The rise and fall of Chinese independent games

Not dominated by investors, developers are committed to making the games they want, and the games implement personal will and self-expression. I think such games can be called true independent games. —— Liu Mengfei (gamification designer)

On September 15, 2015, the famous game review organization IGN gave an independent game called "UNDERTALE" a perfect score for the first time. This is an extremely inconspicuous work, with neither cool special effects nor exquisite art. The entire game is full of elements from early FC games. However, such a work has received more than 90% positive reviews from media such as Metacritic and PC gamer. Among the nearly 40,000 player reviews on Steam, "UNDERTALE" has an exaggerated positive rate of 97%.

(UNDERTALE by Toby Fox)

The developer of this independent game is a post-90s generation named Toby Fox. He completed this work at a friend's house when he was in college.

"UNDERTALE" is a game with a strong personal attribute. It changes most of the RPG elements that players can think of in the past, and interprets the "justice", "neutrality" and "evil" in the game in a new way. Why can't players have their own choices? Why must players use force to destroy monsters? Why must players be confined to the game client? "UNDERTALE" gives clever answers to these questions.

In June 2013, Toby Fox launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter and received $50,000 in funding. Since the game was released in September 2015, the cumulative sales of the digital version of "UNDERTALE" has exceeded 1 million copies, which has brought Toby Fox at least $7 million in revenue.

However, this is only a small part of the successful independent game works abroad. Whether it is "FEZ", "Super Meat Boy", "Braid", or today's "Plague Inc." and "Monument Valley", they have made foreign independent game developers famous and wealthy.

(Monument Valley developed by ustwo games)

But in China, independent games seem to be going off course. They are no longer like games but more like tools. This is not a joke but a fact.

"Crystal Wars" is a pixel-style game developed by Onipunks. It was launched on Kickstarter for crowdfunding in 2013. It is the first game developed by Chinese and crowdfunded abroad. It successfully raised $95,000 on Kickstarter and won numerous game awards at home and abroad. However, the project eventually remained in the Beta version with only a 20-minute process. From 2012 to 2015, Zhou Lu, the founder of Onipunks, has repeatedly stated that the "Crystal Wars" project is still in progress, but the entire internal development team has long since fallen apart.

"Once'", a very successful crowdfunded GAL game in China, raised more than 170,000 yuan on Modian.com. However, the final result of this work, which was exclusively reported by many domestic media, was not satisfactory. The graphics and art effects advertised during the crowdfunding were greatly reduced. The game can hardly be considered a good work in terms of dubbing and plot. Some netizens even jokingly called it a one-time deal.

Even more exaggerated are the majestic yet illusory works such as "Earth OL" and "Fantasy". On August 14, 2015, Daxiong from Maanshan, Anhui Province, launched his sandbox online game "Earth OL" on Steam Greenlight. This game covers an extremely rich game plot and has a game system that surpasses GTA5. It reached the sixth place on the list in less than 100 hours after its launch. However, such a workshop-style group has been questioned by many people. The registered capital is only 10 million, and the studio has no experience in game development. All this casts a big question mark on the authenticity of "Earth OL".

"Phantom Flame", which uses VR as its selling point, has even reached the height of the universe. At its virtual press conference, it was announced that "Phantom Flame" contains the architecture of the entire solar system. Compared with GTA5, the scale of the map is two orders of magnitude larger, and the extremely free sandbox gameplay is even more exciting.

Are these so-called independent developers really creating games because they love games? Or are they doing it out of necessity to survive? Or are they doing it for some unclear interests?

It's so ridiculous that when they are using independence to write stories and plan to make a masterpiece that will shock the world, Toby Fox, the author of "UNDERTALE", issued a kind reminder: "A truly completed creative small game is better than 10 unfinished large projects."

"Independent game", a term that was very rare a few years ago, has now become a common occurrence in China's chaotic game market.

(Earth Online, now available on Steam Greenlight)

Under the guise of "independent" sentiment, many games have been forcibly labeled as "independent games". When promoting their games, they are afraid that they will not be able to keep up with the "independent" era, so game developers begin to rely frantically on independent games. In order to reduce costs and attract attention, "independence" has become a get-out-of-jail-free card in the game market.

The formation of this environment is precisely due to the emotional attributes of independent games themselves, which makes it impossible for us to objectively quantify independent games.

In a 3A masterpiece, we can measure the production level of the game from multiple aspects such as graphics, plot, system, sound effects, etc., but for works like "UNDERTALE" and "Monument Valley", whether it is a review organization like IGN or the general players, will they measure its quality by the standards of a 3A game? Obviously not.

