Is this game indie or not?

[Erling Braut Haaland]

I have a debate with my friend over this. And he is saying that it is indie, while I am saying that it is not.

[Isa]

Pretty sure it's indie.

[Xryleth]

It's kind of a middle ground, it's a small team of developers, as is typical for an indie title, but the developers from my understanding largely already have experience working on AAA titles under other companies, so the experience is already there. They also have the support of Microsoft, which along with access to assets I think was where their funding came from, so that is where it gets somewhat iffy.

[Big Floppa]

It's debatable. Moon Studios isn't a large studio in terms of numbers. Moon studios isn't actually a traditional "studio" at all. Moon is really a collection of developers from all around the globe. The main argument for Ori not being an indie game is that Microsoft studios now technicality owns the ip. Ori is even in the Holliday bundle for the Xbox one. You could make the argument for both.

Edit: @xryleth beat me to it :D

[chessic]

If this isn't indie (aka a small team of developers making and doing what they want) then I don't know what is.

[Kv]

It depends on how you define indie. It is made by a small team but they are owned by Microsoft studios (I think) and thus not independent.

[NG75]

This is what IGN say about Moon Studios.


"Moon Studios is an independent developer that focuses on delivering incredibly polished, fine-tuned gaming experiences. The company was founded in 2010 by Thomas Mahler (former Cinematic Artist at Blizzard Entertainment) and Gennadiy Korol (former Senior Graphics Engineer at Animation Lab).
Moon Studios is a distributed development house: All team members are spread throughout the world, allowing Moon to work with the best and most talented people in the games industry. In 2011, Moon Studios became a Microsoft First Party Developer."

"Company Info
List of Moon Studios Games

Title Platform Release Date
Ori and The Blind Forest Xbox 360 TBA 2015
Ori and The Blind Forest PC March 11, 2015
Ori and The Blind Forest Xbox One March 11, 2015
Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive EditionXbox One Q4 2015
Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition PCQ4 2015
Warsoup PC TBA"

[Stormspark]

It started out as an indie project. Once Microsoft became involved it no longer is.

[sini5tar]

It's not an indie. Cause it's MS to decide where to publish the game (i.e. Windows and XBOX only).

[Aventus]

Blind Forest had bigger budget than all indie games together(that year) , supported by Microsoft money, Are you really serious with this question ?

[Stretchyf]

Originally posted by Fehrplay:

Blind Forest had bigger budget than all indie games together(that year) , supported by Microsoft money, Are you really serious with this question ?

Any links where we can read about the budget of Ori Blind Forest and other indie games' combined that year? Because game is pretty much Indie by the scale and execution. Just watch James Benson's report made on GDC 2015.