There’s a hell of a lot of talk about the indiepocalypse. It’s all a little disconcerting when you’re new to the community to hear that you’re choosing to aim to build a career at the beginning of the apocalyptic end of the craft you hold dear. Why even bother? What’s the point of trying? It’s all doomed to collapse anyway so just save your losses… Really?
So are we saying people don’t want to play indie games anymore? Are we saying people don’t want to pay for indie games anymore? Are we saying developers don’t want to make indie games anymore?
I think if we looked at the statistics behind those questions we’d find that not to be the case. Steam statistics show that indie games are selling as well as they ever have, if not even a better than previous years. The top 50 is regularly occupied by indie games. Steam also shows that free to play games are not attracting any more owners than regular priced games. And a quick look at twitter will show a load of existing and aspiring indie devs out there all enthusiastic about making games.
So what are we saying when we talk about the indiepocalypse? First of all this is obviously just opinion as I can’t speak for anyone other than myself. My opinion being based on the past eight months of research.
I belive the idea of indiepocalypse is just the balancing mindset that comes as part if the aftermath of any huge success story. Indie games experienced a huge rocket to fame in the last ten years. Supported by stories of success, stories of luck and stories of passion. Nothing can ride continued success in that fashion. Much like the Wall Street boom, the .com boom and the app boom things will eventually find a balance. If you compare a more balanced state to the early extremes, things will always look devastating. However that’s just relative. If indie games were introduced at slow but decent rise I suspect the concept of indiepocalypse wouldn’t cross anyone’s mind. It seems to be human nature to want to claim things are a supreme success and if not they must be an apolyptic wasteland. How about we just claim them to be settled and balanced?
Sure it might not be as easy to make the big bucks if we get on Steam these days but does that mean we should quit? If the answer for some is yes then I think that’s good. Good because if money was the only reason for someone to make a computer game then I for one think farewell. If I can’t make a penny making computer games I’ll still be making them, because it’s a passion!
So if we still make indie games because we love to do so, if people still enjoy playing them, if the same level of sales are recorded how on earth can we claim there to be an indiepocalypse?
It’s just that it’s not easy to make a good computer game. But it has always been hard. It’s just that it’s getting harder to get your game noticed. But it was never easy. It’s just that Steam isn’t the strike it lucky market place it once was. But then that was just a short period of bliss.
If I believed all the negative hype of indiepocalypse then there might be a chance I would decide to not try my hardest to make this my career path. Sure it might not work out but nothing is a guarantee in this life. We can just try our hardest to do the things we love and motivate ourselves despite the possible setbacks. Worst of all, what might just be an interesting or hot topic for some may actually be life changing for those who might be more easily influenced, and not in a good way. I say…
Why don’t we stop conjuring up sensational ideas of extreme positivity or negativity. Why don’t we focus on the important aspects of the passion we have for game dev. Sharing knowledge and experience. Meeting others with similar passions. Motivating ourselves and our community. And most of all making and enjoying great games.