Can Indie Games Ride Out The Recession?

Alright, people… it’s time to face reality. C’mon, don’t look at me like that. We’ve all had to do it hundreds of times before (though in my case, it’s usually because the power’s out.)

This time around, however, I mean facing reality in a broader sense than simply turning off your console of choice. Despite our collective hopes and dreams, it now appears video games don’t exist in some mythical fantasy land untouched by the recession. (Granted World of Warcraft still takes plays in a mythical fantasy land, but just the regular kind.)

Microsoft is sending hundreds of its game developers to the unemployment line. Despite selling 1.5 million copies of Tomb Raider: Underworld, Eidos elected to downsize. Even EA is still trimming the fat with the proverbial firin’ hatchet (not quite an axe), cutting jobs in its mobile game department and potentially its QA division as well.

But like the stomach of a three-year-old who just drank a quart of mercury, this terrible situation may have a silver lining. There are some who boldly suggest that the big guys sinking will give independent game developers more room to swim.

When you think about it, it kind of makes sense. Digital distribution — a staple of most indie developers — cuts costs by taking publishers out of the mix, meaning each dollar of revenue can be stretched a little further. And online developer communities, such as XNA Community Games (a marketplace for game designers to hawk wares built from Microsoft’s XNA game development tools), help indie games reach a wider audience.

This picture is actually very scientific. See, Master Hand represents the “invisible hand” of the free market and Mario is an amalgam of mainstream game developers and I really think I should just stop talking…

At some level, the numbers support the notion that indie games can succeed where their blockbuster counterparts have failed. The number of Americans playing online casual games increased 27% in 2008.

And the top-selling titles on each next-gen console’s digital distribution networks are all indie games: flOw — PlayStation Network, World of Goo — Wii Ware, and Braid — Xbox LIVE.

So… can indie games thrive while big name developers gradually fall to pieces? The answer is a resoundingly definitive “maybe… I dunno. Why are you asking me?”

For every step forward one indie developer takes, another seems to get shot in the foot. Brighter Minds, World of Goo’s publisher, just filed for bankruptcy. And while Microsoft promised designers who use XNA a bigger share of the profits for each game that sells well, those indie developers have no idea how much they’re entitled to, as Microsoft has yet to release any sales figures.

Fortunately, it’s not all gloom and doom. The shift in the number of games available to consumers, from what’s on the shelf at a game store to a selection as limitless as the Internet itself, could bolster innovation, as more developers can cater to niche gamers.

According to a recent blog post on the Guardian’s web site, Chris Swan, director of Blitz Arcade (the downloadable games division of Blitz Games Studios), said as game designers “more sublimely present the consumers with tailor-made game lists, we should be in an era where every kind of game can reach and make an impact on its ideal audience”.

Here’s to hoping, Chris. Here’s to hoping…