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[Gun Animal]

i think that a lot of games are published just so the developer (individual or studio) can say that they have a published game under their belt. It's essentially resume/portfolio filler.

 

[Sentenza]

The problem isn't that there's too much indie games.
The problem is that most of them suck.

Well, that's once again a problem for them, not for us.

Stores will promote and highlight the good ones (or the ones that are driving unexpected amount of traffic at least), customers will spread the word of mouth about them, curators will talk about the deserving top of the cream.
Everything else will drown.

Of course, the devs themselves will lack the self-awareness and claim that "visibility" and lack of promotional space (which somehow they seem to think is something owned to them) are the only things that killed their little creation, but we'll know better than to listen to the tears of these tossers.

 

[MiguelItUp]

I don't think so at all. I feel like indies and AA are only getting better for the most part.

Though I feel like Steam is overflowing with shovelware sex/porn/waifu trash games, lol.

 

[TGO]

Yeah they make the PS5 section on the PSstore look big, yet they're probably running on the chip inside the Dualsense.
I do like a few indie stuff but there's way too many shovelware indie crap.

 

[ULTROS!]

Like others have said the problem is not that there are too many Indy devs, the problem is that they are largely concentrated in a few genres. Could really use more sports games, especially on PC.

Yeah this is my issue. They’re mostly stuck to one genre or whatever genre is trending that they can do, namely:

- Soulslike
- Metroidvania
- Rogue-lite
- Platformer
- JRPG

I wish they explored other genres, heck a GTA PSone clone would be fine.

 

[Shmunter]

All those miners must’ve learnt to code

 

[Isa]

I'd say yes and no. The bloat is real, since most online storefronts are keen to let just about anything in. It helps pad out game release droughts too. There are a few reasons I think its beginning to get a bit tiresome.
- Pixelart and other 2D artstyles and gameplay are cheaper/easier to produce.
- Fewer 3D games that don't look like crap. I assume its due to the complexity in game programming and design. A lot of 2D games practically have the blueprints all laid out and can be emulated fairly easily with a different story, layout and art assets. There are some decent ones to be sure but they tend to be limited in scope or have clear budgetary constraints.
- It was or is still successful, so others hopped on the bandwagon. There are so many 5 buck chucks its crazy. Ports of cheap phone games or facebook games.

I do think there are still a good few titles out there. I wish some would pool their resources and try to up their game though. We know they can make a game, no how about instead of yet another metroidvania roguelite they get together with a few other developers and try to compromise and try something a bit more grand? I'm sure if they tried their hand at it they could make something truly memorable that could stand up with classics like FF 7, Parasite Eve, Vagrant Story, Shining Force (any), Powerstone, Jak and Daxter, Wing Commander, Mechwarrior 2, Phantasy Star 1/2/4. The list goes on and on.

I also think the art style many opt for is part of the problem. It lacks that hook factor. I'm a potential big spender, but most of the games I see just don't appeal to me. Whereas I LOVE pouring over oldschool games for the great attempts at putting the great concept art in the games. Its funny but in that sense I think adult nsfw games are kicking indie ass right now.

 

[Zeroing]

There was a time where there was 2 categories of games AAA and AA since the PS3/Xbox 360 generation those AA games disappear, indies that space.

More games are a good thing but harder for when you are a small unknown studio who depends heavily on ads or mouth to mouth publicity about your game.

indie games already are view as lesser games and if you have a lot of them who are bad games that could damage our perception of indie games as just being shuffleware.

there’s got to be a curating methodology but some devs were complaining about it on Twitter so…

 

[Elysion]

Yes, I think so, at least for consoles. I honestly believe it was a mistake for Sony/MS/Nintendo to open up their shops to everyone and everything. That’s what PC and mobile are for. The big three should return to stricter standards for publishing to weed out the trash. There should for example be a considerable fee that a developer has to pay before a game gets published on console – high enough to drive away shovelware devs, but still low enough to allow smaller and mid-sized devs who make decent quality games access to the market. If a developer isn’t confident that their game will make back the money, then it shouldn’t be published on console stores. Maybe there should be a price floor too, though that might be difficult with the rise of f2p games.

I‘m especially disappointed that Nintendo has allowed its eshop to be flooded with so much garbage. Of all the companies, I would‘ve thought Nintendo would be the ones to curate their ecosystem the most. That‘s the one area where their general backwardness would‘ve been a good thing.


Also, as others have pointed out, there‘s way too much 2d stuff. As someone who started gaming on PS1, and thus grew up with 3d games from the very beginning, 2d games just don‘t do anything for me. I‘m an unapologetic 3d supremacist, and the only 2d games I‘ve ever tolerated were handheld games on GB and GBA (mostly Pokémon). Surely it can‘t be that hard to make a decent 3d game on a low budget? I mean, that‘s what most games on PS1/N64 were!

 

[HarryKS]

Yes. And they all look the same. Ironic.

 

[Bragr]

So you want developers to make fewer games so you can keep up with them?

Well, maybe you can send them a few emails, tell them to shut down their fucking studios and stop making all these fucking games.

 

[Griffon]

I personally much more in to AA games than Indie and AAA games but these days AA games doesn't get much attention.

