And all 100 of those games cost less to produce than a single AAA title, were made by fewer total people, and probably involved significantly fewer rounds of layoffs after months of crunch. Indie games get churned out because people can make them in their downtime, not because they're inherently higher risk.
A ton of them are made by adults basically living in their parents basement and eating nothing but ramen for years. If they were paid an actual income like more established studios then those indie games actually have a way higher cost than people think. The cost to develop doesnt show dollars lost during those years from them living without an income.
And plenty of them are adults with jobs, and they make games as a hobby. Some of them are small teams taking a risk, it's all over. Point still is that anyone can do them for any budget, and with digital distribution being so accessible there's not really anything to crash in the indie space. It's the same people taking the same risk either way. Giant AAA publishers can't really say that.
I was going to post almost the exact same thing. Canceled then scrolled and found your post. That's the thing. Many of these Indie games are passion projects. If they start gaining traction and allow the developer(s) to be financially stable they can dedicate real time to them.
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u/Brettersson 13h ago edited 12h ago
And all 100 of those games cost less to produce than a single AAA title, were made by fewer total people, and probably involved significantly fewer rounds of layoffs after months of crunch. Indie games get churned out because people can make them in their downtime, not because they're inherently higher risk.