With E3 2014 mere days away, I wanted to take a quick trip down memory lane to E3 2013. Back then, I had the incredible pleasure of introducing nine indie developers making PS4 games on-stage during our press conference — probably my proudest moment of the show. We thought it would be fun to check-in with these nine developers one year later, seeing what it has been like for them to develop on PS4 and work with PlayStation in general.
Hopefully you’ve been following the development of these nine indie games, as well as the other great indie titles PS4 has to offer. Of the “indie nine,” we’ve seen the launch of Don’t Starve, Outlast (and its Whistleblower DLC), Mercenary Kings, Octodad: Dadliest Catch, and most recently Transistor. Such different game experiences from each other, but each so entertaining in their own right — with Don’t Starve I was thoroughly studying the migration and mating patterns of the Beefalo, and don’t even get me started about Outlast… Even while playing in broad daylight with friends I couldn’t finish that game.
And then there’s Transistor! What a beautiful game, and I’m a huge nerd for researching attack combos and getting through the battles in record time.
Each game has been welcomed with anticipation and excitement by the PS4 community, and we’ve still got several more still to come. The developers for Oddworld: New N’ Tasty, Ray’s The Dead, Secret Ponchos, and GALAK-Z: The Dimensional are all still hard at work to finish their games and get them in your hands.
Now that more than half the games are out, which was your favorite? Which would you recommend most to your friends?
Indie games continue to be released and gamers continue to grow restless. The list of games at the top in my opinion cost too much for the very little they offer. They should ALL be for free. Not worth a single dime. Transistor is great. I go from awake and aware and transition into asleep and dreaming. Gonna turn my ps3 back on and try to forget about the $900 i spent on these ps4s and the $120 i spent for ps plus. Whered i put those ps4 boxes they came in?
@1 Wow. What a great way to start the conversation. /s
I’m loving the indie games on PS4 and even more so on vita. But of the games mentioned my favorite so far is Transistor. Can’t wait for secret ponchos and galak-z too!! And of course the Abe game.
Hope to get release information soon.
Awesome article. Don’t Starve and Transistor have been two of my favorite games of the year. Keep the indies coming, I absolutely love them!
Good read! Thanks Adam and the Team for bringing those awesome indie games to PlayStation and looking forward for more :)
@KiLLjoY-42481 That is the dumbest thing I’ve read all week.
I’m really looking forward to Secret Ponchos and GALAK-Z.
Wow, KiLL, I couldn’t possibly disagree more. These games offer more than most AAA games, and are generally far more creative. I feel the same way about the Call of Dutys and Battlefields, but still realize they have a place for a lot of gamers.
Keep the indies coming! I still need to pick up Transister, and I’m really looking forward to Secret Ponchos and Galak-Z. That’s just out of that list, I personally can’t wait for Rogue Legacy, Risk of Rain, Axiom Verge, Teslagrad, Wasteland Kings, Hotline Miami 2, Dragon Fin Soup, Helldivers, N++, Witness, Aztez, The Binding of Isaac, Chasm, Escape Goat, and Jamestown. I’m sure I’m missing some, but all of those have me excited. Keep it up, you guys are doing great. :)
Adam Boyes, after announcing semi-exclusive Indies and resurrecting Final Fantasy 15 and Kingdom Hearts 3 last E3 ( HOLLLLY SH****), do you possibly think you can outdo that this E3? Probably won’t answer but it’s worth a try. <3 Playstation
The indie I’m most excited for is RIME! :D looks fantastic!!
And thats why…everyone loves the indies. So thats all we gonna get. Well, at least i know now what direction this gaming world is heading. Sorry, was compairing the combined price of any 3 of these games, in my opinion, will never be as good as a full $60 game. Think ill end up spending more time playing the new cod, or elder scrolls online, or metal gear five when it hits and forget games like transistor even exsist. The summer drought and tons of indies. Just feels like companies could spend the time with fantastic games instead of these 14 hours of something different. Love different, hate 14 hours that cost $20. Im true to the name i guess.