Independent games wrapped in sentiment are fragile. Players and the media always show a certain degree of tolerance when talking about independent games. They will magnify the highlights of the game and ignore some of the shortcomings. It is not because they cannot see the flaws, but because independent games on the margins need tolerance, protection and support.

The profit-driven people in China have seized upon this point and distorted the spirit of independent games, turning them completely into profit. Before Chinese independent game developers have had a chance to welcome their own spring, the dark side of profit has already arrived.

Many domestic developers with independent creativity were dazzled by the prosperity of crowdfunding platforms and mobile game market when their works were still in their infancy. Their eagerness for quick success and gloomy environment made them accept a lot of investment along the profit chain. With the intervention of investors and profit considerations, the creative works were smoothed out, and commercial "independent games" with the goal of making money were born. Whether in terms of the ideas expressed in the games or in terms of the content and playability of the games, these works can hardly be called truly independent games.

They put on the shell of independent games, but they don’t have the spirit of making independent games at all.

XBLA, Steam, PSN, these mature foreign platforms have been running for many years, while the domestic game consoles have just been lifted. In the absence of localized 3A masterpieces, building an ecological platform for independent games seems a bit out of reach. Even though the App Store provides a good environment for domestic independent game producers and there are many excellent works, the many restrictions and unequal competition pressures still make real independent game producers live in the cracks. CAP Hong Studio, Handsome Dog Studio, Cottongame, even in 2015, there are still very few independent game studios in China with influence and considerable income.

Therefore, some people jumped out of this bad environment, while others still believed that the domestic market could give them a good opportunity, such as Chen Xinghan and Shan Jun...

"Mr. Pumpkin's Adventure", created by Cottongame, won the China Independent Game Best Art Award and received support from Internet companies such as Smartisan Technology and Ledo Games.

"Carp", developed by Tianjin Teammate Games, was recommended on the homepage of Apple App Store in many regions around the world, and entered the top 10 of the paid list two days after its release.

"Journey", created by the famous "game Zen master" Chen Xinghan, promotes peace and love. After landing on the PS platform, "Journey" has topped the PSN sales charts many times and swept major game awards at home and abroad.

In this darkness we can still see the light.

(Chen Xinghan and his "Journey")

Making independent games is lonely. Developers have no professional technical support, no stable source of income, and no foreseeable future. All they have is a low-rent apartment of dozens of square meters, a few computers, and countless boxes of instant noodles. They are unwilling to bow to existing commercial games. Even though they know the road ahead will be difficult, they believe that players can recognize them and their works, and they want to express themselves through making games.

The development of the disruptive 3D game "FEZ" took 5 years, and the development of "Witness" by the famous independent game producer Jonathan Blow took 7 years. (2012 GDC Independent Game Award-winning work "FEZ")

In the documentary "Independent Games: The Movie", Phil Fish, the producer of "FEZ", mentioned collapse and death many times due to personal pressure. Faced with extremely long research and development cycles, long periods of loneliness and being misunderstood, the developers placed their spiritual world in the game, and the worldview and values ​​in independent games that are difficult for ordinary people to understand became their garden.

We are glad that players have begun to respect creativity rather than simply pursuing visual effects, which ensures that small and sophisticated independent game production teams still have the possibility to compete with 3A game giants.

(Phil Fish in Indie Game: The Movie)

However, independent spirit is not meaningless, especially in the current Chinese market where shoddy products and plagiarism are rampant, players are calling for innovative products. I think a more effective way to (partially) realize dreams is that if independent game developers believe that their creativity is indeed unique and valuable, they might as well bravely take the step of commercialization, let their otaku creativity be baptized and tested by the market and capital, and finally protect their cautious dreams with mature and strong business armor. Commercial art with independent spirit will also bring great sense of accomplishment to oneself and contribute to the market. ——Liang Qiwei (Producer of the Rain Blood series)

Independence comes first and then profit, rather than independence above profit. Sales and revenue are things that can prove the value of game developers, but that is not their ultimate goal. I think Liang Qiwei has found the best way out for domestic independent game producers.

Independent games are very broad. They are a unique direction for game development and a source of new game creativity. In the world of independent games, we can experience surprise and joy that traditional games cannot give us. This also forms a special bond between developers and players.

The Internet age has given independent game developers the possibility of making a small fortune, but don’t let profit steal the label of independent games and shatter the Chinese people’s dream of independent games.

In November 2013, Zhou Lu, the producer of Crystal Wars, said at the Taipei Game Developers Forum: "Kickstarter (crowdfunding platform) is simply a paradise for Indie (independent games), like a savior."

They were ecstatic and eventually displaced.

Finally, I would like to recommend the documentary “Independent Games: The Movie” to everyone. Even if you don’t know about independent games, I think you can see the fragility, madness and bravery of human nature from it.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.