作者：Craig Chapple

对于独立开发者来说这是一个全新的时代。

凭借你那优秀的游戏努力攀登上数字商店并得到数千销量的日子已经过去了。现在几乎所有的平台持有者都想要你的游戏，甚至在确保你的游戏具有成为下一款热门游戏潜能前便向你张开臂膀。

但是现在你所面临的竞争者也比以前还多。不仅有掌控着App Store的数十亿美元的大公司以及无数业余的独立开发者，还有一些获得成功的开发者拥有更大的野心并不断投入更多钱去创造一些更大的新游戏。而他们也已经具有了自己的粉丝基础。

所以让人讽刺的是，这是否意味着独立开发即将逝去？并不是如此。

《孤独的托马斯》和《Volume》的开发者Mike Bithell说道：“我认为在过去几年里有很多开发者都很害怕遭到拒绝。”

“现在我们很难在店面中得到注意，但我希望下一代的独立开发者能够比我们现在更具创造性。我们已经看到有些人瞄准了YouTuber，一些大型主流网站，甚至是寻求一些现有开发者的帮忙去宣传自己的游戏。被那些在这方面做得很好的开发者赶超其实是一件非常好的事。”

《Maia》的创造者Simon Roth（游戏邦注：为游戏成功筹集到140481英镑并且正在创建自己的公司Machine Studios）便认为游戏产业将会出现更多独立开发者，就像“在独立领域中销量并不是唯一的推动力量。”

Roth解释道：“我们可能不会看到过去所习惯的白手起家这样的故事，但我们将会看到更多成功的业务涌现出来。”

“如今的市场非常拥挤，但其实有很多游戏都很糟糕，与前几年不同的是，一些聪明的消费者拥有更多方法去过滤游戏并找到自己可能喜欢的游戏。更别提现在有更多人在积极购买独立游戏了。”

为生存而战

Frozen Cortex – Mode 7(from develop-online)

创造性是获得关注的一种方法，这也是独立开发者们经常使用的方法。具有创造性的独特游戏玩法能够凸显你的游戏，不管是面对目标立基用户还是大众市场，创造一款优秀的游戏还远远不够。就像Roth所说的，尽管出现了许多新游戏，“但是高质量游戏的发展却较为缓慢。”

《Frozen Cortex》的开发商Mode 7 Games的总经理Paul Kilduff-Taylor便说道，对于独立开发来说最重要的是概念和优化的结合，但同时你也应该找到其它能够最大化成功几率的领域。

Kilduff-Taylor说道：“如果你在一个特定平台上拥有一个真正吸引人的概念，你便需要去执行它从而凸显其视觉上的吸引力，如果它真的非常吸引人，那么这便是你需要做的所有事。”

“如果你不能想出成功的秘诀，那么我想平台的多样性将非常重要。这就像一把双刃剑，任何人都不能保证游戏就一定适合某一特定平台。所以获得平台所有者的支持非常重要。”

“生存是关于为任何灾难做计划。而脱颖而出则是关于创造出让人惊讶的内容或者足够幸运，有时候同时包含了这两种情况。”

Bithell也认同获得平台所有者的支持的重要性，并表示如果你能够做到这点，为什么不去好好利用它呢？

他说道：“也许没有平台所有者的帮助你也有可能生存下来。但我的问题是，为什么你要烦恼呢？选择适当的平台能够带给你巨大的帮助。他们能够接触到任何个体所未能触及的用户。每个人都需要内容，如果你正在创造能够说服拥有用户的平台所有者的内容，你便处于非常有利的地位。”

选择平台

当独立开发者在寻找最佳生存方式时，是否存在最理想的发行平台呢？当然了，平台的选择将依赖于独立开发者所创造的游戏类型。适合主机的内容不一定适合手机，适合手机和平板电脑的内容也可能不适合PC。而找到你的游戏最有可能获得成功的安全领域是许多独立开发者在开发游戏时将会考虑到的。

《外科模拟》的开发商Bossa Studios的联合创始人Imre Jele认为PC（特别是Steam）是独立开发者现在所面临的最重要的平台，并相信它的作用将继续持续下去。

Jele说道：“当它们作为一种封闭性平台时，有些人会抱怨Valve的精英主义，即他们拒绝了许多游戏。但是当它们变得更加民主化时，它们也会因为接受了一些糟糕的游戏而被谴责。甚至连最新的社区范围和发现功能也遭到指责，尽管它们并非帮助玩家找到自己喜欢的游戏的最佳解决方法。”