Most AA devs call themselves "indie" nowadays. The word indie doesn't mean anything anymore.

 

[Aenima]

Too many indie devs is not a problem, the problem is too much trash from indie devs.

Im also not a fan of the forced 8 bit graphics some indie devs love to use.

Once in a while i find some great indie gems, but with so much trash is hard to notice them.

 

[Danjin44]

Most AA devs call themselves "indie" nowadays. The word indie doesn't mean anything anymore.

Well games like Shin Megami Tensei or Ace Attorney are clearly not “indie” but they also not AAA since they don’t have same budget as games like FInal Fantasy and Resident Evil.

 

[Elektro Demon]

The problem is not with indie games. There's just so many trash indie games and it's hard to find a good one underneath all that garbage.

 

[CartoonsNCereal]

The more, the better, considering most AAA are shit and 1 out of 10 is really good nowadays
You basically have an infinite choice of really good games, often for less than 10$

Also, Indie world gave us some of the best games ever created, think Shovel Knight, Katana Zero, Hollow Knight and Co.

Yeah but none of those games push anything forward really, so were rarely left with really good AND impressive games these days...

Im surprised more people arent commentating on the state of gaming today tbh. Not looking good imo

 

[Fart Knight]

The Eshop is absolute garbage

 

[e&e]

My main problem with indie games is if they look too indie. I immediately exclude any game done in pixel art or that remains to me 8 or 16 bits era. I'm 46, I lived that gaming era and I ended incredibly tired of that 2D representation. In fact I abandoned gaming for 2 years at the end of super NES and only returned because I saw Wipeout in the PSX of my cousin. So no, I don't want to play a game that looks like a Master System game. But I don't have any problem in playing something like Inside, what I consider a masterpiece.

Go read the thread begging for the new Metroid to be pixel art or hand drawn.

 

[AmuroChan]

Yes, there're too many shovelware games on PSN these days.

 

[BadBurger]

Kinda sorta. The junk is easy to spot, but if they didn't open up their stores to small developers a lot of gems would never be found outside of Steam.

 

[CitizenZ]

Indie games are not the issue in any way: Now for real topics lets discuss:

Early Access
AAA Games NEVER complete when released and are NOT labeled Early Access when the fact is they are.
Indie games over priced
Fcking online only for SP games
Too many co op / MP only games
PVP in EVERY FCKING game and the first topic of discussion, "why are there not PVE only servers" every....time

I could go on and on but I think you get it

 

[mortal]

I don't see "too many" as being the issue here. Sound more like a lack of quality is the issue. Although that's always going to be the case.

"Most >Some >Few" is the universal rule I operate from. Most of them are mediocre, Some games are terrible, and few of them are truly great.
That goes for AAA games as well as smaller indie games.

 

[Loope]

Is this because of that Sony thing? No, there isn't too much indie games, nor too much RPG games, or cinematic adventures etc. More choice is good.

 

[Saber]

I'm really not having a problem with a massive number of indies.
My problem lies with their quality. And frankly, most of them are mid to low quality.

While there a few indies that feels like creator put their love in them, most are just there to "go with the flow" or don't understand how to apply their good ideas.

 

[V4skunk]

Even if there are too many there is nothing you can do about it because as long as devs make money they will keep making games.

 

[EverydayBeast]

I’ll say it, yes. Based on the pages of pages on ps stores there’s too much.

 

[Yoboman]

Its not too many

Its that too many just look and feel the same.

Everything is a sidescroller with a dash function

Not long ago it felt like we were getting some real heavy hitter innovators like Rocket League, Journey, Undertale... then it just kind of dried up? I guess there has been Among Us as the exception

 

[Spacefish]

There aren't too many till you have genuine 10/10's going completely unnoticed. Great indies that aren't mediocre remakes of larger games are almost always rewarded and have some kind of following.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

I think there's more than I have any reasonable time checking out so definitely yes.

I'm not saying it's good or bad but it makes for a more saturated market where the ease of publishing is much better than ever. You end up where more stuff gets thrown on the wall and you can't discern what is good or bad as much.

Maybe I'm off a little bit that's my quick thought.

 

[Javthusiast]

There is too much of everything. Music, books, tv shows, movies, games you name it.
Majority of it trash and no way to curate it all.

 

[Thabass]

No, you just need to figure a way to curate them

First post wins the day.

 

[Vagswarm]

I don't know if there's too many indie games -- afterall, having options and variety is always good. It also allows for more creativity when it's such an open space.

But I do feel like they are extremely overrated. Most of the "overwhelmingly positive" reviews on Steam are for indie titles. They're given extra bonus points simply because they're made by smaller teams -- when they don't have the restrictions bigger teams do (from publishers). That right there should even it out.

 

[Rambone]

Like reksveks said there needs to be a better way to curate them. Having to browse the e-shop for example can be a slog or point of frustration because to me it feels oversaturated with indie titles and this can cause a lot of extra delay when you are browsing the e-shop looking for non indie games. I really loathe the games on sale list because there are way too many indies to sort through to get to publisher stuff. Luckily Nintendos website deals with this pretty well however the e-shop could use some work. For when I am in the mood for indies and I want to filter out all the riff raff I do like the best sellers list so that I can see what's hot.