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[Shackhal]

Sometimes, Twitter can give me interesting articles. So, i'm posting it here because i'm searching for someone who experienced something like that. Can anyone tell me a story?

This is the webpage: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011/08/experience-going-indie.ars

P.S.: Maybe it isn't the right place, but at least the mods can correct it. Thank you

[Paul Eres]

i think the answer to this is pretty simple: they go indie because they wish for greater control over the games they make. successful indies proving it can be done is probably the "push" a lot of them needed to quit their job and take the plunge themselves

but often i think they find that it's harder than they expected; working in the industry doesn't prepare you to make every aspect of a game yourself and market it too. but sometimes they achieve success (for instance, world of goo was made by two ex-industry people i believe)

[TeeGee]

i think the answer to this is pretty simple: they go indie because they wish for greater control over the games they make.

I would say this is becoming less of a factor compared to quality of life issues. These days most gaming companies require crazy hours, and job security isn't really better than when being indie.

What's interesting, and what is also mentioned in the article, is that few years ago, working on your own games was a nice gateway to the video game industry. Now the roles are reversed - industry experience serves as the gateway to working on your own indie games. If you are good enough, there's really not many reasons to stay on salary.
If this trend continues, AAA industry may find itself without a proper talent pool - working only with people who weren't "good enough" to go indie.

[moi]

A lot if these indies are actually incited by the mother company to become "indie" contractors/freelancers in order to avoid paying taxes OR sometimes just laid off.

[Shackhal]

i think the answer to this is pretty simple: they go indie because they wish for greater control over the games they make. successful indies proving it can be done is probably the "push" a lot of them needed to quit their job and take the plunge themselves

More than have a better control over their games is to set free their creativity and create more games that "gives enjoyment" than "gives money". I think that's why they go indie, for their limitless imagination.

[Klaim]

(for instance, world of goo was made by two ex-industry people i believe)

AFAIK it's one of the result of the 1week experimental prototype dev project done at school by students or something. At least for "goo".

Now I'm not so sure...

[TeeGee]

2d Boy are ex-EA employees.

[Paul Eres]

yeah, both are true. they are two ex-EA employees and it is based on an experimental game they made called tower of goo or something like that; if i recall they made an experimental game every week or every two weeks on the theory that if they make enough of them they'll eventually find one that warrants being turned into a full-fledged game

[moi]

yeah, both are true. they are two ex-EA employees and it is based on an experimental game they made called tower of goo or something like that; if i recall they made an experimental game every week or every two weeks on the theory that if they make enough of them they'll eventually find one that warrants being turned into a full-fledged game

then when it happened, they didn't nothing but remaking and porting and talking about that same game again and again and again...

[Paul Eres]

unfortunately that's the key to success: do lots of things until you find one big thing, something that gets popular, and then stick with that one thing and stop being experimental or doing anything else

that's why people leave companies, to do something other than what their company has found to be successful. but that's also pretty much the only way companies can be successful, to stick to popular things

e.g. if i wanted more success, i'd be making immortal defense 2 right now (or more precisely, by now i'd have finished immortal defense 2 and 3 and their DLC packs, and be working on 4). it's what successful indies do: make sequels, expansions, or games very similar to their previous games. look at spiderweb software, or even cliffski/positech

[dcfedor]

Hey all! I was about to start a new topic related to this, but it turns out Shackhal beat me to the punch!

That arstechnica article got me thinking as well, and I wanted to know more about what motivations were driving devs to go indie (as well as what was holding them back). So I created a survey to help gather some statistics. You can see the survey here:

http://gamedevgonerogue.blogspot.com/2011/08/motivations-for-becoming-indie-game.html

I've also shared the results, so people can follow along in real-time:

https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/viewanalytics?formkey=dC0wSzVuM0VHR0lleGxMYWdqRXRrSVE6MQ

Do give it a look. And pass the word on, if you know of any indies out there who might have missed it!

[Paul Eres]

it's interesting that in 67% of cases, "employer owns the rights to anything i produce", even indie games in their spare time, is true. i thought it was less than that

also, as expected, the creative freedom option dominates

[dcfedor]

Yeah, that employee/employer ownership of side projects was definitely an area in debate where I came from. I most employers want employees to feel at home and free to hone their skills in their spare time. But they have a sticky situation with conflict of interest, and ensuring they don't set a dangerous legal precedent. There's not an easy solution, really.

Still, there are some studios (e.g. Double Fine) who are trying novel approaches, and I'm hoping they'll show the world that it's possible.

Also, I find it interesting that so far, those from outside the games industry cite "needing others to help" as a major concern for going indie more often than those within the industry. Does this point to outsiders having less confidence? More complicated ideas for games? Or maybe less game dev friends they think they can turn to?

The survey results are probably too sparse to tell just yet, but there are definitely some trends forming.

[Paul Eres]

it's a pretty legit concern. most people, especially people coming out of the industry, can't do all the parts of a game well, but only the part they were trained for. the term "programmer art" exists for a reason

[Brian Lawson]

http://gamedevgonerogue.blogspot.com/2011/08/motivations-for-becoming-indie-game.html

I think you should add one more option, which is: Game industry vet, now employed outside the game industry, working indie on the side.

I think it's a totally valid option.  For now, I just so happen to fall into that category.  Maybe I'm the exception, but I'm too fiscally conservative to just up and quit a decent paying day job to go pure indie.  As much as I'd love to, I understand the realities of this industry and fully know better than to put everything into one basket of blissful indie hopes.

Anyway, just thought I'd toss that out there.

Edit: I believe 5th Cell is also openly supportive of side projects.  In general I think many of the smaller more truly indie studios these days have finally "gotten" it with respect to side projects.  The bigger ones, not a chance--they own it all and it's their way or the highway.