generally have a small budget and are usually only available online, predominantly for PC, although budgets can run in the millions and indie games have appeared on consoles such as PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube.

Related Topics:
Indie - Budget

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The origins of Indie Video Gaming trace back to the seventies, when basically all games fell under the 'indie' heading since there was virtually no established computer gaming industry. Indeed, it can be said that Pong was the first 'indie' game. During the 90's, indie games were known more commonly as simply shareware games, though the term has a more derogatory connotation nowadays when indie games are competing with their big-budget corporate bretheren.

Related Topics:
Computer gaming industry - Pong

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Indie gaming is strongly linked to casual games, shareware, freeware or GPL'ed software development. Indie developers are generally motivated by strong niche interest in the title they are working on, often a game that would not be produced by the mainstream. They tend to be inserted into some sort of community (usually internet-based) which recognizes developers.

Related Topics:
Casual games - Shareware - Freeware - GPL

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Typically, when indie games are being made, there is a small team of people. The average size of the team is 1-10 people, which include 2D and 3D artists, programmers, musician, etc. Games may take years to be constructed from the ground up, often being developed in spare time and spare space (garages, basements, etc).

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Those interested in making or playing indie games are encouraged to follow some of the external links below.

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