List of indie game developers
| Part of a series on the: |
| Video game industry |
|---|
Activities/jobs
|
Development
|
Types
|
Topics
|
Related
|
Lists
|
This is a list of independent video game developers, individuals or teams which produce indie games but are not owned by or receive significant financial backing from a video game publisher. Independent developers, which can be single individuals, small groups, or large organizations, retain operational control over their organizations and processes. Some self-publish their own games while others work with publishers.
List of notable developers
| Active |
| Defunct and no longer active |
| Undetermined status |
There are thousands of independent game development studios which either self-publish their titles, or enter into licensing or co-development agreements with publishers. This list is not intended to be exhaustive with respect to developers or their games, and includes only notable developers and their most notable game examples.
| Developer | City | Autonomous area | Country | Notable games | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3G Studios | Reno | Nevada | United States | Jillian Michaels' Fitness Ultimatum 2009 Rock Band (with Harmonix) | ||
11 bit studios | Warsaw | Poland | Anomaly This War of Mine Frostpunk | |||
ACE Team | Santiago | Santiago | Chile | Zeno Clash Rock of Ages | ||
Akupara Games | Los Angeles | California | United States | Whispering Willows The Metronomicon: Slay the Dance Floor | ||
Alec Holowka | Winnipeg | Manitoba | Canada | Crayon Physics Deluxe I'm O.K – A Murder Simulator Aquaria Night in the Woods | ||
Alientrap | Saskatoon | Saskatchewan | Canada | Capsized Apotheon | ||
Amanita Design[1] | Brno | Czech Republic | Samorost series Machinarium Botanicula | |||
Ambrosia Software | Rochester | New York | United States | Escape Velocity series | ||
Amplitude Studios | Paris | Île-de-France | France | Endless Space Endless Legend Dungeon of the Endless | ||
AmnesiaGames | Santiago de Chile | Chile | ||||
Ankama Games | Roubaix | France | Dofus | Denton Designs | ||
Anna Anthropy | Oakland | California | United States | Dys4ia Mighty Jill Off | ||
Arcane Kids | Los Angeles | California | United States | Bubsy 3D: Bubsy Visits the James Turrell Retrospective Sonic Dreams Collection | ||
Arrowhead Game Studios | Stockholm | Sweden | Magicka Helldivers | |||
Artix Entertainment | Land O' Lakes | Florida | United States | AdventureQuest DragonFable MechQuest AdventureQuest Worlds WarpForce EpicDuel HeroSmash | ||
Aventurine SA | Athens | Greece | Darkfall Online | |||
Babaroga | Chicago | Illinois | United States | Spore Origins Zombies!!! | ||
Basilisk Games | Indianapolis | Indiana | United States | Eschalon series | ||
The Behemoth[1] | San Diego | California | United States | Alien Hominid Castle Crashers BattleBlock Theater Pit People | ||
Benjamin Rivers | Toronto | Ontario | Canada | |||
Big Finish Games | Salt Lake City | Utah | United States | Three Cards to Midnight | ||
Blitz Games Studios | Warwickshire | United Kingdom (England) | Powerup Forever Droplitz Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao | |||
Blue Fang Games | Waltham | Massachusetts | United States | Zoo Tycoon series | ||
Bohemia Interactive Studio | Prague | Czech Republic | Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis ArmA: Armed Assault Take On Mars DayZ | |||
Boomzap Entertainment | Singapore | Singapore | ||||
Bubble Gum Interactive | Sydney | Australia | Little Space Heroes | |||
Capybara Games[1][2] | Toronto | Ontario | Canada | Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP Critter Crunch Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes Super Time Force | ||
Cellar Door Games | Toronto | Ontario | Canada | Rogue Legacy | ||
CBE Software | Brno | Czech Republic | J.U.L.I.A. J.U.L.I.A. Among the Stars | |||
CCP Games | Reykjavík | Iceland | Eve Online | |||
The Chinese Room[2] | Brighton | United Kingdom (England) | Dear Esther Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs | |||
