作者：Josh Bycer

独立市场的崛起与发展真是太让人惊讶了。在这约8年的时间里，我们见证了许多游戏诞生于那些拥有比大型工作室还强大的创造性的小群组中。像《玩具熊的午夜后宫》，《我的世界》和《星露谷》等游戏便成为了立基和主流游戏圈中的佼佼者。话虽如此，当提到游戏时“独立开发者”其实是一个非常奇怪的词，并且会引起有关到底什么是独立开发者的有趣讨论。

Darkest-Dungeon(from gamasutra)

哪一群组？

从传统意义上来看，电子游戏公司可以划分成第一，第二与第三群组。第一群组的游戏是来自平台创造者本身。第二群组的游戏是来自那些主机创造者拥有/部分拥有的公司或者专注于某一特定平台的游戏。而第三群组的游戏则是来自不属于某一平台的工作室。

当独立市场成型时，我们看到了一些特别的东西。有时候独立开发团队是只有一两个人致力于一款游戏中。许多这类型游戏甚至没有特定的办公室，即只是远程工作。因为全新引擎为更多人开启了创造游戏的大门。

尽管今天的独立开发很受欢迎，但其实从90年代开始便已经有独立工作室存在了，如Croteam和Introversion。而今天的独立市场拥有巨大的利益，不管是发行商还是主机都注意到了这点。

不断发展的独立领域：

我们发现发行商和主机拥有者们都在走向独立工作室。不管是Klei Entertainment还是Redhook Games都出现在了PSN平台上。当然了我们不得不提Hello Games及其在索尼的支持下所创造的《无人深空》。现在我们已经能够认识那些获得成功的独立公司了。

就像Campo Santo所开发的《守望先锋》便在2016年Game Awards上获得了多项提名。

而这也引出了一个问题：一旦你的名声变得浩大，你还能否继续称自己为独立开发者？我知道人们会说他们仍然是小型工作室，但事实上这里已经出现了不同。

这些开发者开始拥有了影响力，而这正是许多的独立开发者所不具有的。就像是不管Scott Cawthon或Toby Fox宣称了什么都会马上引起媒体和游戏网站上的轰动。

有人会说独立开发者是指那些不具有发行商的人，而再一起次地，成名后的游戏发行与仍作为小型工作室时的游戏发行也会出现很大区别。

就像我们之前曾说过的，成功总是孕育着成功。当你获得了一次巨大的成功时，你便很容易创造出下一款游戏并能够更轻松地获得成功。

这也是引起我去做出具有争议性的总结的原因。

独立开发的状态：

独立开发者仍然存在着，只是这一词被大大拉伸了。但是我觉得这时候的你不应该再称自己为“独立开发者”，而是第三方开发者。

当你的游戏获得了电影改编，你便不再是独立开发者。如果你的游戏变得够大甚至拥有自己的玩具生产线，你便不再是独立开发者。当你拥有一定数量的员工和更大的工作空间，你便不再是独立开发者。当你拥有足够大的名气让索尼和微软去支持你的游戏并将你带到多个平台上，你便不再是独立开发者。

在此我们可以做出决定性的结论：我不认为独立开发者是任何游戏开发的目标，这只是一个跳板般的存在。

有时候你可能需要去证实自己创造了一款成功的游戏，或者你将继续作为一名业余或兼职开发者。

那些努力获得成功并拥有大受欢迎内容的开发者们都成为了游戏产业中的大红人。如此他们便获得了独立开发者所不具有的优势与影响力。但虽然如此，我也清楚将会有许多独立开发者会在下面留下愤怒的评论，而我也知道他们这么做的原因。

游戏设计期待：

游戏产业最大的挑战之一便是向消费者传达作品是关于什么。这也是你不能在一周内添加多人游戏内容或让每一款游戏都还原《使命召唤》的原因。

这里的最大要点便是独立开发中的区别。被叫做独立开发者可以帮你阻挡掉那些第三方开发者可能遭受的一些批评。因为我们都知道独立开发者拥有有限的预算，所以我们不会期待他们创造出最出色的图像或避免所有漏洞。如果独立游戏缺少足够优化，我们便会将期望寄于游戏的全新概念上。

但是当提到第三方开发者时，我们指的便是那些已经有所名气的开发者。如果是这样的话你便不会因为缺少游戏优化而获得谅解。人们将更加严苛地对待你的游戏中所存在的任何问题。

但是这里并不存在绝对的安全网。即很少有独立开发者能够维持好几年的成功（赚钱）。

相反地，有许多独立开发者最终选择了关闭或重组。

Spiderweb Software虽然已经诞生了20年并依旧保持着活力，但他们却始终未能创造出主流的热门游戏。

而不管Introversion或Redhook Games下一次发行了怎样的游戏，我们都会更严苛地去审视它们，因为我们已经知道他们的水平。就像其它娱乐产业那样：你的名气将只是停留在你的上一部热门作品上。

如果我们对独立开发者的身份添加限制条件，那么很多人将被推到聚光灯下。即那些开发者将和Eidos，Firaxis，Blue Byte等公司分到一块。

现在呢？

这是其中一篇我未能作出总结的文章。游戏产业一直在快速发展着，所以我们很难去衡量一些标准。

现在的我们仍然能够感受到8年前独立市场的崛起所产生的影响。而它到底将如何发展以及何时会停止发展则是此时人们最好奇的。

（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）

Is it Time to Redefine “Indie Developers”?

by Josh Bycer

The rise and growth of the Indie market has been amazing to watch. In about eight years, we have seen a number of games come from small groups of people with creativity that rivals major studios. Games like Five Nights at Freddy’s, Minecraft, Stardew Valley and more, have become major names in both niche and mainstream circles. With that said, the phrase “Indie Developer” when it comes to games is a very odd phrase, and raises an interesting debate about what is an Indie developer.

