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Indie essentials discuss how to survive during the "appocalypse"

Facing the end of times head on

Indie essentials discuss how to survive during the "appocalypse"

The first panel of the Indie Appocalypse, led by Unity evangelist Oscar Clark, discussed the indie community, whether it can survive, and whether its survival is actually necessary.

The panel consisted of:

"Move to Canada," says King on how to get started, thanks to numerous government funds and tax reliefs for the industry.

Taking a slightly more practical approach, Iwaniszak recommends taking on outsourced work, not only because of the revenue stream but also the value of the exprience gained by working on various games across multiple platforms.

On the topic of creative freedoms, Kilduff-Taylor said that if you stop seeing business and creative parts of the business as opposing forces, "you'll have a lot easier time" making games.

"A game without passion won't be a success," added Costa, who also said that you need to maintain some kind of process to make sure the quality of the game is as high as possible while reaching your creative desires.

Referring to indie design in general, Tähtinen pointed out that indie doesn't have to be a mindset that creates truly wild creations, because it's still important that people play the games and enjoy them.

The floor then opened to a panel of "indie heroes" to ask questions, made up of:

Holmwood asked what advice the panel would give to parents asking what their children need to do to make games, to which King replied "don't help them."

"If they make a game and you don't help them, then they keep making games, then they definitely want to make games."

Borget asked the panel about the "right" routes to get into the games industry, which the panel generally agreed was different for anyone, and that while a good education can be useful, it isn't entirely essential for someone looking to make games.

Finally, Galaxy asked about striking a balance between making your own game and taking on outsourced work.

Tähtinen said that you need to keep everything "plain, damn simple" and make sure everything is transparent between yourself and the developer, and make sure you don't overlap resources between outsourced work and your own IP.


Editor

Ric is the Editor of PocketGamer.biz, having started out as a Staff Writer on the site back in 2015. He received an honourable mention in both the MCV and Develop 30 Under 30 lists in 2016 and refuses to let anyone forget about it.