Shadow

A pretty interesting write-up about how the label “indie” has become so blurred in recent years. We consider ourselves indie because we have zero outside investment or backing. Palworld and Pocketpair are entirely self-funded, but it’s understandable that our success makes people see us differently. On the flip side, many studios considered “indie”, including some that have won major awards and achieved huge success, have received funding and backing from much larger companies. So where does the indie line begin and end? …comments will quickly say “if you’re over X people then you aren’t Indie” but, I don’t think it can be clearly defined anymore. For me, creative independence is probably the most important factor. If a studio has genuine creative freedom, then I think it’s fair to consider them independent. If another entity is exerting creative pressure or making decisions for a studio, then I think that independence becomes questionable. Even then, plenty of studios receive external funding while retaining complete creative control. I don’t think having a publisher or investor automatically makes a studio any less indie. So yes, we still call ourselves indie. I know many people will disagree, and some will point to our size or the amount of money Palworld has made as reasons why we shouldn’t use that label. But from our pov, we’re 100% self-owned, we have no outside investors to answer to, and we have complete freedom to make the games we want to make. That’s what being indie means to us. If you’d rather call us iii or AA, that’s fine too! Ultimately, it’s just a label and all that really matters is that we’re still making fun games.