Which Party?

Traditionally, video game companies can be broken down by first, second and third party. First party games are from the platform makers themselves. Second party games come from companies who are either owned/partially owned by a console maker or focus on one specific platform. And third party games come from studios with no real allegiance to one platform or the other.

When the Indie market came to be, we suddenly saw something else. Development teams of sometimes one to two people working on a game. Many of these companies didn’t even have official office spaces, and operated remotely. Thanks to new engines, they have opened the doors for more people to make games.

Even though Indies are popular today, there have been Indie studios since the 90′s; such as Croteam and Introversion. Today, there is big money in the Indie market, and publishers and consoles are noticing it.

The Growing Indie Space:

We have seen a shift towards publishers and console owners courting Indie studios. Both Klei Entertainment and Redhook Games are appearing on PSN these days. Of course we have to mention Hello Games and getting backed by Sony for No Man’s Sky. These days, successful Indie companies don’t remain hidden from the public eye for long.

Firewatch developed by studio Campo Santo was nominated for multiple awards at the 2016 Game Awards.

This raises the question: Once you’ve become a big name, can you still call yourself an indie developer? I know the easy answer is that they are still small studios, but there is a difference.

These developers now have clout; something a lot of Indies don’t have. You know whatever will be announced next by Scott Cawthon or Toby Fox will immediately light up press releases and game sites.

Some can say that an Indie developer is someone who doesn’t have a publisher, but again, there is a big difference in putting out a game when you’re established vs. small time.

As we’ve talked about before, success breeds success. When you have a big winner, it can easily carry you into your next game and make that one easier to succeed. And while there are those successes, there are dozens, if not hundreds of Indie developers struggling to make a name for themselves.

And this is what has led me to a possible controversial conclusion.

The State of Indie:

Indie development still exists obviously, but the term has been stretched these days. However, I feel there comes a point when you can’t call yourself an “Indie developer” anymore, but a third party developer.

When your game has a movie being made based on it, you’re not an indie. If your game is big enough to have its own toy line, you’re not an indie. When you now have dozens of people and studio space, you’re not an indie. If you’re a big enough name to get Sony or Microsoft to back your game and get you on multiple platforms, you are definitely not an indie developer anymore.

And here comes the gut punch conclusion: I don’t think being Indie is the goal anymore for game development; it’s a stepping stone.

At some point, you are either going to have to prove that you can make a successful game, or you’re going to remain a hobbyist or part-time developer.

The people who do manage to succeed and have that breakout hit are the ones who become major names in the game industry. And with that, they get advantages and clout that an indie developer will not have. With that said, I know that there are going to be a lot of Indie developers getting ready to write angry comments below, and I know why.

Game Design Expectations:

One of the biggest challenges of the game industry has been educating the consumer about the work that goes into it. Why you can’t just add multiplayer in a week, or have every game have the fidelity of Call of Duty.

And one of the biggest points is the difference in Indie development. Being called an Indie shields you and your studio from some criticisms compared to a third party developer. We expect indie games not to have the best graphics or be bug free due to limited budgets. If an indie game lacks polish, that’s to be expected on a new concept.

But when we talk about a third party developer, we’re talking about someone who’s established. You don’t get any slack for polish if you’re an established studio. Any problems in your game will be looked at more critically compared to those from a smaller Indie. There is a larger talk to be had about the challenges of continuing to grow, but that’s too big for this piece.

You are essentially acting without a safety net, and this is scary. There are very few indie developers who have managed to last successfully (and profitable) for years.

However, there are many examples of Indie studios that have closed or restructured themselves.

Spiderweb Software is now over two decades old and still going strong, but have yet to have that mainstream hit.

Whatever comes next from Introversion or Redhook Games is going to be looked at a lot more closely now that we know what they can accomplish with their previous games. Just like any other entertainment industry: You’re only as famous as your last hit.

If we put restrictions on who is an Indie, that’s going to push a lot of people into the limelight. Those developers will now be sitting at the same table as companies like Eidos, Firaxis, Blue Byte and many more.

Now What?

This is one of those posts where I don’t have a neatly wrapped ending for it. The Game Industry moves so fast and is so disconnected that figuring out standards is difficult.

We are still feeling the effects from the surge of the Indie market about eight years ago. Where it will go and when it will stop is anyone’s guess at this point.

Once again, I’m going to leave it to you: What do you think about the term Indie, and is it time to retire or update it?

Thanks for reading this post. Be sure to check out the rest of the great content from Game-Wisdom. You can find me on Twitter for daily updates on all new posts and nightly streams on Twitch around 10 est. Check out my YouTube Channel, now over 1,000 subs strong, for daily videos on game dev topics and video games. Finally, check out the Patreon campaign for ways to support everything that I do.(source:gamasutra)