Why Indie Games Are So Important to PS4 and Xbox One

IGN: Whatever you want to say about Microsoft right now, you can’t say that it’s not listening. The Xbox One policies as they stand today are practically unrecognisable compared to how they stood when the console was announced at the end of May. Gone is the daily authentication check, gone are the restrictions on doing whatever you want with the games you purchase, gone is the man who said that if you wanted to play games offline, you could just buy an Xbox 360. And finally, as of yesterday, gone is the archaic requirement for independent developers to find themselves a publisher if they want to see their games on Xbox Live Arcade.

[dedicatedtogamers]

Indies are important because you never know where the next hit is going to come from. Minecraft is a system-seller for the 360 right now, believe it or not. It has sold 10+ million copies on 360.

What if the next hit is Below (by Capybara)? What if the next hit is The Witness (by Jonathan Blow)? Those games are exclusives (at least for now, it seems) and if they take off, the host console is going to reap the rewards. What will Team Meat's next game be? What about the guys who did Limbo? What about the developers of Don't Starve? I mean, we really have no clue what indie game will be a breakout hit.

[mattdillahunty]

can you give me a source on 10+ million on the 360? i've seen that it's sold 10+ million on PC, but the only source i could find for 360 was this:

http://uk.gamespot.com/news...

and i highly doubt it's sold 5+ million on the 360 since then. lol.

[dedicatedtogamers]

I apologize. I think my 10 million came from combined mobile+360. But for what it's worth, the 360 version passed 7 million in June, apparently

http://www.joystiq.com/2013...

[mattdillahunty]

thanks for the info. those numbers are insane!

[josephayal]

Why is everyone so obsessed with Indie games? 92.5% of them are worth nothing

[dedicatedtogamers]

Same goes for most retail and AAA games, if we're being honest here.

And at the end of the day, I'd typically rather spend $10 on an indie game that lasts me 6 hours than spend $60 on a retail game that lasts me 6 hours.

[IanVanCheese]

What he said.

The ratio of good to shit is the same in indie as it is everywhere else, it just costs less and is less restrained by corporate "trying to please everyone" syndrome.

[CrusRuss]

Counter strike was technically an indie title (a free mod). Look how good that went. Indie titles (the good ones) are usually creative, interesting and fresh.

[Megaton]

Indies are where the fun is in modern gaming. I spent pretty much my entire wad on indies in the Steam summer sale.

[iceman06]

The thing about indies that most people don't think of is that they are a relative non-risk. They cost anywhere between $5-$15. Most people have dropped this on some DLC that was part of the game before a company decided that they needed extra revenue. The indies have become that "second tier" of games that kept the PS2 trudging along. In the AAA or die industry that we all game in, the indies are the place where creativity is encouraged over "cloning" (though there are still some clones out there). In the end, it is low risk and high reward for console makers, publishers, and gamers.

[PablitoPaperito]

Don't Starve was very good.

[TheDivine]

Indies aren't that important, its the big AAA games like MGS, FF, Lost Odyssey, Fire Emblem, Xenoblade, Quantum Break, Ni No Kuni exc that sell me on a console. Sure smaller dlc titles def help sway me but its more of a bonus to the big stuff. That said the 360 had it going on early on due to dlc games like Braid, Limbo, Shadow Complex, Bastion, Defense Grid, Splosian Man, Castle Crashers, Geometry Wars, Toy Soldiers, and the ps3 had some good ones like Flower, Dead Nation, and recently Journey. Those aren't indies though (Braid aside), the only Indies I really gave a shit about was VVVVVV and Cave Story. Fez looked good and the PC title perspective (I think) had brilliant ideas.

Letting people self publish on the Xbone is a brilliant move though. The 360 started the whole thing with XNA, dlc games, and an actual Indy section for people to release their XNA games. This will allow a vibrant community of gamers and one day developers. They need a miiverse type dealio to tie the community together. Def a good move though. Ps was very very late to the Indy scene and even the dlc game scene but their moving good with stuff like Velocity. Hopefully the ps4 continues this trend.