What is an indie game?

This year's Game Awards marked a historic moment. Three of the six Game of the Year nominees were indie games, something The Game Awards was very proud of. Indie games have long been at the forefront of creativity and innovation in gaming, standing in stark contrast to the often derivative and overly safe AAA space as a whole. Some of the best games of 2025 will be those from the indie camp, praised for their originality, integrity, or other symbols of quality. Expedition 33 It's better written than call of duty, hades 2 Combat power is better than expected Assassin's Creed Shadowetc.

But while watching The Game Awards, I, like many others, had this thought: What on earth is an indie game? If you look at the literal definition of what independent stands for, it's difficult to apply it to most games that are generally recognized as indie. For a game to be truly called indie, shouldn't it be completely self-published and self-funded? take Claire Obsker: Expedition 33for example. In fact, Sandfall's debut, which won the Best Independent Game award along with GOTY, was published by Kepler Interactive, a massive corporation partially owned by NetEase, the last company most gamers associate with the moniker “indie.” But there's still a clear rift between the likes. Expedition 33 and blockbuster franchises. call of duty and god of war. The question is what those differentiators actually are.

Indie Game Definition: Money Matters

The vague definition of an indie game includes some generally accepted premises. Indie games are generally cheaper to make than AAA games. Assuming that a small number of games are indie and another small number are AAA, the data supports this notion.

This is a bit widespread, but even the most expensive of the above are dwarfed by recent AAA games.

But this is far from the core of the indie discussion. The most obvious difference between these two sets of games, which is part of the budget issue, is their individual scope. Something like Hollow Knight Obviously, production costs are much cheaper. Marvel's Spider-Man 2: The former is a side-scrolling metroidvania with minimal voice acting developed by three people, while the latter requires the effort of hundreds of people, with cutting-edge graphics, 3D physics systems, motion-capture cutscenes, and more. Of course, this has nothing to do with the replay value or subjective “quality” of these games.

Indie games are small and AAA games are big. Right?

Trends show that AAA games will always be wider in scope, budget, and ambition than indie games, but this shouldn't be taken as a rule. for example, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a side-scrolling metroidvania with an indie “feel”, and it would be hard to argue that its visuals and production values ​​are anything but self-published. Hellblade: Senua's SacrificeUses more trapping of AAA scenes. lost crown. But you'll have a hard time finding someone to call. lost crown It is an indie game developed and published by Ubisoft, one of the biggest forces in the industry.

“Indie” Look and Diver Dave

We can't discuss the definition of indie in 2025 without mentioning certain things. diver dave blunder. The pixel art game, which revolves around diving to find resources to serve at a beach sushi restaurant, was nominated for Best Independent Game at the 2023 Golden Joystick Awards and The Game Awards. Many people felt like this: diver dave It garnered excellent reviews and semi-viral success, earning a cursory glance among fellow nominees such as: sea ​​of ​​stars It might spark the assumption that this is another inspirational indie hit breaking through the AAA noise.

But calling it independent is a bit disingenuous. diver dave Developer Mintrocket is a subsidiary of Nexon, a large Korean company known for, among other things: Maple Story and first descendant. Nexon not only funded Mintrocket but also owned the studio outright in the 1990s. diver davedevelopment. Mintrocket also responded to the 2023 nominations by saying, “We don't have any indies. We didn't apply.” [the nominations].”

So why did that happen? diver dave Is it being considered for best independent game at two of the biggest gaming awards ceremonies in the world? You might think it's because of the quasi-retro pixel aesthetic, or because it's limited in scope compared to other AAA games. But none of these factors have anything to do with the game being independent. Geoff Keighley actually commented: diver daveAhead of The Game Awards 2023, they included it in the Indie category and said:

“Does independent refer to the budget of the game? Does independent refer to where the funding comes from? Is it based on team size? Does it refer to a sort of independent spirit of the game, i.e. other smaller games?”

It's a bit unclear, but Keighley's main point seems to be that there is no single factor that determines whether a game can be called “indie.” I may disagree. diver davewas nominated for Best Independent Game, but you can't argue with Keighley there.

Indie and AAA are no longer dichotomies

It's clear that “indie games” have moved beyond their literal definition, which is to say that games are developed and published independently. Many AAA games are developed and published by the same company, but wouldn't it be almost the same if the studio were entirely owned by a large corporation, like Nexon owns Mint Rocket? Of course, this conflicts with the dichotomy that many gamers, myself included, have in their heads. The dichotomy between conformist, conservative, left-brain publishers and artistic, innovative developers.

It makes sense for us to think this way. We all know that some game design choices are made for profit rather than creativity or originality. But this struggle between the “business” and “art” aspects of gaming is much more complicated than just big, greedy corporations shackling artists seeking honesty. It's about the struggle between commerce and creativity that can occur at any scale. Even if developers aren't literally told by their bosses to make a game a certain way, they can still react to economic pressures in good or bad ways.

In the case of indie games Hollow Knight Silksong and hades 2 They may be financed, in part or entirely, by profits from previous titles, but this is not the case for most emerging studios. Even companies that have already released profitable games will likely need to seek outside investment for future projects. Video games are expensive to make, and they don't make money while they're being made..

Perhaps these studios will team up with an indie publisher (an interesting oxymoron) like Devolver Digital. But then how does that differ from a AAA developer like FromSoftware that operates independently from a variety of publishers? What if the studio gave a portion of its final profits to investors or lenders? What if an investment company finances a studio in exchange for equity?

To be clear, none of the answers to these questions should necessarily disqualify a game from being considered indie or AAA. But that's the point. There is no litmus test for this kind of thing. When defining something as AAA, AA or Indie, you need to ask all of the above questions, including Keighley's. This is true even if some of your answers contradict your first impressions or assumptions.

Like all categories and definitions, “indie” is only as good as its usefulness. In many cases, the point of calling a game indie is to emphasize its grassroots origins, smaller teams, and more modest budgets. For example, it's a good idea to say “indie” when setting expectations for a game or giving praise to a studio that has achieved a lot with a little effort. However, attaching an indie label to a game is not a necessary precursor to such discussions or conclusions. Labels are more or less shorthand for those elements. Perhaps we should spend more time explaining the situation.