The Independent View by Dan MacDonald

Understanding “Independent” (May 3, 2005)

So what is this whole “indie” thing and what exactly is an “Independent Developer?” This is the question that we will be asking in this installment of ‘The Independent View’. The discussion of what is “indie” and what is “independent” is a perennial one on the IndieGamer.com forums. It is very difficult to come up with hard and fast definitions for these terms and we will not be attempting to do so here. Instead we will try to define the terms by looking at archetypical examples of each in order to get a clearer understanding of Independent Game Development.

Independent Developers have been defined as developers that are not owned by a controlling interest like a publisher or umbrella organization. Developers like ID Software and 3D Realms are well known as Independent Developers because they are not owned by Vivindi or Activision or any other big publisher. They are free to pursue any game that they want and are personally responsible for its distribution. This is what the retail games industry understands as the definition of an Independent Developer.

Because the definition of an “Independent Developer” is so broad it encompasses a huge range of developers from the incredibly profitable types like Valve, with big teams and even bigger budgets, to the two man team working out of their dining rooms and collaborating over the internet. Further classification is required so that the various types of Independent Developers can be referenced accurately. In this article we will look at three types of Independent Developers: Indies, hobbyists and entrepreneurs.

Of the three types, Hobbyists are typically the smallest. Hobbyist developers typically work on their own or with one or two friends to make something cool. Hobbyists aren't concerned so much with making a product as they are with working on interesting projects, weather it's a peer to peer networking system or a terrain engine, or a physics system in 3D. Hobbyists can range from absolute novices to industry veterans who play with technology in the off hours. Some hobbyists create cool freeware games while they go to school or work in some other industry. Typically hobbyist projects are not for profit and are done simply because the hobbyist enjoyed working on the project.

On the other end of the spectrum are entrepreneurs. Most entrepreneurs don't care what business they start as long as they can see a market niche for it and have a business plan they feel they can execute. The focus of an entrepreneur tends to be directed more toward building a profitable and sustainable business than toward the product or service that the business will provide. In effect, the business is the target of the entrepreneurs’ creative energies as much or more so then the actual product or service. Where entrepreneurs in the games market differ from traditional entrepreneurs is that they are typically still very passionate about making games. Even so, their focus tends to be on building a profitable and sustainable business. If that means they do contract work, build games for publishers, etc. to pay the bills so they can continue operating, they will do it. In short, entrepreneurs are very conscious of the market that they are targeting and very careful about what they choose to create. Entrepreneurs are also very focused on finishing their games because without products there can be no earnings.

Of the three types of Independent Developers, the most difficult to define is the "indie" developer. Indies are more product oriented then their hobbyist counterparts. They want to see a finished product and they want it to be amazing. Indies tend to have an antiestablishment slant to their character; they are more interested in creating a game they think is cool than trying to create one for a profitable, well-defined market. Indies tend to possess a certain sense of hubris that compels them to believe that what they create will be successful simply because they are the ones creating it. Not unlike the indie rock band that goes out and plays its own sound instead of targeting a pop-music or country-music market, indie game developers create games they want to make instead of targeting a particular gaming market, such as match-three or arkanoid games. Indies hope to be mainstream and profitable just like entrepreneurs; they just want to do it on their own terms and do things that they find personally satisfying.

One question that is repeatedly asked by newcomers to independent game development is “who are the most successful independents?” This is a very difficult question to answer because success is measured differently depending on which independents are being referred to. An indie might consider their multiplayer game completely successful if a group of 40 of their close friends and acquaintances played it every night. An entrepreneur might consider the same scenario a failure for their business because it did not see a profit when compared with the time and money invested. Hobbyists can feel successful as long as they have fun working on their projects.

It's important to understand that while there are distinct characteristics for each of the three types of independents, there is still more in common than not. Each uses its freedom as an independent developer to pursue their passion for games as they see fit. Just like the question posed by Mel Gibson’s character in Braveheart, “…What will you do with that freedom?” each independent developer uses their freedom to choose their own path and in the end, all Independents are masters of their own destinies.