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Indie Development News

The latest Indie Development coverage curated for game developers.

Heart Machine faces possible closure after publishing deal falls through; majority of staff laid off

GamesIndustry.biz reports Heart Machine is at risk of closure after a publishing deal collapsed, forcing the Hyper Light Drifter studio to lay off nearly all staff. Studio head Alx Preston …

News GamesIndustry.biz · 4 days, 2 hours ago
53 EASY 3D art styles for game devs

Tim Ruswick has put together 53 approachable 3D art styles aimed at teams that need a readable look without a huge production burden. The lineup ranges from low poly and …

Video Tim Ruswick · 5 days, 21 hours ago
Bohemia Interactive acquires minority stake in Everwind developer Enjoy Studio

Bohemia Interactive has taken a minority stake in Enjoy Studio, the team behind Everwind. The move deepens a relationship that should give the studio more room to build while keeping …

News Game Developer · 5 days, 22 hours ago
Moss developer Polyarc has shut down

Polyarc, the Seattle VR studio behind Moss, has shut down after more than a decade in business. The closure ends one of the better-known teams focused on premium VR game …

News Game Developer · 6 days, 22 hours ago
'Ship a good game, learn from it, and build from there:' Lessons from going indie after a decade at id Software

After a decade at id Software, art director Tony Garza and developer Richard O'Neal are building Turnkey Games with a simple rule: ship a good game, learn from it, and …

News Game Developer · 1 week, 3 days ago
"We've got a great team, money in the bank, and financial independence": Glowmade comes out swinging after Amazon pulled the plug on King of Meat

GamesIndustry.biz says Glowmade is in a stronger spot after Amazon ended King of Meat: the studio still has cash, owns its IP, and is already building Rogue Fortune. For developers, …

News GamesIndustry.biz · 2 weeks, 3 days ago
IGDA Incubation SIG to unveil first global census of game incubators and accelerators at Gamescom

GamesIndustry.biz reports that the IGDA Incubation SIG will unveil the first global census of game incubators and accelerators at Gamescom 2026. The survey covers 84 leaders worldwide and should help …

News GamesIndustry.biz · 3 weeks, 4 days ago
Human: Fall Flat veterans launch new UK studio Pretty Cool Games

Human: Fall Flat veterans have formed Pretty Cool Games, a new UK studio already backed with financing for its first project. The team is hiring now, signaling an early push …

News Game Developer · 1 month ago
How Planet of Lana became a hit through dogged determination after being rejected "hundreds" of times

Planet of Lana took six years, hundreds of rejections, and years of unpaid work before it found a publisher and launched to strong reviews. Wishfully Studios started with a weak …

News GamesIndustry.biz · 1 month, 1 week ago
Playing GMTK Game Jam 2026 Games!

GMTK Game Jam 2026 is now in motion, with the community once again building games around a shared design constraint. The event’s real value for developers is the sheer volume …

Video Game Maker's Toolkit · 1 month, 1 week ago
A Microsoft Flight Simulator Cinderella Story: Building the A220 Airliner

Synaptic Simulations has shipped its first commercial add-on, the A220 Airliner, for Microsoft Flight Simulator Marketplace at $64.99. The eight-person team, formed from a freeware community project, spent years rebuilding …

Official XBox Wire · 1 month, 3 weeks ago
"I learnt a tonne about enamel pin manufacturing" – Brigador developer Stellar Jockeys on the secrets of selling video game merchandise

Stellar Jockeys has turned Brigador merch into a real revenue line, but only after learning the hard way that physical goods are a different business from games. The studio says …

News GamesIndustry.biz · 1 month, 3 weeks ago
"Across the industry, we don't think enough about how we match the scope to what we're making" – Mike Bithell on why the world needs an im-slim

Mike Bithell has cut Bithell Games down to three people after 11 redundancies, and is pivoting to a smaller, self-funded experiment: Vampirium 1997. The top-down “im-slim” aims to capture immersive …

News GamesIndustry.biz · 1 month, 3 weeks ago
'I have been hunted down by HR reps, lawyers, and comms people:' Developers discuss the pain and prevalence of side work clauses

Side-work clauses are drawing fresh scrutiny as developers say they can chill creativity far beyond the day job. Workers describe HR, legal, and comms pressure over everything from indie prototypes …

News Game Developer · 1 month, 3 weeks ago
After half a decade of job losses, there is no "business as usual" | Opinion

Half a decade of layoffs has left games development with a talent drain that won’t snap back to “normal” when hiring improves. Contractors have been hit especially hard, and the …

News GamesIndustry.biz · 1 month, 3 weeks ago
Vermila Studios lays off its staff, studio closure a 'feasible possibility' in coming months

Vermila Studios has laid off its staff, and studio closure is now being treated as a real possibility in the coming months. CEO David Carrasco says the team will try …

News Game Developer · 1 month, 4 weeks ago
32 workers at ZA/UM laid off following release of Zero Parades: For Dead Spies

ZA/UM has cut 32 staff across all departments after the commercial performance of Zero Parades: For Dead Spies failed to support its current headcount. The studio says its artistic goals …

News GamesIndustry.biz · 2 months ago
The GMTK Game Jam 2026 Theme is...

GMTK Game Jam 2026 now has its theme locked in, giving teams a concrete creative constraint to build around. For developers planning a jam entry, that means the design space …

Video Game Maker's Toolkit · 2 months, 1 week ago
Mistake: Chasing trends in game development - Part 2

Chasing whatever is hot in games can drain teams fast, especially when the target keeps moving. The practical cost is wasted time, scattered design, and morale burn as projects pivot …

Video Tim Ruswick · 2 months, 1 week ago
Supercell starts developer grants program for African studios

Supercell has launched an equity-free grant program for African game studios, with awards ranging from $20,000 to $200,000. For smaller teams, that kind of capital can buy runway, prototype time, …

News Game Developer · 2 months, 1 week ago
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