The current state of indie game development

source: http://buy.indiegamethemovie.com/

About meSome part of my life I’ve played the role of a:

● Game Designer● Flash Developer● Zero marketing guy● Entrepreneur● IxD/UX/IA designer● JavaScript Developer● Business Developer / Growth hacker

a.k.a Generalist :) @vitaliy_filipov

6 startup projects, still haven’t changed the world but“Over the last 4 years, I've spent 354.5 hours playing my steam selection, which includes 105 items, is valued at $1419, and requires 526.4 GB” - so I’m a gamer too :)

source: http://thepatternlibrary.com/#alchemy

In this presentation we will talk about the indie game ...

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ideasteams

development

business

FUTURE

the interest curve

from:

“Run your business in the real world, create your games in the imaginary one” ~ Vitaliy Filipov

but first ….

Read Guy Kawasaki’s “Reality Check” - I believe indie game developers will be more successful if they understand their industry better

The indie Ideawhich is better?

To have one polished mechanic in your game?

To have 100 mini games in your game?

source: http://www.krillbite.com/theplan/

To think about what the player will feel when playing your game?

To think about what you will feel when playing your game?

vs.

vs.

The indie Idea

source: super meat boy / rock,paper,shotgun

Most of the time indie game developers are focused on polished mechanics and want to express something. They feel like artists.

Watch “Indie game the movie”

Indies playtest ideas on hackathons - ludum dare, global game jam & others. That’s why they’re their first early adopters.

Answer: It’s all about your game scope.

The Team

source: Journey

which is better?

highly motivated people? vs. team with deep expertise?

team consisting of friends? vs. unknown people?

motivated by money? vs. motivated by glory?motivated by self-expression? vs.

Most of the time indie game developers are motivated by self-expression & have the technical chops to execute their idea.

The Team

That’s why we rarely see successful first time indies. Most have shipped titles before.

source: google.com

The DevelopmentOrganization && Collaboration

source: Bit.Trip Runner

Use tools:

Pomodairo - time management

ifttt - task automation

PandaApp - inspiration

Evernote - notes

RescueTime - behavioural analytics

The Development();which is better?

ship(something); vs. learn(something);

source: http://jfix.by/

The Development();Answer: Learn by shipping ;P

Some of the game engines are pretty indie friendly

Think about your game? 2d vs 3d?

Think about pros and cons defined by your game. This will define your software stack - if you need any at all (classic boardgames are still alive & people play them alot ;))

source: warcluster.com

Which is better?

UDK vs. Unity3d

source: http://bindingofisaac.com/

Beware of religious debates - 45% of indies use Unity3D (unreleased McKinsey report)

The Development

Game Design

In AAA games you have:- System game designer- Content game designer- Level game designer- World designer- Mechanics…- technical…- narrative

source: http://www.theastronauts.com/

Most of the time indies are all of these at once.

Amazing! (⊃｡•‿́•｡̀)⊃

The DevelopmentGame Community ヽ༼ ʘ̚͜لʘ̚༼◕_◕༽◉_◔ ༽ﾉ

Which is better?

source: http://www.destructoid.com

10 downloads -> 10 fans vs. 1000 downloads -> 1 fan

Currently there’s a lot of noise, a lot of feedback and comments. Indies build communities around online platforms

We see a couple types of behaviour in the indie game industry - Phil, Notch, Jonathan Blow, … others

Indies talk with their community, understand them, become friends if possible.How often do you talk with people that play your games? Pay attention and respond logically to criticism ;)

The DevelopmentMusic & Art

source: Proteus

It’s hard to find. Currently in the industry there’s a lot of pixel art - incoming dynamic shading! O_O

There’s a lot of chiptunes too

Indie games flavour themselves with unique setting & experiences but we’re seeing that this is an exaggeration - there’s still a lot of copy-cats

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The Business FUTURE

Which is better?

talk with 10 people and show them your early prototype?

buy an email list with 10,000 and spam them!

source: http://www.fezgame.com/

The Business

Indies make blogs (dev diaries), twitter, facebook - engage early, engage often!People start kickstarter(/finisher) campaigns

People learn from pixel prospector!

Answer: do things that don’t scale!

Business & Legal source: http://castlecrashers.com/

Indies have many roles because they’re prepared for the legal stuff

Accountant Lawyer Paperwork guy

Public figure guy

Which is better?Starting with registered company? Registering on a later stage?vs.

source: http://playdead.com/limbo/

Answer: Most of the indie developers don’t even have a company until they generate revenue - single game, single entity principle.

THE FUTURE

source: kuker

Things to care about:- Singularity- Trans Gaming- Internet of Things- Oculus?!!?- Emotiv !?!!?!?!?!

something to add?

source: warcluster.com

Thank you!Talk with me at

@vitaliy_filipov