What's the Difference
by nibbuls · in General Discussion · 06/21/2004 (4:49 pm) · 3 replies
I was just curious what specified an Indie game company from "pros". I understand that pros often have more experience, but why then is GG considered independent?
#2
It really depends on how you view it. I'm sure, like with anything, there's room to argue semantics. As I understand it, the Indie title mostly comes from cutting the strings to the traditional publisher-developer model. The Indies now have more control (thanks to pioneers like GG.com) over their IP and its distribution. Where as companies like Blizzard, Valve, etc are heavily dependent on their publishers (financial, distribution, etc). It's more about the business model and (slightly) the development model.
That isn't true in this case. The guys at GG.com (and for that manner many of the developers) have the same experience (if not more) than traditional developers. Many came from that field with decades of experience under their belt. There is what could be considered a "diving line" within the Indie community, that of Professional and Hobbyist. Professional being those with a business model in place and making a living off of game development. As well as startups approaching that level. Then there are Hobbyists (for lack of a better term and not to downplay them) ranging from students playing around with and learning the code, developers making free games, people realizing ideas, etc. It's a pretty eclectic and amazing community here and defining it isn't easy by any means. Case by case is probably a better way to approach it.
06/21/2004 (5:37 pm)
Quote:I was just curious what specified an Indie game company from "pros".
It really depends on how you view it. I'm sure, like with anything, there's room to argue semantics. As I understand it, the Indie title mostly comes from cutting the strings to the traditional publisher-developer model. The Indies now have more control (thanks to pioneers like GG.com) over their IP and its distribution. Where as companies like Blizzard, Valve, etc are heavily dependent on their publishers (financial, distribution, etc). It's more about the business model and (slightly) the development model.
Quote:I understand that pros often have more experience, but why then is GG considered independent?
That isn't true in this case. The guys at GG.com (and for that manner many of the developers) have the same experience (if not more) than traditional developers. Many came from that field with decades of experience under their belt. There is what could be considered a "diving line" within the Indie community, that of Professional and Hobbyist. Professional being those with a business model in place and making a living off of game development. As well as startups approaching that level. Then there are Hobbyists (for lack of a better term and not to downplay them) ranging from students playing around with and learning the code, developers making free games, people realizing ideas, etc. It's a pretty eclectic and amazing community here and defining it isn't easy by any means. Case by case is probably a better way to approach it.
#3
I'm one of the former industry professionals turned indie. Though I'm not yet making money at my little part-time venture.
I have buddies who own / are employed by independent studios, which means they aren't owned by a major publisher. However, they are still dependent upon a publisher for all of their funding... they take the contracts, MAYBE have a slim chance of royalties, and that's their business model.
So there are levels of independence. The idea "indie" is a self-funded company that self-publishes their own stuff via internet distribution, or goes through publishers as a commodity. Typically they have much smaller budgets to work on, so their games may lack the breadth or production values of their publisher-funded bretheren, but those are secondary to what is important in a game - which is *gameplay*. Nobody's got a monopoly on that.
06/21/2004 (10:27 pm)
Quote: I was just curious what specified an Indie game company from "pros".Many indies are pros. So nothing.... :)
I'm one of the former industry professionals turned indie. Though I'm not yet making money at my little part-time venture.
I have buddies who own / are employed by independent studios, which means they aren't owned by a major publisher. However, they are still dependent upon a publisher for all of their funding... they take the contracts, MAYBE have a slim chance of royalties, and that's their business model.
So there are levels of independence. The idea "indie" is a self-funded company that self-publishes their own stuff via internet distribution, or goes through publishers as a commodity. Typically they have much smaller budgets to work on, so their games may lack the breadth or production values of their publisher-funded bretheren, but those are secondary to what is important in a game - which is *gameplay*. Nobody's got a monopoly on that.
Torque 3D Owner Frogger