So far the ps4 indies in my eyes have been lackluster. I wanted to try octodad and transistor but I felt that the price was too high. I guess for those two I will have to wait for a sale to pick them up.
It’s great to hear such warm feedback from the Indie community! I personally can’t get enough of these Indie games.Stick It to The Man! was hilarious and I’ve had countless hours of fun playing Don’t Starve (cant wait for Reign of Giants! and multiplayer :)) as well as Fez, Towerfall: Ascension, and Mercenary Kings! Still need to pick up Transistor. That said I’m highly anticipating some cool footage/announcements for AAA games in The PlayStation arsenal. Without a doubt The Best Place to Play.
Nice article, Adam. Hopefully we’ll see a repeat next week! :)
@1: Indie games are developed by small studios, in some cases developed by one person only. How do they pay the bills and fund future projects if the games were free? Would you like to work for free? Would you like to see your hard work and dedication not rewarded at all? Wake up to reality, son.
This was a great video, & I’m thankful Sony embraced these guys and helped push their work towards the forefront. I’ve played half of the Indie 9 games and enjoyed each one. I almost don’t like to use the term “indie game/dev” because it seems like people use it as to discount its merits as a game, but if a game is a good game, no matter how many people worked on it, or how much resources were put into its creation, you will know its a good game when you play it. And these indies have brought done very entertaining and unique ideas to the table, gaming across all 3 of my current Sony platforms has felt so fresh.
I have been enjoying the indie games a lot of PS4, and it is one of the reasons I switched from Xbox back to Sony (I had a PS1 and PS2, but skipped the PS3, which I now regret). I really enjoy the length of many of the indies as I do not have tons of time to sink into games anymore.
Got the plat in merc. Got that one for free from plus thank god. Didnt work online for sometime, got plat. Felt sluggish, repeatative, and boring. Transistor has a great touch. But its too easy and short for $20 bucks. The game has you combining skills over and over again till you get bored. Had great concepts, felt it fell short though for the ratings it got. Octodad fells the same, simple and repeatative. Id rather play metal gear than outlast any day. Didnt mean to upset, but within my cirlce of gamers, no one is happy with these games or prices.
@13 lol. I get ya. But some pretty big names get involved in some of these indies. The truth. There are some great indies though…walking dead, journey, well, lots on the ps3. Im just worried that with the upcoming titles, looks like i have to spend 100s to play. Im just looking forward to the day i can go to the store and actually cant decide which game i want more. These days im just spending a fortune on games and finding myself bored. Each thier own. Wish games like walking dead and gta v moved to the ps4. Not trine 2 and pix junk. Actually i kinda liked pix junk. Laterz.
@KillJoy-42481
Clearly your perspective of gaming & the industry (which you’re entitled to) doesn’t match the vision that Sony (or the community) has in mind. The solution is to sell or trade-in your console and be done with the entire situation; not to attack & offend game creators for making something that they’re passionate about.
Say hello to your “circle of gamers” for me.
@18 wow, upset are we? The ps4 system is great. Ill put it in the box and wait for the 4k to hit but you just cant get the money back these days. Really though? I am out of touch for sure. I couldnt wait to get my ps4s, and im playing ps3 updated games on them and indie games. Im sorry, i boight the system for the big titles, not months of indies. My “circle of gamers” say hi!
Bring on more indies, PS3/4 has the best selection of indies. And they’re kicking AAA’s butt. I’ll take new experiences over the me-too FPS clones.
In my third year going for comp science major in programming and graphic arts. Under a year away from hopefully working in these upcoming games. Looking good so far…i have passion for gaming too. Well, off to school. Enjoy the indies! I really do miss out. I agree.
The biggest problem I have with indies is the plethora of 16 bit games. I’m getting really tired of that, if I wanted to play 16 bit games I’d play my SNES. I do however really enjoy indie games that look decent, like Abe’s Odyssey, Octodad: Dadliest Catch and Outlast. If more indie games looked decent and weren’t ‘retro’ then that’d be fine. To the people complaining about those who don’t care for indies, suck it up and deal with it. It’s called life and not everyone has the same opinion
good luck with that degree killjoy, because chances are you will be working on those indie titles you can’t stand so much.
