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Game Development vocabulary · Publishing & Release

Indie

Meaning in game development, with examples

/ˈɪndi/adjectiveCore term

In game development, indie means: Describes games and studios that are independent: usually small teams that make games without the money or control of a large publisher.

In Turkish: bağımsız, indie

How it is used

Also a noun: an indie, meaning an indie game or developer. People talk about indie developers, indie hits and the indie scene. Many indie studios still work with smaller indie publishers, so the word is mostly about size and creative freedom.

Example sentences

  1. We're a four-person indie studio in Izmir working on our second game.

  2. Several of this year's indie hits were made by solo developers.

Common collocations

  • indie developer
  • indie studio
  • indie game
  • indie hit
  • indie publisher
  • AAAUsed for games with very large budgets and teams, made or funded by major publishers, usually with high production values and big marketing campaigns.
  • publisherA company that funds, markets and distributes games made by a development studio, often also handling platform deals, localization and testing.
  • game jamAn event where people make a small game from scratch in a short, fixed time, usually 48 to 72 hours, often around a theme announced at the start.
  • early accessA way of selling an unfinished game so players can buy and play it while it is still in development and give feedback before the full release.

More terms: Publishing & Release

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