Obstacles facing independent developers

“Everything is on fire right now,” says independent developer Adam Riches.

It’s not a controversial view, and when Adam says it it’s almost casual.

Just a fact of life these days.

The widespread layoffs and studio closures that rocked the industry last year will continue into 2024, and the investment rush has slowed on the back of the Covid pandemic gaming boom.

There is also evidence that people are spending less money on new games, choosing to stick with long-running online games like Fortnite or annual franchises including Call of Duty and EA Sports FC.

Despite this, more games are being released than ever before.

UK The Digital Entertainment and Retail Association said in July Game sales fell sharply compared to the same period last year.

This isn’t just limited to premium releases, but smaller studios, whose games tend to be more affordable, are also struggling to find an audience.

It is often difficult to pinpoint why, but quality is no guarantee of success.

“You can have the best marketing, you can have the best game, you can have great reviews, but you’re still flipping the coin to see if it’s going to explode or not,” Adam says.

He feels that “discoverability”—making players actually find your game—is one of the biggest challenges indie developers face.

Steam, the main marketplace for PC games run by developer Valve, sells everything from games made in someone’s bedroom to big-budget blockbusters made by teams of hundreds.

There is a lot of competition.

According to SteamDB trackerMore than 14,000 games were published on the platform this year, with 2024 already surpassing 2023’s tally.

Adam just added another to the total. He’s released the murder mystery adventure Loco Motive – a game he’s been making with his brother for the past three years.

He joked that the best time to release the game was 2013, when Steam wasn’t so crowded.

There are still ways to stand out – the platform recommends games based on users’ gaming habits and regularly runs promotions that push a selection of games to the home pages.

But Adam admits that it is difficult.

“We’re all competing for those same slots, and now we’re competing with Triple-A and other indies,” Adam says.

In addition to competing for player attention, new games are increasingly competing for their time.

According to analytics firm Newzoo, annual series like Call of Duty and online titles like Fortnite accounted for 92% of playtime, with only 8% remaining for new releases.

Getting players away from those established titles is very difficult.

Sony’s online shooter Concord failed – and was killed by the PlayStation maker Just two weeks after release – It was attributed to its similarity to popular titles already on the market.

Rhys Elliott, an analyst from Media Research, points out that the big success stories of 2024 – Balatro, multiplayer shooters Helldivers II and Palworld’s Pokémon with Guns – did something new and interesting.

But he accepts that this is not the only element.

“Factors like strong intellectual property, strong marketing campaign, community promotion, and timing can help, but the truth is, there is luck involved,” he says.

“The right place and the right time are a big part of the games’ surprising successes.

“But gameplay and innovation are important, so great games often stand out and find their market.”

Another big issue for developers this year is finding financing.

Investment in new projects has slowed, prompting some studios behind previous indie hits to step in and fill the gap.

For example, Among Us’ publisher, Innersloth, recently launched Outersloth — a fund to give developers a helping hand in getting their projects done.

Hasban Siddiqui was among the first group selected by the program for its upcoming game Rogue Eclipse.

He says Innersloth “understands the struggles” developers go through, and their support has been invaluable.

But, even with solid studio support, Hasban doesn’t take success for granted.

“It’s unforgiving, the speed at which things change, technology changes, platforms change,” he says.

“I always feel like we’re trying to study as quickly as possible before there’s a paradigm shift that upends whatever that conventional thinking is.”

Manor Lords – A strategy game that puts players in charge of building a medieval settlement.

It has sold 2.5 million copies since its Early Access release in April.

Snow Roy, co-founder of publisher Hooded Horse, attributes the game’s success to the spin it puts on the genre by allowing players to inhabit and wander the settlements they create.

Manor Lords has generated a lot of pre-release interest based on early trailers, but Snow admits that Hooded Horse is still surprised by its reception.

“It would be arrogant not to be surprised by how much success she has had,” she says.

Snow says one of the best pieces of advice she’s gotten is to “don’t roll too quickly” once you’ve achieved success.

Some of the broader industry’s problems have been blamed on companies that expanded too quickly when gaming profits ballooned during the pandemic.

Snow says it’s important to her to be sustainable over the long term, and to be realistic about your expectations.

“A huge success like this, you can’t count on it to repeat itself year after year,” she says.

“There will be people who push you to have different expectations or treat next year as a failure if the breakout is not repeated but that is simply not the case.

“So it’s about setting your expectations and focusing on who you are.”

Everyone wants to publish the next Manor Lords or the next Balatro, but Adam says “success” doesn’t have to involve huge sales on the scale of an independent film.

“Our game doesn’t cost a lot of money, and since it’s mostly me, my brother and a few freelancers, the cost isn’t that high,” he says.

And Adam says it’s about doing what you can to give your game the best chance – Loco Motive’s big marketing push was launched close to launch to keep the momentum going.

It may have paid off, as the game debuted on Steam’s bestseller charts.

The odds of a breakthrough, or even of breaking even at all, are low.

But if there’s a silver lining, Snow says development tools are becoming more accessible and opening the door to smaller teams with “brilliant” ideas.

“As a gaming fan, this is something I would love to see,” she says.

“Even in the current environment, there is still a lot of room for new and innovative ideas.

“This is something I look forward to for many years to come.”

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