“Steam并不是最完美的。但是比起其它平台它还是能够提供给充满前途的独立开发者更好的机遇。”

Roth也表示认同，并说道PC将“继续作为独立开发的堡垒”，并且在直接销售的帮助下，Steam，Humble和GOG将提供各种可靠的收益流。他也认为像PlayStation 4和Wii U等平台也是独立开发者的有效选择。

他说道：“索尼有效地鼓励了现有的开发者选择了他们的平台，并且多亏了一些出色的第一方游戏以及最近的减价，Wii U最终获得了不错的市场份额，并且成为了现在独立开发者的重要选择之一。”

Maia – Simon Roth(from develop-online)

Bithell分析了PC仍然作为一些小型独立开发者发行游戏的最佳平台的原因：专家们的报道，YouTuber能够吸引用户去尝试你的游戏，这正是手机和主机所不具有的优势。不过微软和索尼都在努力实现这点，特别是在与上一代主机相比较时。

他说道：“多亏了中间件，这同时也是最容易获得技术型游戏的一个平台。”

“比起其它方式，将受欢迎的PC游戏移植到手机上能够带来更大的利益。苹果便是开发者的最佳宠儿。”

新的中间层

对于那些见证了早前成功（也就是独立开发革命的高潮）的小型开发者来说，如果这些开发者愿意的话，他们便能够扩展团队并投入更多于全新项目以及充满野心的项目中。

尽管仍然保留着独立开发的标签，但是有许多开发者已经开始雇佣更多员工并致力于一些更大的项目或多款游戏中。就像Jele所说的那样，这些开发者将与那些还做着全职工作且在家办公的全新独立开发者展开斗争，并为新一代创造额外的挑战。这也为独立开发世界以及如今开发者对于自己的定义呈现出新的挑战。

Jele说道：“这些开发者可以投入更多预算于游戏中去打开全新的机遇并创造出更棒且更大型的游戏。”

“同时我看到许多这类型独立开发者正努力管理着自己的团队并展开‘适当的’业务。许多优秀的创造者在准备第二次创造时也深受‘冒牌者症候群’的困恼。而最终，所有的一切都是由你的新游戏所决定。”

Kilduff-Taylor表示当为了《Frozen Synapse》的后续游戏《Frozen Cortex》扩展团队时，他所作出的主要改变便是对于那些全职致力于游戏的员工的管理。

他说道：“如果你只是与承包商合作或独自工作，你就必须接受巨大的改变。我认为我们将看到更多这些团队所创造的带有更大范围的出色游戏。”

他还补充道，自己并不确定这些独立开发者是否会组建全新的“中间层”，即主要是考虑到基于收益性和开发预算的游戏变量。

Kilduff-Taylor说道：“我认为这时候有关任何层面的理念都已经粉碎了。你可以凭借简单的图像以及较低的图像预算而创造出非常畅销的游戏，就像《瘟疫公司》，《民主制度3》或《太空化学》那样，所以这更多地是关于对概念的探索而不是投入多少钱于其中。”

最有名的独立开发者之一的Bithell便认为，如果《Volume》表现不错的话他便会计划扩展团队并投入更多钱于新项目中，同时也会从早前的游戏公司那里寻求灵感。他解释道，比起过去，这是一种较缓慢，但却也较稳定且更加保守的发展方式。

他说道：“我期待更多独立开发者能够在接下来几年里创造出‘更具突破性/更加主流的后续/中等规模的产品’。”

“我要指出的是，像Introversion和Mode 7 Games等公司便走在这一趋势的前列。但并不是所有人都适合这种方法，我们应该忽视那些想要专注于创造一些较小的内容的开发者们。也许他们能够比我们活得更加长久。”

“主要的区别在于发行商与平台所有者之间的关系发生了改变。比起过往，如今的开发者对自己的工作拥有更多控制权。”

“独立”到底意味着什么？

随着独立开发者面对着更多全新的挑战，这一词也常常与一些较大的工作室甚至是一些AAA级工作室的较小分部维系在一起，所以独立到底意味着什么呢？它是否已经失去了真正的定义？

Bithell表示自己越来越不知道如何有效使用这个词了。

他说道：“我们中的许多人所给出的预算其实远高于所谓的‘独立’开发者应有的预算。”

“我们获得了巨大的成功。现在在主机平台和Steam上的划分是怎样的？AAA级游戏—-一年不到20款游戏，而独立游戏，一年超过2000款游戏。对于我来说这预示着我们需要更好地分割我们的工作，并创造出一些全新的类别。”

“现在的‘独立游戏’指代的是《我的世界》，《无人深空》以及连连看游戏。这是一个无效的词。就好像我们在抄袭别人的用词一样。而它真正属于的是那些创造出像《孤独的托马斯》这样的游戏的人。”

（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转发，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

What next for indies?

