indie
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Documents about indie
Console Subscription Wars
This analysis explores the shifting landscape of console gaming subscriptions and the performance of the virtual reality (VR) market as of late 2021.
- Microsoft’s subscription-first strategy is yielding massive scale, evidenced by Forza Horizon 5 reaching 10 million players in its first week of availability.
- Sony is developing a multi-tiered subscription service, codenamed Spartacus, to compete with Xbox Game Pass while maintaining a traditional retail model for major first-party releases.
- The VR market shows a significant disparity in commercial reach, with the Oculus Quest 2 reaching 10 million units while niche PC VR titles like Eye of the Temple struggle to exceed 5,000 sales despite high critical acclaim.
The Lockdown Generation: UK Games Fund
The Tranzfuser programme serves as a critical support mechanism for UK games industry graduates, specifically targeting the cohort impacted by the 2020 and 2021 global lockdowns.
- The Tranzfuser programme supported over 300 graduates across 2020 and 2021 to mitigate the negative impact of global pandemic lockdowns on early-career professionals.
- The 2021 programme expanded to include 40 teams, utilizing a two-pronged approach that provided distinct pathways for both employment and entrepreneurial development.
- The Enterprise Pathway featured 17 indie studios that participated in the ProtoPlay showcase, receiving professional trailer production, streaming support, and expert project assessment.
Plus: A Whole New World on Steam?
This analysis examines the competitive landscape of the PC and console gaming markets for late September 2021, focusing on Steam, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox platforms.
- Amazon Games’ New World entered its late September 2021 launch week with approximately 283,000 Steam followers and an estimated 2.5 to 3 million wishlists.
- Medieval Dynasty achieved a peak of 12,000 concurrent users (CCU) following its 1.0 transition, while Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator reached 7,000 CCU during its Early Access debut.
- The Xbox paid charts in late September 2021 remained dominated by annual sports franchises, specifically NBA 2K22 and Madden NFL 22.
Indie Developer Arnold Rauers’s Revenue Increased by 41% After Adopting Free-to-Play Model
The transition to a free-to-play (F2P) model significantly impacted the financial performance of mobile games developed by Arnold Rauers, the founder of the indie studio Tinytouchtales.
- Indie developer Arnold Rauers (Tinytouchtales) saw a 41% increase in total revenue on the App Store after transitioning his portfolio of six mobile games to a free-to-play model in August 2021.
- The transition to free-to-play resulted in a 280% increase in total iOS downloads for the studio's titles.
- Performance varied by title: while Card Crawl revenue grew by 168%, Card Thief revenue experienced a slight decline of 1% despite maintaining the highest download volume.
What Prevents Indie Games From Striving in the Modern Console Market
Indie game developers face significant challenges in the modern console market, primarily driven by the dominance of subscription services and games-as-a-service titles.
- Indie developers face significant challenges on consoles due to poor store discoverability and the dominance of games-as-a-service titles like Destiny 2 and GTA Online, which command long-term player engagement.
- The rise of subscription services like Game Pass has reduced the likelihood of direct game purchases, forcing indie developers to seek alternative monetization strategies and platform partnerships.
- Regular indie gamers are highly active, playing an average of 18.3 hours per week, and are more likely to prioritize innovation and unique experiences over the high-fidelity graphics favored by traditional console gamers.
Plus: Arise, Life Is Strange, and Get Webbed
This analysis evaluates the performance and market potential of upcoming and recently released video games across major digital platforms, including Steam, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and the Epic Games Store.
- Japanese publishers are increasingly prioritizing PC releases, evidenced by Tales of Arise securing over 500,000 Steam wishlists prior to its launch.
- High-budget titles and niche indie games are both seeing strong market performance, with Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous reaching 36,000 concurrent users on Steam.
- Low-priced, well-executed titles maintain high demand, as demonstrated by the idle game Cookie Clicker reaching 40,000 concurrent users.
We're Having a Total War With Pathfinder?
This market analysis examines the performance and anticipation of premium PC and console games during late August 2021.
- Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous entered its late August 2021 launch week with 250,000 to 300,000 wishlists and a #33 Hype ranking, highlighting strong demand for deep fantasy CRPGs.
- Aliens: Fireteam Elite led Steam global top sellers with 15,000 peak concurrent users, while Psychonauts 2 achieved 7,000 peak concurrent users despite being available day-one on Xbox Game Pass.
- A Total War Saga: Troy transitioned to Steam following a successful Epic Games Store promotion that saw 7.5 million redemptions.
Creator of Horror Game Summer of ’58 Leaves Games Industry Due to Steam Refund Policy
The independent developer behind the horror title Summer of ’58, Aleksandr Reshetnikov of Emika Games, announced an indefinite hiatus from game development in August 2021.
- Aleksandr Reshetnikov of Emika Games announced an indefinite retirement from game development due to financial losses caused by Steam’s refund policy.
- Steam’s policy allows users to refund games if they have played for less than two hours, which negatively impacts short-form games like the 90-minute horror title Summer of ’58.
- Despite receiving positive reviews, the developer reported that many players completed the entire game and then requested a refund, preventing the studio from generating sufficient revenue to fund future projects.
How Do You Discover When People Find Your Game?
This analysis explores the methodologies and tools used by video game developers to monitor and enhance game discovery.
- Developers must shift from reactive traffic monitoring to a proactive strategy that integrates real-time data with trend-based reporting to optimize resource allocation.
- Discovery influence has migrated away from traditional social media like Facebook and Twitter toward high-engagement platforms including YouTube, Twitch, TikTok, Reddit, and IMGUR.
- Effective discovery management requires a strategy layer that distinguishes between 'owned' and 'earned' media while evaluating the specific return on investment for different content types.
Plus: Next Week in Hype? Aliens, Kings... & Psychonauts
This analysis examines the performance and market anticipation of video game releases across Steam, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox during late August 2021.
- Steam remains a strong platform for diverse hits, evidenced by Humankind reaching 55,000 peak concurrent users (CCU) and over 4,400 reviews shortly after its late August 2021 launch.
- Xbox indie developers face significant challenges in driving unit sales, as the dominance of the Game Pass subscription model appears to cannibalize traditional paid downloads.
- Aliens: Fireteam Elite and Psychonauts 2 are positioned as the primary high-anticipation titles for the end of August 2021, with the former gaining 24,000 followers in a short timeframe.
How Shapez.io, Zen Version of Factorio, Became a Hit on Steam
The indie game Shapez.io achieved significant commercial success, reaching $1 million in revenue by positioning itself as a more accessible, zen-focused alternative to the complex automation game Factorio.
- Shapez.io achieved $1 million in revenue by positioning itself as a more approachable, 'Zen' alternative to the complex automation game Factorio.
- The developer utilized a web-based version on itch.io to build an initial community and gather playtester feedback before launching on Steam in June 2020.
- Strategic visibility on Steam was driven by the game's appearance in 'similar games' recommendations for Factorio and a successful Steam Daily Deal in November 2020.
No More Robots Reached $12 Million in Revenue in 12 Months Without Releasing New Games
The indie game publisher No More Robots achieved $12 million in revenue over a 12-month period ending in August 2021, despite releasing no new titles during that timeframe.
- Indie publisher No More Robots generated $12 million in revenue over a 12-month period without releasing any new titles.
- The company achieved this performance by selling over 800,000 units and reaching a total player base of more than 4 million people.
- Revenue was distributed evenly across platforms, with PlayStation accounting for 26.3%, Xbox for 22.1%, Steam for 21.7%, Nintendo for 20.1%, and retail for 9.8%.