Talk:List of indie game developers

Inclusion criteria
Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Video games czar  18:54, 4 March 2017 (UTC)

Allowing entries of studios that don't have their own company page
The heading to the editing page of this list says "No red links. Every entry in this list must have an article written in the English Wikipedia, with reliable sources to support inclusion, else it will be removed without warning." There are many notable studios, such as Team Cherry (Hollow Knight), that I feel should definitely added to this list. However, this rule would restrict this and many others to be added to this list. Would it be acceptable to, instead of having a red link, have the company name link to their most popular (or only) game that does have a page? For example, Team Cherry does not have a company page on Wikipedia. However, their only game (so far), Hollow Knight, has a very extensive page. Should it be kept off simply because there is no company page? Should we make a stub page for each studio? Or link it to their most successful game? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 20pargyle (talk • contribs) 15:41, 27 February 2019 (UTC)
 * If they're "notable enough" then they should be sufficiently notable for inclusion as their own article - if that's not the case, it won't be included on the list. It would be appropriate to link to a game provided it's actually notable. In the case of Hollow Knight: Silksong, I see no evidence of this being true as it's exclusively based on Kickstarter sources and I am tempted to AFD it because of the absence of coverage.Praxidicae (talk) 16:08, 27 February 2019 (UTC)
 * To add, "notable" here mean WP:NOTABLE is Wikipedia's terms -- these are specific minimum requirements. — HELL KNOWZ   ▎TALK 17:00, 27 February 2019 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress
There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Independent video game which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 09:01, 16 July 2019 (UTC)

This page needs some organization and updating
I've noticed that this page includes both individual indie devs and studios of indie devs. I've also noticed that this page contains several studios which still exist, but were bought out by triple A publishers and made no longer indie devs. I don't know everything about every studio or dev, so I could use some help in trying to get this page organized and updated. UppercutPawnch (talk) 19:27, 17 June 2021 (UTC)

The problem with this list
Aside from the fact this list has devs who are no longer independent, the use of the term "independent game developer" can be confusing.

There are two definitions for the term, the problem being that one of them is subjective and very inconsistent. On one hand you have developers of games which are generally regarded as "indie games", but then there are independent developers who work on large projects. The thing is, both are unarguably independent game developers. Some are trying to argue it has to do with where the studio gets money or what is their game format, but that definition is incredibly subjective and you're still trying to use one term for two supposedly different things. As an example, Hello games is a studio generally regarded as an indie studio. However, they released a AAA priced game, put millions into development and had marketing support from Sony. So what does really separate them from a studio like Remedy Entertainment? And by extension, is there a point when an indie game stops being an indie game?

There really isn't any objective definition of when a studio stops being independent other than when it gets acquired by a larger company. So at the very least the article should reflect the fact that the definition is subjective and should define what is an indie game rather than what is an independent game developer. Or simply use something like "developer of indie games" rather than "independent game developer". — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.176.39.49 (talk) 09:43, 14 February 2022 (UTC)


 * Yes (I know replying to 2022), the list is rather meaningless as is. We said in a 2023 discussion "having concurrence in reliable sources for an indie label". IgelRM (talk) 21:37, 13 June 2024 (UTC)