Choice Provisions | Santa Cruz | California | United States | Bit.Trip series | Formerly Gaijin Games | |
Christine Love | Toronto | Ontario | Canada | Digital: A Love Story don't take it personally, babe, it just ain't your story Analogue: A Hate Story | ||
Christopher Howard Wolf | Rocky Point | North Carolina | United States | DragonSpires I'm O.K – A Murder Simulator'' | ||
Chronic Logic | Santa Cruz | California | United States | Bridge Builder Gish | ||
Cinemax | Prague | Czech Republic | Numen: Contest of Heroes Gumboy: Crazy Adventures Inquisitor | |||
ClockStone | Innsbruck | Tyrol | Austria | Avencast: Rise of the Mage | ||
Cloud Imperium Games | Los Angeles | California | United States | Star Citizen | ||
Coffee Stain Studios | Skövde | Sweden | Goat Simulator Sanctum series | |||
Colossal Order (company) | Tampere | Finland | Cities: Skylines | |||
Comcept | Tokyo and Osaka | Japan | Mighty No. 9 | Founded by Keiji Inafune | ||
Compulsion Games | Montreal | Quebec | Canada | Contrast We Happy Few | ||
Craneballs Studio | Ostrava | Czech Republic | Planet Nomads | |||
Croteam | Zagreb | Croatia | Football Glory Serious Sam series The Talos Principle | |||
Crytek Black Sea | Sofia | Bulgaria | Knights of Honor WorldShift | Formerly Black Sea Studios | ||
Curve Digital | London | United Kingdom (England) | Fluidity series Stealth Inc. series | |||
Cypronia | Michalovce | Slovakia | State of War | Formerly Cypron Studios | ||
Daedalic Entertainment | Hamburg | Germany | Edna & Harvey series The Whispered World Deponia series The Dark Eye series The Night of the Rabbit | |||
Datcroft Games | London | England | United Kingdom | Fragoria | ||
Daniel Benmergui[2] | Buenos Aires | Argentina | Today I Die I Wish I Were The Moon | |||
Davilex Games[2] | Houten | Utrecht | Netherlands | A2 Racer | ||
Dejobaan Games[1] | Boston | Massachusetts | United States | AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! – A Reckless Disregard for Gravity The Wonderful End of the World | ||
Dennaton Games | Sweden | Hotline Miami Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number | ||||
Derek Smart | Fort Lauderdale | Florida | United States | Battlecruiser 3000AD Universal Combat | ||
Derek Yu[2] | Pasadena | California | United States | I'm O.K – A Murder Simulator Aquaria Spelunky Eternal Daughter | ||
Digital Eel | Seattle | Washington | United States | Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space Strange Adventures In Infinite Space | ||
Digital Happiness | Bandung | West Java | Indonesia | Dreadout | ||
Double Fine Productions[3] | San Francisco | California | United States | Broken Age Brütal Legend Costume Quest Double Fine Happy Action Theater Psychonauts Stacking Headlander | ||
Dreadlocks Ltd | Prague | Czech Republic | Rune Legend Dex | |||
DrinkBox Studios | Toronto | Ontario | Canada | Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack Guacamelee! Severed | ||
Dr. Panda[4] | Chengdu | China | ||||
Edmund McMillen[2] | Santa Cruz | California | United States | Gish Super Meat Boy Aether Spewer The Binding of Isaac The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth | ||
Elixir Studios | London | England | United Kingdom | Republic: The Revolution Evil Genius | ||
Eurocom | Derby | United Kingdom | Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy Batman Begins Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End Vancouver 2010: The Official Videogame of the Winter Olympic Games GoldenEye 007 | |||
Evony, LLC | Guangzhou | China | Evony: Age I | |||
Facepunch Studios | Walsall | United Kingdom (England) | Garry's Mod Rust | |||
Firefly Studios | London | United Kingdom (England) | Stronghold Stronghold 2 Space Colony Stronghold 3 Dungeon Hero Civ City: Rome Stronghold Kingdoms | |||
Flying Wild Hog | Warsaw | Poland | Hard Reset Shadow Warrior series | |||
Freebird Games | Markham | Ontario | Canada | To the Moon | ||
Frictional Games | Helsingborg | Sweden | Penumbra series Amnesia: The Dark Descent SOMA | |||
Frima | Quebec City | Quebec | Canada | Chariot Zombie Tycoon | ||
