A few years ago games like “Braid”, “Everyday Shooter” and “flOw” created an awareness among the public that independtly developed games could be something very special. Through innovation and uniqueness the indie scene started to grow and made a place for itself in the games industry. Discussions went rampant about whether games could be considered an artform or not, and developers were talking about the evolution and maturing of our medium. It was truly a time of inspiration. Since then hits like “Minecraft” have shown that indies are even able to compete with mainstream productions in terms of audience. But what are the consequences of gaining such success? Where are we heading now and why?
Jonatan Söderström aka “cactus” is an award winning game developer from Gothenburg, Sweden who has been making independent games for seven years and has gained praise and fame for his continuous output of odd freeware games.