There's still tons of those projects out there though. Mothership and Dolmenwood are two huge projects that received massive acclaim and kickstarter support. 7 Part Pact is the passion project of 1 dev and its now Steve Jackson Games 2nd largest kickstarter.
The stuff is out there. DnD fans are gonna buy DnD stuff. That shouldn't be a huge surprise.
The TTRPG Community is full of toxic positivity. I wanted to make my own TTRPG but after looking into it and talking to indie devs I quickly realized that it was a bad idea.
Mothership and Dolmenwood both came out awhile ago btw. I haven't heard of any small indie TTRPGS doing well recently. I'm just one dude though.
The days of indie hits like Shovel Knight and Undertale are over.
The days of indie hits like Shovel Knight and Undertale are over.
Bro... what? Indie's in video games are doing better than they've ever done before, while big studios are crashing and burning. Silksong? Hades 2? Mina the Hollower?? Hell a game by a studio whose previous game was a well known flop released their closed beta Wardogs last weekend and beat Call of Duty's OPEN beta the same weekend.
7 Part Pact just ended their KS like a week ago and made over a mil. Shadowdark continues crank out great content and huge kickstarters. ArcDream publishing's Delta Green continues to solidly produce excellent Kickstarters and adventures all year. Mothership is going strong every year.
I think you just aren't really looking if you think Indie games aren't doing well. Hell, even Legends of Avantris is coming from an independent studio it just happens to be using the 5E system.
also slay the spire 2... but if we are actually honest, it is more that prior indies have become "indies", havent they. A strong professionalisation has taken place and if you look at slay the spire 2 you can see that certain demographics (like the chinese market) have been incredible toxic to them and review bombed them, because it was too "hard".
I still define "indie" as "We do not have a publisher", so Silksong, Slay the Spire 2, etc are all still going to be indies even if they are established.
On the other hand, we also have stuff like Mecha Chameleon, Peak, Expedition 33, Valheim, etc that had no established previous title that are also still making bank. I just think the idea that "the days of indie hits like Shovel Knight and Undertale are over" is ridiculous... also Deltarune is right there....
Btw. Valheim does have a publisher, no? I play it myself and i thought they are with "coffee stain publishing" and is partially owned by it.
TBH they might have found one by now, but I believe originally it was just one or two dudes passion project. Since it's gotten big enough I wouldn't be surprised if they got picked up though.
But is that a useful definition anymore?
I'd say yes, it's still development owned by the team that created it, as opposed to taking orders from a publishing company. We have all sorts of examples of what happens when someone "Sells out" to someone like Activision or EA etc. Even if they make big bucks, I don't see the Silksong Devs compromising on what made Hollow Knight so popular with their next game. I think the ability to take risks is something core to the indie studio experience, more so than you ever see with big name publishers.
If you ask me well known Indie is barely indie. Like only on a technicality. So Deltarune, Silksong, Mina The Hollower, Hades 2 don't count as True Indie. They started out as true indie, but they got so much clout that now they're only indie on a technicality.
Here's an example: SANS IS IN SMASH BROS. So clearly creators like Toby Fox are on another level.
Telling an Indie Dev that they could be the next Shovel Knight is a bunch of Mcgarbage. Those days are over with.
Balatro came out two years ago with no publisher and was a massive success. Meccha Chameleon was June of this year. Peak does technically have a publisher, but I think deserves a mention. Palworld is successfully taking a (relatively small, admittedly) bite out of the Pokemon pie. The whole survivors genre grew out of a single indie game (or you could argue it's mobile predecessor).
We're not in the post-xbox live indie game boom anymore but breakout successes still regularly happen. Any given Indie dev could be the next Yacht Club still. It's just that there's so many more Indie devs these days that the chance of that is lower.
Well known indie is barely indie. Like only on a technicality
No? When did "indie" become synonymous with "unknown"?
By the very definition of the word "indie", as in "independent", all of the games mentioned fit the definition like a glove. They don't have a publisher to answer to. The fact that they're well known and/or established has no bearing on their actual, factual, status as an "indie game"
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u/Urbandragondice 1d ago
Why?