Frogwares | Kiev | Ukraine | Journey to the Center of the Earth Sherlock Holmes: Secret of the Silver Earring Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened Dracula: Origin | |||
Frontier Developments | Cambridge | United Kingdom (England) | Frontier: Elite II LostWinds LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias | |||
The Fullbright Company[2] | Portland | Oregon | United States | Gone Home | ||
Games Distillery | Bratislava | Bratislava Region | Slovakia | Aqua | ||
GarageGames | Eugene | Oregon | United States | Marble Blast Ultra | ||
Gogii Games | Moncton | New Brunswick | Canada | |||
Grip Digital | Prague | Czech Republic | Atomic Ninjas The Solus Project | |||
Guild Software | Milwaukee | Wisconsin | United States | Vendetta Online | ||
Haemimont Games | Sofia | Bulgaria | Tropico 3 Tzar: Burden of the Crown | |||
Halfbrick Studios | Brisbane | Queensland | Australia | Fruit Ninja Jetpack Joyride | ||
Hanako Games | United Kingdom | Cute Knight Fatal Hearts | ||||
Hello Games[1] | Guildford | England | United Kingdom | Joe Danger series No Man's Sky | ||
Hexage | Mníšek pod Brdy | Czech Republic | Reaper: Tale of a Pale Swordsman Redcon | |||
Hidden Path Entertainment | Bellevue | Washington | United States | Defense Grid: The Awakening Defense Grid 2 | ||
Himalaya Studios | Chandler | Arizona | United States | Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine | ||
Hoplon Infotainment | Florianópolis | Florianópolis | Brazil | Heavy Metal Machines | Developer and Publisher | |
Ice-Pick Lodge | Moscow | Russia | Pathologic The Void | |||
Image & Form | Gothenburg | Sweden | SteamWorld series | |||
Inti Creates | Ichikawa, Chiba | Japan | Mega Man Zero series Mega Man ZX series Gal Gun series Azure Striker Gunvolt series Blaster Master Zero | Developer/Publisher, formed by ex-Capcom staff | ||
Introversion Software | United Kingdom | Uplink Darwinia DEFCON Subversion (development has stopped temporarily) Multiwinia Prison Architect | ||||
Invictus Games | Debrecen | Hungary | Project Torque | |||
Jagex | Cambridge | England | United Kingdom | RuneScape Ace of Spades | ||
Jason Rohrer[1] | Potsdam | New York | United States | Passage Gravitation Between | ||
Jonas Kyratzes | Wiesbaden | Germany | The Museum of Broken Memories | |||
Jonatan "Cactus" Söderström[1] | Gothenburg | Sweden | Clean Asia! | |||
Jph Wacheski | Ottawa | Ontario | Canada | |||
KatGames | Zaragoza | Spain | Mortimer and the Enchanted Castle Zulu Gems | |||
Keen Software House | Prague | Czech Republic | Miner Wars 2081 Space Engineers | |||
Klei Entertainment[1] | Vancouver | British Columbia | Canada | Eets Shank Shank 2 Mark of the Ninja Don't Starve Invisible, Inc. | ||
Kloonigames[1] | Finland | Crayon Physics Deluxe | ||||
Kunos Simulazioni | Vallelunga Circuit | Latium | Italy | Assetto Corsa Ferrari Virtual Academy netKar Pro | ||
Kiro'o Games | Yaounde | Cameroon | Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan | |||
Laminar Research | Columbia | South Carolina | United States | X-Plane | ||
Larian Studios | Ghent | Belgium | Divinity: Original Sin Divinity: Original Sin II | |||
Lazy 8 Studios | San Francisco | California | United States | Cogs BioShock Infinite: Industrial Revolution | ||
Lindsay Grace | Washington, DC | District of Columbia | United States | Big Huggin' | ||
Little Green Men Games | Zagreb | Croatia | Starpoint Gemini Starpoint Gemini 2 | |||
Llamasoft | United Kingdom | Polybius (2017 video game) Space Giraffe Gridrunner Revolution | ||||
Madfinger Games | Brno | Czech Republic | Shadowgun Dead Trigger | |||
Mateusz Skutnik | Gdańsk | Poland | Submachine | |||
Metanet Software[1] | Toronto | Ontario | Canada | N N+ Robotology | ||
Messhof | Los Angeles | California | United States | Nidhogg | ||
MidBoss | San Francisco | California | United States | Read Only Memories | ||
Mighty Rabbit Studios | Cary | North Carolina | United States | Saturday Morning RPG Breach & Clear Breach & Clear: Deadline | ||
Mojang | Stockholm | Sweden | Minecraft Cobalt Scrolls | |||
Molleindustria | Turin | Italy | Faith Fighter Phone Story | |||
