Talking Point: With Expedition 33 Winning Best Indie Game, What Does 'Indie' Mean to You? 1

What does "indie game" really mean these days?

Questions about this terminology have been circulating for years, but as the video game landscape evolves, they return every so often as people continue to wrestle with it.

Cut to The Game Awards 2025, where — among many others — Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 picked up the award for Best Independent Game.

This has caused a bit of a stir among enthusiasts online, and not about the fact it won, but about whether it's even an indie game in the first place. Some say it falls under "indie", while others say it categorically doesn't.

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Merriam-Webster defines "indie" as "one that is independent", further specifying "an unaffiliated record or movie production company". Other definitions are similar, essentially describing a small production company not owned by a larger entity.

When indie games (as we know them today) first started to appear, they were as these definitions describe — titles developed and released by independent companies.

Due to smaller budgets, or no backing by big investors or publishers, these games were typically smaller in scope, quicker to make, and visually simpler — games made faster and cheaper than mainstream blockbusters from big companies.

The rise of digital storefronts further enabled indie teams to publish their work themselves on platforms like PS Store or Steam, and this led to an influx of diverse, interesting, experimental, weird games that enriched the gaming space.

It didn't take very long, however, for the definition of "indie game" to become somewhat muddled.

Talking Point: With Expedition 33 Winning Best Indie Game, What Does 'Indie' Mean to You? 2

One early example of an indie game with publisher support is Hotline Miami, which was developed by Dennaton Games and published by Devolver Digital.

While the game was produced by a core team of just two people, one could argue that its status as an indie game was nullified by Devolver's involvement in the project.

Fast forward to now, and it's much the same argument regarding Expedition 33. Though much of the development was carried out at Sandfall Interactive — a French studio of roughly 30 people — it was published by Kepler Interactive.

Kepler Interactive was initially set up by seven independent studios all pooling their resources together, but in addition to publishing games from their own teams, the company has published several external games under its name, including Pacific Drive, Tchia, and the upcoming Ontos.

Expedition 33's categorisation as an indie game has been the subject of some debate, then, but it's not just about publishing partnerships — it's also about budget.

The game apparently cost less than $10 million to make, which is impressive when you consider the scope of the RPG versus projects from triple-A studios costing at least 10 times that.

However, some argue that a budget of millions is highly unusual for projects deemed indie, with suggestions the game is at the double-A level instead.

From our perspective, the term "indie" has become less and less useful over time. The definition has been growing looser as the space matures; we now have many "indie" publishers, like Devolver, Annapurna Interactive, Finji, and more all backing smaller titles.

In The Game Awards' Best Independent Game category, only two were self-published: Hades 2 and Hollow Knight: Silksong.

It says to us that there's something less cut-and-dry about exactly how an indie game is defined. It's a cultural, spiritual thing as much as anything else, perhaps more so.

Talking Point: With Expedition 33 Winning Best Indie Game, What Does 'Indie' Mean to You? 3

Dave the Diver springs to mind as an example of what we mean.

The game was developed and published by Mintrocket, which is a subsidiary of South Korean company Nexon.

As the game gained traction, it was being labelled an indie title almost entirely due to its presentation. With a pixel art style, fun sense of humour, and imaginative gameplay features, most immediately filed it away as an independent game.

It was even nominated for Best Independent Game at The Game Awards in 2023.

However, Mintrocket's affiliation with Nexon was less commonly known, and the team itself has publicly said it doesn't consider itself or the game indie.

The big indie debate is unlikely to come to a meaningful conclusion anytime soon, as it seems that what defines them is so messy that it's far too complicated to truly untangle.

But we want to know what you think. Should Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 have been eligible for indie game categories at The Game Awards? What does "indie" mean to you, these days? Discuss in the comments section below.

Do you consider Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 to be an indie game?
What's the most important factor that helps you define whether a game is indie?