Bennett Foddy talks about the history of 'indie' at Indiecade East

"I think historical literacy is really bad in the indie scene -- if we put 'indie-ness', as a set of characteristics, into its proper historical context, we might not have anxiety about the future of indie games."

- QWOP creator Bennett Foddy speaks about the history of indie games at Indiecade East. QWOP creator and moral philosopher Bennett Foddy delivered a keynote speech at Indiecade East earlier this month about the history of independent game development. Foddy framed his talk as a positive response to what he perceives to be a wave of discord and discontent that's passing through the indie community, citing comments from notable developers and critics about how the term 'indie' has become meaningless. During his talk Foddy touches on everything from the early roots of independent game design with titles like Spacewar to the game industry's appropriation of the 'indie' label from music and film in the early years of the 21st century. It's a fun, informative talk that's worth watching for any developer seeking to make sense of where the industry came from and where it might be headed.