Thanks! I need it, a tough field to get into. Yup, most likely i will. Hopefully. I am upset. It didnt bother me on the ps3 cause they were shadowed by larger titles. Enjoy the indies people, really. I bought transistor and a bunch more. I really did. Just think they are worth $10 not $20. And also really expected to find more aaa games. To the developers, they dont care, they shouldnt and wont be bothered because of one guy. I wouldnt be, you shouldnt be either, but i really got to go, sorry i cant read the rest. Lucky you.
This is great! I so glad to see this overwhelming amount of support from indie developers on PlayStation hardware! PlayStation is currently the best platform for indie developers to thrive! Its awesome, and more people need to realize that the importance of indie developers has significantly increased due to the disappearance of several “mid-tier” publishers. Ultimately, the incredible amount od indie support PlayStation has garnished is competitive edge that all PlayStation gamers should value.
KiLLjoY your name is appropriate.
IGN did a good article on this. Basically indies exist for those who like them, not for those who don’t. And less indie games does NOT mean more AAA games. They’re not interlaced like that. Transistor and Outlast coming to PS4 doesn’t mean it’ll take longer for Dragon Age III and Phantom Pain to release. The lack of these arguably amazing indie games would not suddenly cause the release dates of the AAA games to get pushed up.
When people complain about indie games they’re complaining about literally nothing, because their existence is not hurting anything or anyone. And it doesn’t change anything either. AAA games will still release when the developers want them to, and not moment sooner unless they change their minds. Indie games existing does nothing to change that.
PS4 is still new, give it time. (1/2)
For those of us open-minded gamers that play a lot of different things, including highly praised indies, thr PS4 has a lot to offer right now.
I have a friend kind of like you. He usually complains about dumb stuff like the PS4 taking to long to install game data when you put a disc in (2 minutes is too long for him which means he has bigger issues…), and like how he’ll never use the cloud storage because ONE save got corrupted ONE time. And he too complains about indies as if anyone cares what he thinks, and thinks his opinions are facts and if he thinks a game is bad (even if he never played it) everyone who likes it is wrong.
Don’t be THAT guy, just live and let live bro.
It’s simple, if you don’t like it, don’t play it, but let those of us that enjoy it do so in peace. (2/2)
What a great video. This is how I look at indies and really all games in general. If it’s a fun experience, who cares if it’s an indie or mid tier or AAA game. A great fun game is a great fun game. PlayStation gets this, period.
Indies certainly should not be the vision of people who like gaming, and I don’t really believe it is. Who’s going to buy a $400 ps4 to play Stick it to the Man? People bought the ps4 to play those AAA games like BF4 and CoD. Sure Indies are fun and I like a few of them, but they don’t offer enough content to keep people playing. From Sony’s perspective, they would love to keep releasing Indies because they’re cheap and quick to make, making it appear that there isn’t a huge drought in retail games. This post is only highlighting a happy bi-product of that.
If this oversaturation of Indies continues, you will see a lot less quality and innovation from those devs as they compete with each other. Just look at Mercenary Kings. I know there are a few who like it, but come on; that game could be made for ios and sell for a fraction of the price.
At the rate things are going, we will be left with a few big companies like Activision, EA, Ubisoft, etc. And the rest will be hundreds of mobile game devs. Neither of those options will offer the innovation that people want. But at least the AAA games will have enough content to keep me playing. I prefer it better when we have games like UFC Undisputed 3, Wipeout HD, and Max Payne 3. Now these studios closed for various reasons but all of the low cost games, which have a fraction of the content, didn’t help the situation.
Every week or so, a ps4 game is being delayed. Sony was obviously not as prepared for launch as they appeared to be. I have to give credit to Sony for doing a great job launching their console but trust me, if these delays continue along with popping out another Indie every week, you will see a lot more used ps4s on sale at gamestop. Virtually all of my ps4 friends are getting tired of waiting for new games to come out. I really hope that when Destiny comes out, things will get better.
