The video game industry has always been a microcosm of the larger tech universe.
And while it has seen ups and downs over the years, it has been a wild ride recently.
Massive technology companies like Microsoft, and Ubisoft have issued multiple layoffs with companies claiming restructuring, moving to live-service only, or changing priorities thanks to an uncertain economy. It has undoubtedly been a disruptive and unsettling time for affected employees. Nevertheless, in this chaos has emerged an unexpected possibility. The independent studio. Typically formed by former employees of these organizations and which are thriving.
This paradox isn’t exclusive to gaming. It has long been the case throughout tech history that moments of contraction at the higher level offer opportunities for smaller, more nimble companies to flourish. In the gaming industry, this has led to the rise of indie studios. Many of the most innovative titles in the industry over the last ten years did not come from billion-dollar publishers but rather industrious teams willing to take big risks, the timing of which has given rise to a new generation of studios set on influencing the shape of the future of the medium.
Why Indies Are Succeeding Where Corporations Struggle
For a long time, large game companies struggled to balance creativity and profitability. The bigger a company becomes, it can quickly become trapped by internal processes and always look for something safe and repeatable. However, smaller studios are not subject to the same level of bureaucracy. With less overhead in terms of staff and costs, and in the design stage, indie developers have been willing to take more risks. 
Platforms such as Steam, and the Nintendo eShop have connected studios with unaffordable access to a truly world-wide audience. A small studio can release a game that is instantly accessible to millions of potential players, without spending extra on marketing requirements in established distribution routes. Digital word of mouth, arguably made even easier through Twitch streams and YouTube videos, can create a unique popularity story out of a quirky or obscure title in virtually no time at all.
One of the reasons this boom is happening now is that players are becoming hungrier for originality. Many gamers feel burnt out by an endless annual cycle of huge franchises and want something new. Indies often offer experiences that challenge players in ways of storytelling, mechanics, or artistic vision that feel personal or handmade. That is why games like Hades would have never been greenlit by a large publisher, but became cultural touchstones because they were like nothing else.
The Business of Creativity in a Risk-Averse World
The indie boom also shows the way in which digital economies reward smaller, but deeply engaged communities. An indie studio doesn’t need ten million players to be sustainable. Being supported by a grass-roots community of a couple hundred thousand that buys at launch, shares the game online, and supports downloadable content is enough to keep a team going for years. Crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter have thereby changed the landscape with the capacity for developers to raise money directly from fans before the game launches.
This model can be seen in many other digital spaces. For instance, think of how online casinos have catered to consumers in a very similar manner to smaller indie studios. A popular platform like vegas casino online competes by offering a large array of games, a community and specific in-casino rewards. The same principle applies in gaming: success today is less about appealing to everyone and more about deeply engaging the right audience.
The trajectory we are on means, in the next 10 years, we will most likely inhabit a hybrid ecosystem, one that allows for large indie and corporate publishers to exist together, although potentially in contrasting contexts. Corporate publishers will still produce massive high-budget blockbusters that require a ton of time and money. However, indie studios will still be the true harbingers of innovation, seeking to explore areas where larger companies fear to tread, as so often is the case.
What the wave of layoffs precipitates may ultimately become a moment in gaming history. At face value the layoffs signify a painful period for many workers; however, we also should take it as a sign of endurance and the creative energy through turbulence and disruption in the industry. The indie boom is not merely a trend by default of circumstance, but by a significant reminder we have collectively learned that gaming is, first and foremost, about imagination and not budgets.