Moon Studios | Vienna | Austria (with developers spread all over the world) | Ori and the Blind Forest | |||
NeocoreGames | Budapest | Hungary | The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing | |||
New Star Games | United Kingdom | New Star Soccer | ||||
Nicalis | Santa Ana | California | United States | NightSky Cave Story VVVVVV 1001 Spikes The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth | ||
Nifflas | Umeå | Sweden | Knytt Knytt Stories Within a Deep Forest | |||
Nival Interactive | Moscow | Russia | Blitzkrieg Silent Storm | |||
Number None | California | United States | Braid The Witness | |||
The Odd Gentlemen[1] | California | United States | The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom | |||
Owlchemy Labs | Boston | Massachusetts | United States | Snuggle Truck AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! | ||
Parallax Studio | Nixa | Missouri | United States | Darkstar: The Interactive Movie | ||
PixelJAM Games | United States | Dino Run | ||||
Playdead[1] | Copenhagen | Denmark | Limbo Inside | |||
Polytron Corporation[1] | Montreal | Canada | Fez | |||
Puppy Games | Notting Hill | United Kingdom (England) | Revenge of the Titans Droid Assault | |||
Positech Games | United Kingdom | Democracy Gratuitous Space Battles | ||||
Private Moon Studios | Hungary | AGON series Yoomurjak's Ring | ||||
Provox Games | Zagreb | Croatia | Space Force: Rogue Universe | |||
Psyonix Studios | San Diego | California | United States | Rocket League Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars ARC Squadron | ||
Punch Entertainment | Palo Alto | California | United States | |||
Q-Games | Kyoto | Japan | Star Fox Command PixelJunk series | |||
Rake In Grass | Prague | Czech Republic | Jets 'n' Guns Larva Mortus | |||
Red Thread Games | Oslo | Norway | Dreamfall Chapters | |||
Renegade Kid | Austin | Texas | United States | Mutant Mudds | ||
Daniel Remar | Sweden | Iji | ||||
Relentless Software | Brighton | United Kingdom | Buzz! Blue Toad Murder Files | |||
Renegade Kid | Austin | Texas | United States | Dementium: The Ward Moon Dementium II | ||
Roll7 | London | United Kingdom (England) | OlliOlli OlliOlli2: Welcome to Olliwood Not a Hero | |||
Ronimo Games[1] | Utrecht | Netherlands | de Blob Swords & Soldiers Awesomenauts | |||
Rovio Entertainment | Espoo | Finland | Angry Birds | |||
S2 Games | Rohnert Park | California | United States | Savage: The Battle for Newerth Savage 2: A Tortured Soul Heroes of Newerth | ||
Saber Interactive | Millburn | New Jersey | United States | Will Rock TimeShift | ||
Sandlot Games | Bothell | Washington | United States | Cake Mania | ||
Santa Cruz Games | Santa Cruz | California | United States | Tomb Raider: Underworld Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash | ||
Schell Games | Pittsburgh | Pennsylvania | United States | I Expect You To Die | Developer and Publisher | |
Scott Cawthon | Salado | Texas | United States | Five Nights at Freddy's series | ||
Semi Secret Software[1] | Austin | Texas | United States | Canabalt | ||
Sidhe | Wellington | New Zealand | GripShift Shatter Rugby Challenge series Rugby League series (2003-2010) | |||
Silver Creek Entertainment | Grants Pass | Oregon | United States | Soltrio Solitaire | ||
Ska Studios | Marcy | New York | United States | Survival Crisis Z The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES 1NIT!!!1 The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile Charlie Murder Salt and Sanctuary | ||
Skygoblin | Gothenburg | Sweden | The Journey Down | |||
Soldak Entertainment | Dallas | Texas | United States | Depths of Peril Kivi's Underworld Din's Curse | ||
Spiderweb Software | Seattle | Washington | United States | Exile series Avernum series Geneforge series Nethergate | ||
Splash Damage | London | United Kingdom (England) | Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory Enemy Territory: Quake Wars | |||
Squad | Mexico City | Mexico | Kerbal Space Program | |||
Stardock | Plymouth | Michigan | United States | Galactic Civilizations series Elemental series The Political Machine series | ||
