What makes an indie game indie?

[Slayrix]

Indie means independent but I don't think that really fits for the meaning of indie when it comes to games, indies games can be published by someone and that instantly makes it not independent anymore, but many indie games are published by publishing companies such as Devolver Digital, Team17, Humble Games, and others as well. So what does make an indie game indie if it isn't just it being independently made?

[iitu]

I think the general consensus is that as long as it is not made by any major huge supa ♥♥♥♥ big company, it is considered indie. It doesn't really matter who publishes it.

[Pierce Dalton]

Low budget.

And yes, that is subjective.

[Z i o ⚡]

I think it means it's developed by an independent developer without needing a publisher.

[Lune]

Only if its made by 3 slavic man in a janky game engine with ambitious concept

[Phirestar]

Początkowo opublikowane przez っ◔◡◔)っ ♥Iitu♥:

I think the general consensus is that as long as it is not made by any major huge supa ♥♥♥♥ big company, it is considered indie. It doesn't really matter who publishes it.

Counterpoint: What defines a “major huge supa ♥♥♥♥ big company”?

What is it that constitutes a triple-A studio as being triple-A? What is it about a company that makes it fall into that category?

What exactly does it mean when a company is considered “big”? By what metric are we defining the term “big”? Is it a specific number of developers on the team? Is it a certain amount of company value?

What is it about a company like FromSoftware that makes them AAA, but not someone like Larian Studios?

This is the problem with the whole “indie vs AAA” discussion: these terms are very loosely defined. Nobody can give an exact list of qualities that define them, it’s all just vague words like “big” and “small”.

[iitu]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Phirestar:

Początkowo opublikowane przez っ◔◡◔)っ ♥Iitu♥:

I think the general consensus is that as long as it is not made by any major huge supa ♥♥♥♥ big company, it is considered indie. It doesn't really matter who publishes it.

Counterpoint: What defines a “major huge supa ♥♥♥♥ big company”?

What is it that constitutes a triple-A studio as being triple-A? What is it about a company that makes it fall into that category?

What exactly does it mean when a company is considered “big”? By what metric are we defining the term “big”? Is it a specific number of developers on the team? Is it a certain amount of company value?

What is it about a company like FromSoftware that makes them AAA, but not someone like Larian Studios?

This is the problem with the whole “indie vs AAA” discussion: these terms are very loosely defined. Nobody can give an exact list of qualities that define them, it’s all just vague words like “big” and “small”.

As far as I am aware, it's pretty much big = known, such as Bethesda or Square Enix. Also, yes, I agree, there are a lot of issues when it comes to this discussion because of the simple fact that different people define different things differently.

[Slayrix]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Z i o ⚡:

I think it means it's developed by an independent developer without needing a publisher.

But go into steams indie category, it's full of games that have publishers...

[Slayrix]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Phirestar:

Początkowo opublikowane przez っ◔◡◔)っ ♥Iitu♥:

I think the general consensus is that as long as it is not made by any major huge supa ♥♥♥♥ big company, it is considered indie. It doesn't really matter who publishes it.

Counterpoint: What defines a “major huge supa ♥♥♥♥ big company”?

What is it that constitutes a triple-A studio as being triple-A? What is it about a company that makes it fall into that category?

What exactly does it mean when a company is considered “big”? By what metric are we defining the term “big”? Is it a specific number of developers on the team? Is it a certain amount of company value?

What is it about a company like FromSoftware that makes them AAA, but not someone like Larian Studios?

This is the problem with the whole “indie vs AAA” discussion: these terms are very loosely defined. Nobody can give an exact list of qualities that define them, it’s all just vague words like “big” and “small”.

I honestly think price point is the defining difference, if your game is $70 it's a AAA game, if not it's probably indie, idk, maybe there is some in between indie and AAA?

[Triple G]

An indie games is developed by a small team or individuals with little budget, and a triple A game is developed by a big team with a big budget. I guess there are many games, which are in between the two, or for which it is hard to define. But if a game was developed by a single person in their free-time besides having another full-time job - it´s definitely an Indie game. If it´s developed by a team of 100 people working for a billion dollar corporation, it´s definitely a triple A game.

And then there´s the other difference: Indie games may be developed, because the dev liked the concept and wants to share it, while he would be happy if it generates money. And a Triple A game is produced to generate money, while the costumers would be happy if the game is half-good and not about micro-transactions and the like.

[Heitor Villa-Lobos]

The developer and the publisher are two very distinct entities.

On the other hand, I guess anything on itch.io is automatically indie.

[Devsman]

It means there's no publisher.

Which is a definition that kind of hits a snag with self-published games like you mentioned. But there's also the common sense aspect of it that says if it's made by Ubisoft it doesn't count.

[Phirestar]

Cuphead:
- Published by Microsoft
- Funded by Microsoft

Labeled as an indie game.


Ori and the Blind Forest / Will of the Wisps:
- Published by Microsoft
- Funded by Microsoft
- Developer owned by Microsoft

Labeled as an indie game.


We Happy Few:
- Published by Gearbox
- Funded by Gearbox(?)
- Developer owned by Gearbox

Labeled as a triple-A game.


Baldur’s Gate 3:
- Published independently
- Funded independently(?)
- Developer is independently owned

Labeled as a triple-A game.


This ♥♥♥♥ is complete guess work. They just make it up on the fly.

[Hammer Of Evil]

idk what other people think, but for me, it means 'promising rookie'

they're new to the scene, and no one knows who they are or has seen their work yet, and they develop and launch a title without the backing of the major powers that be. they blazed their own trail and carved their own spot in the rock.

i dont really accept the 'indie' title in other situations.

[sleeps]

ehh. it's subjective. it usually mean independent but for some it refer to easy as hell to develop game. or just mean "good" in contrast to AAA which mean "bad"

thinking too much of it as a buzzword rather than the actual word

not sure if this is even a joke but people call witcher 3 and elden ring as indie just because it's good

[SMIFFY]

Indie games are from developers not owned by a publisher.

AAA is mainly to do with the marketing budget. If you see a game advertised everywhere, it's AAA, if you don't it isn't.