informa
1 MIN READ
News

Indie game development on the rise in a big way

We knew it was true, but now we have the stats to show it: According to the Game Developers Conference's State Of The Industry survey, indie game development is on the upswing, with 53 percent of those polled calling themselves "indie."
The number of indie developers in North America is on the rise, according to the Game Developers Conference's State Of The Industry survey, with 53 percent of respondents now calling themselves "indie." The 2013 survey also found that 51 percent of these indie developers have been indie for less than two years, signifying that 2012 saw a notable indie uprising in the industry. Additionally, 46 percent of those surveyed said that they currently work in companies of 10 people or less, while only 24 percent worked with a publisher on their last game. And what of the games they're currently working on? As it turns out, 20 percent of respondents are working with a publisher on their current project. The graph below shows how developer interest is weighted towards platforms that are friendlier for independent game development (click for larger version):
The Game Developers Conference polled more than 2,500 North American game developers who attended the conference in 2012 or plan to attend GDC 2013 in March about their development practices, revealing several notable trends with regards to platforms, money, team sizes and more. The GDC intends to field a similar survey each winter, in advance of the conference in San Francisco. Organized by the UBM Tech Game Network, GDC 2013 will take place March 25-29 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, California. You can check out all the information from this year's State Of The Industry Survey here on Gamasutra. Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Tech.

Latest Jobs

Sucker Punch Productions

Hybrid (Bellevue, WA, USA)
11.30.23
Senior Programmer

The Pyramid Watch

Remote
11.22.23
Game Designer (RTS/MOBA)

Sucker Punch Productions

Hybrid (Bellevue, WA, USA)
11.30.23
Senior Technical Combat Designer

Digital Extremes

Remote
11.13.23
Lead AI Programmer
More Jobs   

CONNECT WITH US

Explore the
Advertise with
Follow us

Game Developer Job Board

Game Developer

@gamedevdotcom

Explore the

Game Developer Job Board

Browse open positions across the game industry or recruit new talent for your studio

Browse
Advertise with

Game Developer

Engage game professionals and drive sales using an array of Game Developer media solutions to meet your objectives.

Learn More
Follow us

@gamedevdotcom

Follow us @gamedevdotcom to stay up-to-date with the latest news & insider information about events & more