Is The Indie Game Dream Dead?

I chat with @MrChambers about how he went full time with just a concept! 

[CeNuSiuL]

The indie game industry is thriving like never before. The game industry has changed in a way that benefits small game creators, making it much easier for a small team to develop a game. It's ironic how AAA games, despite their huge budgets, often underperform, while small teams can create amazing games simply because they are passionate about their work. As an MMO enthusiast, I've noticed that big studios haven't made a good one in years, so now I'm more inclined to play small, exceptional indie games rather than unplayable AAA titles. I even started a Steam curator page to support indie game developers in any way I can.

[EricTheVillager]

"People's dreams never die" - Marshall D. Teach

[hamzahgamedev]

Not gonna lie, things are getting pretty hard right now.. My game Sky Harvest was featured by Steam for a week, which got me 1.5k wishlists, interviews with 2 YouTubers and an exclusive interview with IGN.
Even after this, Publishers are reluctant in signing the game. Moreover, they are CLOSING their publishing houses (Humble Games, Versus Evil). It is a scary time guys..!!

[bardragoon]

Dead is ultimately subjective here, but it certainly is a lot more difficult now that it has been in the past. Which is interesting considering game design itself is easy to get into than ever before. Most indie devs, myself included, tend to have a "real" job in addition to development. It's just very difficult not too. I've seen countless talented but perhaps misguided devs go full time indie dev and end up having to go back to more mundane work due to unexpected costs. For example, in America a lot of indie devs don't take healthcare costs into consideration when they quit their job. Couple this with a shrinking pool of investors and a dwindling interest in kickstarter projects (which I can't say I don't understand why with so many scams and failures over the years) and it can be much harder to find funding. Ultimately indie itself has also changed which is what really helped to "kill the dream" so to speak. There are a few reasons for this:

1. AAA and AA has experienced massive amounts of layoffs. This has lead to more inexperienced and freshmen devs struggling to make these AAA games without proper guidance from their more senior staff and AAA has taken a huge hit because of it in terms of credibility and causes even more layoffs. This also means extremely experienced devs are suddenly thrown into the indie wilds when there aren't enough AAA jobs (or the desire to even go back to a AAA job). So now you have what we would traditionally consider an indie dev team made up of industry veterans. Whose games are often far beyond the scope and ability of an average indie team in terms of sheer experience. This scews the perception of what an indie game normally is and leads me to number 2.

2. Indie games have become so successful that they are no longer afforded the leniency they once were. I've worked on games and with other devs who have worked on indie titles in the past where the game itself was what we would consider average, but got good reviews because people were more willing to see past an indie game's flaws and instead enjoy the game for what it was. There is still some of this sure, but far far less than ever before. Anymore people are expecting a high level of polish and functionality for an indie game as they would a AA title, especially given the scewed perspective by number 1. Now there is still some leniency in my opinion, but the bar has been raised much higher than in the past.

3. We struggle to even define indie anymore. For example, last year most articles and a lot of people touted Dave the Diver as an indie. Most developers looked at it and said, "no that's a whole studio and massive publisher??" People still consider Hades indie. Some people say if you get kickstarted you aren't really indie. Some say you have to be a solo dev. Some say you can't pay an artist to make assets for you or you aren't a real indie dev. Some still say you have to make your own game engine. There's just no real consensus anymore and when you as a solo dev or small team are suddenly thrown into the same group as Hades II, what chance do you really have? I'm not sure there is a way to fix this, but I'm just saying the landscape for indie devs is so different from a decade ago when I started and I can't imagine how daunting it feels to fresh graduates or newcomers.
This was longer than I intended, I apologize for not being more concise.

[orangelimesky]

It's not dead for full-stack developers who can draw/code/design. If you're a one-skill kind of dev, then yeah it's going to be very hard.

[sherwin_limosnero]

if my dream dies, everyone goes along with it (in game ofc)

[mr-rmn]

The dream is about to do what you love. And this dream cannot die.

[cybershellrev]

Golden nuggets of info in here. designing a game with the trailer in mind helps me focus on the important features & put aside the redundant ones.

[NaudVanDalen]

The average indie game developer earns significantly less than a minimum wage worker. It's basically a hobby for most people. You're not gonna make the next Minecraft. Make games to have fun, but don't expect more than a few hundred dollars a year of profit.

[DCatGameDeveloper]

Just make good games, with eye-catching visuals (there's a recent trend towards cuter things), interesting gameplay and a story that doesn't make the player drop in the first two hours, forget about those negative and dramatic videos that only serve to make things even more difficult and fill you with anxiety.

People are bored with the same games with generic graphics and gameplay, there's always room for highlights or differences.

[present_artist]

Some strategies may be dead, but talented individuals will always have a way forward ;)

[Alexindiegamedev]

It's hard especially when you are a solo dev like I am cause no money for a team.

[Jay-ogyb]

Its not dead. Sure a lot of indie games come out but how many plain suck?
How many are completely uninteresting?
How many dont market?
How many are clones?

You just have to put in some effort to make your game known now. People always want more content.

[garen]

I like how people keep saying the indie game industry is dead. GOOD, its time to weed out the extra baggages in the industry and let the only determined developers make it. At this era, its the solo developers that will shine. Those that can code, design, art and market

[TomCAT_Character_Art]

Living on the west coast; 2 kids, cars, colleges, and mortgage would last 3-4 months!

[GameCreatorOfGod]

Is The Indie Game Dream Dead? No, not even close. You do not need much money to build a game in Unreal.

[JP-dotc]

How much runway does that $48, 000 actually buy after taxes, Kickstarter fees, etc?

[DaveUnreally]

It's better to have parts of a game that make the game look like it's more complete than it is, than you spend over a year on a demo that people might not play. Something I learned after my my bigger game failed to get attention.

[holyavatar]

Well, I'm also a full-time indie, luckily I already have a brand (Dead Age) that's doing quite well. But the market has of course reduced it significantly compared to, for example, 8-10 years ago. The video was definitely cool, the idea with the influencer was good and congratulations on the successful Kickstarter campaign. (wishlisted ^^)
One more question that came to my mind, in case anyone is reading this. When should you actually start this Kickstarter Wishlist pre-campaign before it really gets going? Is it possible a year in advance?

[calebkrauter]

No it's not dead. I need to make my games and make lots of money first.