By Craig Chapple

It’s a new era for indie developers.

The days of rocking up on digital stores with your great game and getting thousands of sales are nearly gone. All platform holders want your games, and have opened up their marketplaces more than ever before to ensure your title, potentially the next big hit, is on their hardware or store.

But now there are more competitors than ever. Not only are there multi-billion dollar companies dominating the App Store and thousands of amateur and indie developers, some of the previously successful indies are getting more ambitious and ploughing more money into new, bigger games. And with them they’ll bring their fanbase.

So, ironically, does this mean the death of the indie scene is imminent? Not quite.

“I think a lot of devs are worried about the door slamming shut behind those of us who got through in the last few years,” says Thomas Was Alone and Volume developer Mike Bithell.

“It’s certainly hard to get noticed right now via the storefronts, but I hope that the next generation of indie devs are going to be far, far more innovative than we were. We already see folks targeting YouTube taste-makers, big mainstream sites, or even asking more established devs to raise the word. It’s going to be fascinating being outclassed and outpaced by the devs who work this stuff out.”

Maia creator Simon Roth – who successfully raised ￡140,481 for the god game and is now even setting up his own company, Machine Studios – thinks the games industry will see more indies break out, as “sales are rarely the single driving force in the core of the independent scene”.

“We might not witness as many rags-to-riches stories as we used to, but we will see a lot more modestly successful businesses spring up,” explains Roth.

“The marketplace is crowded, but a lot of it is dreck and, unlike a few years ago, savvy consumers have far more ways to filter through it and discover the games they might like. Not to mention there are far more people actively buying indie games now.”

Fight for survival

One way to get noticed comes from the creativity often found in the indie scene in the first place. Innovative, unique gameplay can make games stand out, whether for target niche audiences or mass market, but a great game may not always be enough. Though as Roth notes, while the number of game releases may have exploded, “the increase in quality titles has only grown slightly”.

Paul Kilduff-Taylor, MD of Frozen Cortex developer Mode 7 Games, says the most important thing for indies is that combination of concept and polish, but notes there are other areas to help maximise success should you find it.

“If you have a concept that is really attractive on a particular platform and you execute it so it’s visually appealing, that’s all you need to do if it’s compelling enough,” says Kilduff-Taylor.

“If you don’t magically come up with the secret formula, then I think platform diversification can be really important. It’s a double-edged sword though, as there’s no guarantee a game will work on any particular platform. Platform holder buy-in on anywhere other than PC is absolutely essential and you won’t get anywhere without it.

“Surviving is about planning well for disaster scenarios. Standing out is about – dishearteningly – being amazing, or amazingly lucky, and sometimes both.”

Bithell agrees on the importance of platform holder buy-in, and says if you can get it, then why not use it?

“It’s certainly possible to survive without platform holder help,” he states. “My question would be, why would you bother? Getting platforms on side is a massive help. They have access to an audience beyond anything any individual could ever achieve. Ultimately, everyone needs content, so if you’re producing content that you can convince platform holders there is an audience for, that puts you in an incredibly strong position.”

Furtile ground

As indies look for the best ways to survive, is there an ideal platform to launch a game on? Of course, the platform can depend on the type of game an indie is making. What’s good for console may not be good for mobile, and what’s good for mobile and tablets may not work on PC. But finding the safest place where your game is most likely to succeed is a factor many indies will take into account when developing their title.

Imre Jele, co-founder of Surgeon Simulator developer Bossa Studios, says PC – particularly Steam – is the most important platform for indie developers right now, and believes it will remain that way for a while longer.

“When they were a closed platform, some people accused Valve of elitism as they rejected many games sent to them,” says Jele. “When they opened up to become more democratic, they were criticised for allowing bad games to appear on the shop. Even the latest range of community and discovery features got flack despite the fact that there isn’t any better solution out there to allow players find games they might like.

