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How would you define independant game developers

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Submitted by souri on

Question is above.. [:)]
I ask because I'm currently looking through the developers list on the site, and there's probably a few there that would be classed as independant game developers.

Submitted by Red 5 on Tue, 15/07/03 - 5:43 PMPermalink

I suppose you could say they're not going the traditional publisher/developer relationship route and are funding their projects through their own means, sometimes self publishing and distributing.
The teams are usually very small (if not single person operations), generally having to keep the overhead as low as possible while working with little or no budget.

Submitted by sho nuff on Tue, 15/07/03 - 9:07 PMPermalink

sum1 hoo axually finishes there game concepts and delivers there work through shareware or sum el cheapo publisha like Kmart interactive (it don't exist but u know what i mean). The indie game dev dude must also have more than one game unda his belt, of which he has sold a small to large amount.

Submitted by Maitrek on Tue, 15/07/03 - 11:04 PMPermalink

I'd probably say anyone who is working without any publisher/distributor, just to keep it simple. Although I can see how that might get a bit screwy...
Maybe anyone who admits they are an independent game developer and has no publisher/distributor :)

Submitted by Daemin on Tue, 15/07/03 - 11:24 PMPermalink

I would classify an independent developer if they:

Didn't have a publisher contract to develop games
Had another full time occupation - student or working other jobs as their primary source of income
Haven't made any money from games yet
Don't have an office or a full business registration etc

But yeah, you have to take these things with a grain of salt because not all indies fit all these criteria, such as those who have published games through publishers such as GarageGames, or gone through the shareware route etc.

Submitted by Jason on Wed, 16/07/03 - 4:06 AMPermalink

I dunno how you'd define them, but I was browsing through the developer list for NSW and checking out their websites. They definitely seem much smaller than places such as irrational, torus and krome. To be honest I got the impression that those places were independent (IE just a few guys with small startup capital). But I suppose you can't judge it simply by it's web presence. I was pretty surprised at the lack of development houses in NSW considering our population size? :(

Submitted by Blitz on Wed, 16/07/03 - 9:02 AMPermalink

Usually not having a publishing contract is considered independant...
You're not "dependant" on an external source of income (the publisher) to work on the game. Generally self-funded affairs.
CYer, Blitz

Submitted by Daemin on Wed, 16/07/03 - 9:20 AMPermalink

But you wouldn't call an established developer such as Ratbag (or any other?) an Independent, since they have published games with publishers, even though they may not at the moment be getting their funding from a publisher.

So really you can only be called "Independent" until you get your first publishing deal etc.

Posted by souri on

Question is above.. [:)]
I ask because I'm currently looking through the developers list on the site, and there's probably a few there that would be classed as independant game developers.


Submitted by Red 5 on Tue, 15/07/03 - 5:43 PMPermalink

I suppose you could say they're not going the traditional publisher/developer relationship route and are funding their projects through their own means, sometimes self publishing and distributing.
The teams are usually very small (if not single person operations), generally having to keep the overhead as low as possible while working with little or no budget.

Submitted by sho nuff on Tue, 15/07/03 - 9:07 PMPermalink

sum1 hoo axually finishes there game concepts and delivers there work through shareware or sum el cheapo publisha like Kmart interactive (it don't exist but u know what i mean). The indie game dev dude must also have more than one game unda his belt, of which he has sold a small to large amount.

Submitted by Maitrek on Tue, 15/07/03 - 11:04 PMPermalink

I'd probably say anyone who is working without any publisher/distributor, just to keep it simple. Although I can see how that might get a bit screwy...
Maybe anyone who admits they are an independent game developer and has no publisher/distributor :)

Submitted by Daemin on Tue, 15/07/03 - 11:24 PMPermalink

I would classify an independent developer if they:

Didn't have a publisher contract to develop games
Had another full time occupation - student or working other jobs as their primary source of income
Haven't made any money from games yet
Don't have an office or a full business registration etc

But yeah, you have to take these things with a grain of salt because not all indies fit all these criteria, such as those who have published games through publishers such as GarageGames, or gone through the shareware route etc.

Submitted by Jason on Wed, 16/07/03 - 4:06 AMPermalink

I dunno how you'd define them, but I was browsing through the developer list for NSW and checking out their websites. They definitely seem much smaller than places such as irrational, torus and krome. To be honest I got the impression that those places were independent (IE just a few guys with small startup capital). But I suppose you can't judge it simply by it's web presence. I was pretty surprised at the lack of development houses in NSW considering our population size? :(

Submitted by Blitz on Wed, 16/07/03 - 9:02 AMPermalink

Usually not having a publishing contract is considered independant...
You're not "dependant" on an external source of income (the publisher) to work on the game. Generally self-funded affairs.
CYer, Blitz

Submitted by Daemin on Wed, 16/07/03 - 9:20 AMPermalink

But you wouldn't call an established developer such as Ratbag (or any other?) an Independent, since they have published games with publishers, even though they may not at the moment be getting their funding from a publisher.

So really you can only be called "Independent" until you get your first publishing deal etc.