Eight of the top 10 best-selling games on Steam in 2024 will be indie games from small developers
Forget the AAAs, innovative indie developers were the real stars of Summer Game Fest | Games | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/games/article/2024/jun/12/pushing-buttons-best-of-summer-game-fest
The Best Games at Summer Game Fest 2024 - Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2024-06-14/the-best-games-at-summer-game-fest-2024
Summer Game Fest Shows That The Future Of Gaming Is Indie
https://www.thegamer.com/summer-game-fest-showed-that-the-future-of-gaming-is-indie/
Jeff Keighley, a presenter at Summer Game Fest, announced the top 10 games that sold the most on Steam in the six months from January to May 2024.
The top 10 best-selling games (by number of units sold) on Steam in the first half of 2024 are as follows.
・Palworld
・HELLDIVERS 2
・Enshrouded ~Kingdom of Mist~
・MANOR LORD
・Supermarket Simulator
Hades II
・Dragon's Dogma 2
・Balatro
Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor
・Buckshot Roulette
In his announcement, Kesley said, 'Eight of the top 10 were indie games,' pointing out that indie games by small developers made more advances than AAA titles by major game developers in 2024. Kesley said that eight out of 10 games were indie games, and Dragon's Dogma 2 is a Capcom title, so it is clear that it is not an indie game, but it is unclear which title he refers to as the other 'non-indie title.'
Overseas media The Guardian points out that '8 out of 10 of the best-selling Steam games in 2024 are indie games or indie-like games,' responding to the claim that 8 are indie games. Game media TheGamer also points out that 'we don't know which of Sony's (HELLDIVERS 2, published by PlayStation), Capcom's (Dragon's Dogma 2, developed and published by Capcom), and Pocket Pair's (Pal World, developed and published by Pocket Pair) games were considered titles by small developers, but Pal World was probably considered an indie game because it was not worth Sony and Capcom's development costs.'
Pocket Pair's Pal World, which is probably considered an indie game, was criticized for its monster designs being ripped off from Pokemon , but it continued to attract users immediately after its release, selling over 4 million copies in the three days after its release and reaching a total player count of over 19 million in the two weeks after its release, making it a huge hit.
The total number of players of 'Palworld' has exceeded 19 million, and it has become the biggest third-party hit with over 7 million players on Xbox Game Pass - GIGAZINE
The Guardian said, 'Due to recent job cuts in the gaming industry, it was hard not to feel depressed before the Summer Game Fest. I even felt that the heyday of the gaming industry had passed.' However, looking at the lineup of Steam's best-selling games in the first half of 2024 announced at the Summer Game Fest, it was possible to realize the recent advances of indie games. Furthermore, The Guardian said, 'Major game makers are in a slump. They have bloated budgets, a string of failures, and a boring approach, with either 'long-running franchise-related titles' or 'titles designed to rip money from players for years.'' He criticized major game makers.
While TheGamer welcomes the rise of indie games, it points out that the development of AAA titles is becoming increasingly unsustainable. Many AAA titles have expanded budgets and postponed release schedules, making their release a gamble for the company. If such titles do not sell well, game studios will close and thousands of game developers will lose their jobs. In addition, some AAA titles take more than ten years to develop, so TheGamer is also paying attention to the coexistence of AAA titles and indie games, as indie games fill the gap until such big titles are released.
You can watch the entire Summer Game Fest presentation below.
Summer Game Fest 2024 Full Presentation - YouTube
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