Different gaming studios have become big names for various different releases that have been put out over the years, but there has been a change happening as some of the latest big titles releasing have started to fall victim to the same issues – pre-release and alpha release, games released with huge bugs, and a bunch of other issues have led many to ask the question – how can the huge price tags assigned to some of these games be justified for a sub-par experience, and it has helped lift the indie developer much higher.
Whilst many indie developers follow a similar path of releasing a game in an alpha or early state with many of the same bugs, many are a little more forgiving to the smaller indie studios as it comes part and parcel with the progress, but recent releases have shown that many can be much more successful – the latest addition to this list comes from Valheim, another addition to the survival genre that has released at a very small less than 1GB file size, something pretty much unheard of in modern gaming aside from certain platforms. With the game reaching hundreds of thousands of concurrent players and outperforming big names like PUBG and GTA5 over the weekend, it has shown just how successful indie titles can be if done properly, but are they the way forward?
(Image from pcgamer.com)
When looking at other platforms, the answer may certainly be yes – the mobile platform is a good indicator here, many of the big games that have been released on mobile have typically been from smaller studios as many remain that same way, although there are others just like these in genres such as gambling that are growing in popularity despite adjustments to initiatives such as Gamstop, smaller studios are able to put more care and attention into what is being released and without the huge price tags attached there is often a lot more support behind the titles too.
With the advent and growth of streaming it certainly appears as if the indie gaming is on the up and up, and with some of the biggest games in the market currently being primarily coming from indie studios it is signalling a change – the big change many fans would like to see is within an adjustment to stop the alpha and pre-release schedule that has been causing a problem in gaming, but with indie studios doing it so well it does create a bit of a conflict. Some features should certainly stay, whereas others change, and a good balance will be needed for both to thrive in the way they have been.