adminIndie games have grown from a creative niche into a significant part of the games business. Their rise has been gradual: small studios have built audiences in genres and markets that large publishers often overlooked, supported by accessible development tools and digital distribution.
How indie games built a growing market
Industry change does not always arrive with a single blockbuster release or a new technology. Sometimes it comes through years of steady growth, as creators serve audiences that mainstream development has not prioritized. Over the past decade, independent studios have expanded into those spaces and created commercial opportunities of their own.
This shift is now visible in both development tools and sales data. The open-source engine Godot, used by independent creators as well as some larger projects, offers one useful measure of the trend. Its growth does not represent the entire indie market, but it provides insight into the tools behind a growing number of games.
Image credit: Godot Foundation
Godot adoption offers a measure of momentum
According to Clay John, Godot’s lead rendering maintainer, the number of Godot games released on Steam has been roughly doubling year over year. SteamDB tracked 618 such titles in 2023–24, around 1,500 the following year, and nearly 2,900 in 2025–26. Google search interest in Godot has also grown by about 45% annually.
Adoption at game jams—events where developers create games within a limited time—has increased consistently too. Godot’s creators believe the engine could account for 50% of all game-jam entries in the not-too-distant future. For developers choosing a tool, it can be useful to try an engine at a small jam or prototype before committing to a larger project.
Why developers moved from Unity to Godot
Godot’s growth reflects the wider expansion of indie development, but it was also accelerated by Unity’s 2023 attempt to introduce retroactive runtime fees. The proposal caused a strong backlash and prompted some developers to consider alternatives.
Mega Crit, the studio behind Slay the Spire, chose to rebuild its sequel in Godot even though development had already begun in Unity. On launch, Slay the Spire 2 became the 20th biggest launch in Steam history by concurrent players. Its performance challenged doubts about Godot’s ability to support commercially successful games. When selecting an engine, studios should weigh costs and features alongside the predictability of the platform’s policies.
Image credit: Mega Crit
Indie games are filling genres publishers left behind
Godot’s rise is not simply a story of developers replacing Unity. Unity has recovered to some degree, while Godot has built a distinct following among creators working across a wide range of independent projects. These include 2D games, roguelikes, auto-battlers, cosy management sims and horror walking simulators—formats that large-scale publishers may not consider suitable for blockbuster development.
Free or accessible tools such as Godot and Blender, alongside platforms for reaching players, have helped make these projects viable. By 2024, indie games accounted for nearly half of full-game revenue on Steam. That figure does not include the full picture across consoles, mobile games or in-app purchases, but it shows the scale of independent releases on a major PC distribution platform.
Whole genres that the mainstream left for dead have been occupied and revitalised by indie creators.
Isometric role-playing games, city builders, tactical wargames and metroidvanias have all found new life through independent development. Streaming and other online media can help these games connect with dedicated audiences. For players looking for something beyond major releases, following a genre or a community can be a practical way to discover smaller studios.
Why indie success does not always lead to AAA development
Independent hits sometimes attract partnerships with larger companies, but the route from indie studio to mainstream publisher remains less established in games than in film. One example is Evil Empire, the developer of Dead Cells, taking on the Castlevania franchise. Such crossovers are notable partly because they remain uncommon.
Some independent teams may not want the changes that can come with a larger production: longer schedules, bigger teams, corporate oversight and greater pressure to reduce commercial risk. Success on a platform such as Steam, combined with visibility from streamers and influencers, can also make publisher funding less essential.
Studios such as Innersloth, which made Among Us in a matter of months before it became a global phenomenon, and Landfall, known for releasing distinctive games on its own terms, demonstrate how small teams can reach large audiences. Independent creators considering growth can compare potential funding with the costs of longer development timelines and reduced creative control.
Image credit: Konami/Evil Empire
Image credit: Aggro Crab
What the growth of indie games means for the industry
AAA games remain a major business, and large productions attract audiences that independent releases have not matched at the same scale. The growth of indie games is therefore not a replacement for traditional publishing. It is evidence that the industry has a wider range of commercially viable audiences and development models than blockbuster-focused thinking can suggest.
At the top end, major games can require budgets of more than $100 million. Independent creators, by contrast, can use lower-cost tools and accessible distribution to reach players without taking on the same scale of production. These conditions do not guarantee success, but they can lower the barriers to testing an idea and finding an audience.
Indie games have developed their own tools, communities and commercial ecosystem in territory once seen as too small or uncertain. For players, that means more choice; for developers, it means more ways to build a sustainable audience. The industry’s next changes may come not only from its biggest releases, but also from the independent creators steadily expanding the market around them.
