I recently read an article on Gamasutra regarding the rise of independent game development. The article talks about the key finding from the GDC 2013 State of The Industry Survey is that "independent game development and smaller teams are on the rise like never before."
Here are some of the stats from the survey:
- 53% of the respondents identified themselves as ‘indie developers,'
- 51% of those identifying as 'indie developers' have been so for less than two years.
- 46% of the survey’s respondents work within companies of ten people or less. Further proving the move to indie.
- 24% of those surveyed worked with a publisher on their last game
- And an even smaller 20% are working with a publisher on their current projects.
The survey also asked about Dev platforms:
- 38% of the survey's developers released their last game for smartphones and tablets collectively, but 55% are making their current games there.
- Even more impressive, 58% plan to release their next games on these platforms.
- PCs and Macs are the next strongest platforms, with 34.6% of developers releasing their last games for PCs/Macs, 48% developing their current games for the platform, and 49% planning their next games on PCs/Macs.
- Console development remains stable but at a lower base with Microsoft at the top over Sony and Nintendo.
- 13.2% are currently developing for the Xbox 360 and close to 14% planning their next game on the 360. For the PlayStation 3, 13% are releasing their current game for the console, and 12.4% their next game. Nintendo Wii U have only 4.6% of developers who are currently making a game for this platform, and just 6.4% of the surveyed developers are making their next game for the console.
- Dedicated gaming handhelds have less support with having less than 2% of respondents made their last game for the Sony Vita hand held with 4.2% making their current game and just over 5% plan to release their next game on the Vita.
- North American developers are unconvinced of the Nintendo 3DS's potential as only 2% are currently making a 3DS game, and only 2.8% of developers plan to release their next game on the 3DS.
Mobile Devices such as smartphones and tablets and PC are topping the developer interest charts:
- Tablets and smartphones are still way out ahead in terms of interest, with 58% and 56% respectively interested in the platforms.
- PC-based TV consoles, such as Valve's Steam Box, have a very high 45% level of interest for developers.
- Android home consoles, like the OUYA and GameStick, are also high up the interest curve at 37%.
Self-Funding and Crowd Finding has growing interest:
- GDC survey looked into how developers are funding their projects. The vast majority of games are being funded from the company's existing war chest (37%) or an individual's personal funds (35%).
- Only 9% of our survey respondents were primarily venture capital funded.
- 10% are still primarily publisher-funded, and 4% are actually primarily crowdfunded.
- With regards to crowdfunding, 8% of surveyed developers have worked on a project that was crowdfunded, while a surprisingly sizable 44% plan to do so in the future.