“Steam is far from perfect. But it still offers better opportunities for an up-and-coming indie developer than any other platform.”

Roth agrees, and says PC will “remain the bastion of indie development”, with the help of direct sales, Steam, Humble and GOG offering a varied and reliable revenue stream. He says, however, that other platforms such as the PlayStation 4 and Wii U are also good options for indies.

“Sony has done a good job with encouraging established developers onto their platform and, thanks to some excellent first-party titles and recent price cut, the Wii U is now finally getting some decent market share so has become a serious consideration now too,” he says.

Bithell says a few reasons PC remains the safest place for a small indie developer to release their game are the specialist coverage, YouTubers and taste-makers that will drive an audience to your game in a way that mobile and console don’t approach yet. It should be noted though that both Microsoft and Sony are making this easier on their platforms, particularly when compared to last-gen.

“It’s also the easiest platform to get a game made for technically thanks to middleware,” he says.

“Finally, mobile games ported elsewhere carry a taboo for the platforms’ native audiences. It’s far more commercially viable to port a PC hit to mobile than the other way around. Apple loves a critical darling.”

The new mid-tier

For those small developers that saw early success a few years ago during the initial stages, and arguably the peak of the indie revolution, the money brought in has meant, if they choose to do so, these devs can expand their teams and invest more in new projects and ambitious projects.

Though still retaining the indie tag, many of these have now grown to employ a dozen or dozens of staff, working on one big project or multiple titles.As Jele says, these developers then go head-to-head against the new indies who still work from home alongside a full-time job, creating an extra challenge for the new generation. And this presents its own challenges to the world of indies and how those developers now define themselves and operate.

“The bigger budgets these developers can put behind their games can unlock new opportunities and better and bigger games, which is great,” says Jele.

“At the same time I see many of these indies struggle as they have to manage teams and act like a ‘proper’ business. Many of these great creators are also plagued by ‘impostor syndrome’ as they prepare for the dreaded second album. And at the end of the day, you are as good as your latest game.”

Kilduff-Taylor says that when expanding the team for Frozen Synapse follow-up Frozen Cortex, the main change for him was the management of people who are working at the studio full-time.

“If you normally just work with contractors or on your own, that’s a big change that you have to get used to,” he says. “I think we’ll see some exciting games with a bigger scope from teams who are doing that.”

He adds however that he’s not sure if these indies will be forming the new ‘mid-tier’ as traditionally defined, given the variability of games in terms of profitability and development budget.

“I kind of think any idea of tiers has been blown apart at this point,” states Kilduff-Taylor. “You can make a multi-million selling title which just has very simple graphics and a very low art budget – look at something like Plague Inc., Democracy 3 or SpaceChem – so it’s really more about hunting for these concepts than it is about investing large amounts of money in art, sometimes.”

Bithell, perhaps one of the most recognisable indies around, says that if Volume does well he plans to expand the team and invest more in new projects, looking to the games companies of old for inspiration. He explains, however, that this will be a slower, steadier and altogether more conservative growth than what has often occurred before.

“I’d expect more indies to do the ‘breakout hit / more mainstream follow-up / mid-scale production’ progression over the coming years,” he says.

“I’d point to companies like Introversion and Mode 7 Games as folks way ahead of the curve on this. It’s not for everyone though, and we shouldn’t dismiss those who want to keep things small and focused. They’ll outlive us all.

“The vital difference is the changed relationship with publishers and platformers. Developers have more power and control over the work they do than ever. I don’t think there’s any turning back from that.”

What does ‘indie’ mean anyway?

But as indies take on new challenges, and the term stays attached to slightly bigger studios and even latched on to by large, triple-A firms for their smaller outings, what does indie even mean anymore? Has it lost any real definition?

Bithell says it’s a word he’s becoming less and less comfortable with using.

“Many of us are playing with budgets that are many times greater than what would be reasonably called ‘indie’,” he states.

“We got too successful. Right now the division on console and Steam is what? Triple-A – less than 20 games a year – and indie – more than 2,000. To me, that’s an indicator that we need to get better at differentiating our work, and invent some new – almost immediately outdated – categories.

“Right now ‘indie’ means Minecraft, No Man’s Sky, and a Twine game. That’s a pretty useless word. I feel like I’m stealing someone else’s word. It belongs to folks like the dude who made Thomas Was Alone.”(source:develop-online)