Man, KiLLjoY has got to learn how to spell (and communicate) if they’re gonna do some programming. I could already imagine the paragraphs of red text that the compiler will throw back.
Anyways, I’m excited about these indie games. They’re good games. They’re not stopping AAA’s from being made (low sales and crappy business practices are). But on PS, Trophies, Remote Play and Cross-Save (if available) are some exciting and engaging stuff.
@26/27 i like you. You make a lot of good points. And i cannot wait to get me some phantom pain, but i had nothing better to do with my money. I bought some of those aaa titles, 2nd son, spidey 2, spent money on ground zeros (which is a mini), got me some dynasty warriors, and a couple more. I just need a place to vent for all the indies i wont list that ive played, bought, and just didnt find that great like the hype seems to be. But my god does this ps4 sync my trophies fast, used to take ten minutes on the ps3 and i love the load times. Take care.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Indie games move past the 1970 to 1990’s type games styles. Mario 64 and MegaMan Legends are the two games that tore me away from side scrolling games and the helicopter view games. Open world type games allows us to explore and get lost in scenery. Even the linear type games like the 1st Final Fantasy 13.
Deeper stories, Character Development, Music and Sound Effects.
I’m just glad there are 3rd party developers that are actually selling this new generation of consoles.
If you don’t like Indie games, you shouldn’t like ANY games…All the games that where showcased that I’ve played so far…Outlast, Mercenary Kings, Transistor have been AMAZING…
@jgrizzle358
*Slow Clap*
Couldn’t have said it better myself I was reading through this thread just dumbfounded by what I was hearing. It seems like someone just wants to complain for the sake of complaining. It would be really interesting though to follow someone like Killjoy as they enter the industry just to see how their perspective changes over time. Personally I don’t have the freetime anymore that these kids seem to be able to afford so a 6-10 hour indie is way more appealing to me then a 60-100 hour AAA that I will only be able to put 10-20 hours into.
@KiLLjoY-4281 first up every game can’t be free they have what is called a job and responsibilities which apparently you know nothing about. If you don’t like them then don’t buy them period nobody wants to hear you whining like a broad on the ps blog. But on a another note I like the indie studios and there games because there is diversity in there games that you won’t see in AAA games. And that’s very much needed from developers in the gaming industry not just the same copy and past from games which I see a lot of people are not comfortable with change. Really too bad because it’s happening with or without you cry me a river.
@ Dionysus-Jones & jgrizzle358
Awesome posts. You guys nailed it!
@ BansheeWrath
So… you play games for graphics? How about YOU suck it up. Accept the fact that indies are well-liked and they’re here to stay. You can have your opinion. That’s not the problem. The problem is that you guys attack people who are just doing something they’re passionate about. You indie haters are always attacking the people involved, unprovoked. Just ignore indies if you don’t like them. Stop being troublemakers. Their existence isn’t a threat to you or the games you like.
I swear, this indie hate is like the gaming version of racism. Elitist jackasses.
The original SOCOM games are being remastered as an Indie game called H-Hour: World’s Elite thanks to PS & its fans!
Last year I had the opportunity to be at E3, and I loved the section where Sony had the Indie Devs. I can’t believe I forgot about Ray’s The Dead. I loved the art style and humor of the game. I hope to hear more news on it soon. Secret Ponchos has been on my list too. hopefully we see it free next month. I got to speak to almost everyone in this video. They were so nice and I could tell they were so excited to get their game on the PS4.
Still waiting to hear about some of these. What’s the status on Secret Ponchos and Oddworld?
Was glad to get an update on The Witness recently
Love the indie support. :D
I love how people pretend that Indies have no effect on the sales of other games. Reality check, they do. It’s okay to like Indie games and want them to succeed, but that comes at a price. They don’t just pop onto the scene and add to what’s already being made. They hurt mid-level companies greatly. You might be alright with that but I’m not.