Category: December

In the modern video game industry, it’s very easy for high-quality products to fall under the radar of many gamers because of intense marketing from large companies, the overcrowding of digital storefronts, poor algorithms, etc. That is why I felt that it’s only right that, when a game developer continually impresses me with their output and their sales numbers seem comparatively small, I should point out and promote companies that deserve greater success. This is very much the case with Inti Creates and, so, I decided that I should provide a brief history of them, what I’ve played from them and why I want you to play their video games.

Inti Creates was originally founded in 1996 and spent the first few years of its life developing two games for Sony, neither of which were successful either critically or commercially. This changed with the release of Mega Man Zero for the Game Boy Advance which saw both praise from critics and strong sales. They continued to work with Capcom on the other Mega Man Zero games as well as its successor series Mega Man ZX and developing Mega Man 9 and 10 while they also worked with other companies on IP such as Crayon Shin-Chan, Doraemon, Power Rangers etc. They also developed a somewhat infamous series of fan service games called Gal Gun during this time but I think they really found their stride once they started self-publishing games in 2014 with the creation of their flagship series, Azure Striker Gunvolt. Since then, they’ve done some projects for other companies but seem to be predominantly working on their own games.

There was an interesting statement recently with regards to the Epic Games Store and it’s something that has provoked further discussion about the place of both the Epic Games Store itself and Steam in the PC marketplace. As part of yet another trial that Epic are pursuing, this time with Google, Steve Allison, the General Manager of the Epic Games Store, stated that the Epic Games Store has yet to make any profit after almost five years of operating! Of course, this news should be shocking but it’s actually not that surprising based on previous information. Nonetheless, it’s been interesting hearing people, at least the reasonable ones, discuss their thoughts on the matter and I thought I might share what I think are the real reasons why the Epic Games Store is failing as well as its place in the market.

Let’s start by breaking down the problems that the Epic Games Store is facing. Despite having revenues of over $800 million, the amount of money that Epic is spending on it, alongside the fact that they only get a 12% cut of $355 million of that figure, is resulting in a net loss and, from what I’ve heard, a staggering one at that. These expenditures, beyond the standard such as maintenance, wages etc., mostly revolve around the acquisition of timed exclusives, the weekly handout of free games and, now, their own publishing label where they fund games for longer term or permanent rights.

I can already see many of you shaking your head with regards to this article. What exactly is an indie video game? Why does this question even need to be asked?! Everyone already knows what an indie video game is, right?! Well, tell that to The Game Awards, the largest and most notable awards in the gaming industry! As I write this, the nominations for The Game Awards 2023 have been announced and one of the discussion points has turned out to be one that no one was expecting. You see, among the titles nominated for Best Independent Game is Dave the Diver, a well-received game that certainly looks like something you’d associate with indie games but is actually made by a subsidiary of Nexon, a company whose value is in the billions of dollars and employs thousands! This fact did not escape notice and, while I’m not sure if The Game Awards will make any changes based on the response, I thought it time to discuss indie video games and what exactly they are.

Let’s start by defining what an indie video game is. Indie is short for independent and refers to video games that have been developed outside of the traditional production of game development which involves being funded by a publisher. While independent development of video games have been around for some time, it was the advent of digital distribution in the 00s that led to the explosive growth in independent video game developers whose contributions to the industry have only grown and grown over the years. Many of these games have proven to be so critically and commercially successful that even so-called AAA developers and publishers have taken note of their innovation and incorporated it into their own projects.