Industry
The indie game scene started on PCs, where it remains prominent. Indie games saw a rise via shareware distribution in the early 1990s. However, as technology advanced, requirements and high user expectations made indie gaming less prominent. Modern video games exceeded the ability of a single developer to produce.
Indie gaming industry has a constantly growing interest and popularity. Indie industry saw a steep rise in the latter half of the 2000s decade. The expansion of Internet allowed games to be distributed online moving beyond retail sales. This allowed for both developers to publish and players to download such games from platforms like Xbox Live Arcade, Steam, or OnLive. Similarly, developers have access to tools like Adobe Flash.
Like mainstream video game industry is comparable to mainstream film industry, so is indie gaming industry comparable to independent film industry. However game distribution is shifting towards online marketing. For developers, online marketing is much more profitable and more readily available than retail marketing. Although, distribution portals have been criticized for collecting a large portion the game revenue, in 2008 a developer could earn around 17% of game's retail price and around 85% if sold digitally. This also leads to appearance of more "risky" creative projects. Furthermore, expansion of social web-sites have introduced gaming to casual gamers. Nevertheless, there are few examples of games that have made large profits, and for many indie game-making serves as a career stepping stone, rather than a commercial opportunity.
It is argued as to how prominent indie gaming currently is in video game industry. Most games are not widely known or successful and mainstream media attention remains with mainstream titles. This can be attributed to lack of marketing for indie games. Indie games can be targeted at niche market.
Read more about this topic: Indie Game
Famous quotes containing the word industry:
“That some should be rich, shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
“My plan of instruction is extremely simple and limited. They learn, on week-days, such coarse works as may fit them for servants. I allow of no writing for the poor. My object is not to make fanatics, but to train up the lower classes in habits of industry and piety.”
—Hannah More (1745–1833)
“As our boys and men are all expecting to be Presidents, so our girls and women must all hold themselves in readiness to preside in the White House; and in no city in the world can honest industry be more at a discount than in this capital of the government of the people.”
—Jane Grey Swisshelm (1815–1884)