Storm Impact | Glenview | Illinois | United States | TaskMaker | ||
Studio Pixel | Japan | Cave Story Ikachan Kero Blaster | ||||
Subatomic Studios | Boston | Massachusetts | United States | Fieldrunners | ||
Supergiant Games | San Jose | California | United States | Bastion Transistor Pyre | ||
SuperVillain Studios | Santa Ana | California | United States | Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony Order Up! | ||
Tarsier Studios | Malmö | Sweden | Little Nightmares | |||
Tale of Tales | Ghent | Belgium | The Endless Forest The Graveyard The Path | |||
TaleWorlds | Ankara | Turkey | Mount&Blade Mount&Blade: Warband Mount&Blade: With Fire & Sword | |||
Team Shanghai Alice | Ebina | Kanagawa | Japan | Touhou Project | ||
Telltale Games | San Rafael | California | United States | Sam & Max episodic series The Walking Dead series Minecraft: Story Mode | ||
Terry Cavanagh | London | United Kingdom (England) | VVVVV Super Hexagon | |||
thatgamecompany[1] | Los Angeles | California | United States | flOw Cloud Flower Journey | ||
Three Rings Design | San Francisco | California | United States | Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates Bang! Howdy Whirled | ||
Tiger Style[2] | Austin | Texas | United States | Waking Mars Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor Spider: Rite of the Shrouded Moon | ||
tinyBuild | Bothell | Washington | United States | No Time to Explain | Since 2016 only active as a publisher | |
Terri Vellmann | Brazil | Heavy Bullets | ||||
Toby Fox | Boston | Massachusetts | United States | Undertale Deltarune | ||
Torpex Games | Bellevue | Washington | United States | Schizoid | ||
Tomorrow Corporation | United States | Little Inferno World of Goo | ||||
Trendy Entertainment | Gainesville | Florida | United States | Dungeon Defenders | ||
Tribute Games | Montreal | Quebec | Canada | Wizorb Mercenary Kings Curses 'N Chaos | ||
Trickster Arts | Brno | Czech Republic | Hero of Many Hackers | |||
Twisted Pixel[1] | Austin | Texas | United States | The Maw 'Splosion Man Ms. Splosion Man | ||
Uber Entertainment | Kirkland | Washington | United States | Planetary Annihilation Monday Night Combat Super Monday Night Combat | ||
Vectorpark | Brooklyn | New York | United States | Windosill Metamorphabet | ||
Vlambeer[2] | Utrecht | Netherlands | Super Crate Box Serious Sam: The Random Encounter Luftrausers Nuclear Throne | |||
VoxelStorm | Manchester | United Kingdom | GolfXTRM Fractyr AdvertCity | |||
Wadjet Eye Games | New York City | New York | United States | The Shivah Blackwell series Gemini Rue Shardlight | ||
WayForward Technologies, Inc. | Valencia | California | United States | Shantae series Contra 4 A Boy and His Blob Mighty Switch Force series Double Dragon Neon DuckTales Remastered | ||
Wolfire Games | Berkeley | California | United States | Black Shades Lugaru: The Rabbit's Foot Overgrowth | ||
Xona Games[5] | Yarmouth | Nova Scotia | Canada | Score Rush | ||
XMG Studio | Toronto | Ontario | Canada | |||
Yacht Club Games | Valencia, California | California | United States | Shovel Knight | Founded by former Wayforward director Sean Velasco | |
Young Horses | Chicago | Illinois | United States | Octodad Octodad: Dadliest Catch | ||
Zachary Barth | Seattle | Washington | United States | Infiniminer SpaceChem | ||
Zoë Quinn | Boston | Massachusetts | United States | Depression Quest | ||
Zoetrope Interactive | Istanbul | Turkey | Darkness Within Darkness Within: The Dark Lineage | |||
Zoink | Gothenburg | Sweden | PlayStation All-Stars Island The Kore Gang | |||
Zoonami | Cambridge | England | United Kingdom | Zendoku Bonsai Barber | ||
ZootFly | Ljubljana | Slovenia | First Battalion |
See also
- Indie game
- Fangame
- Dojin soft
- Casual game
- List of video game developers
References
^ abcdefghijklmnopq Webster, Andrew (June 23, 2012). "26 indie game developers you need to follow". GamesRadar. Future plc. Retrieved August 8, 2013..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ abcdefghi Campbell, Colin (December 18, 2012). "12 Top Indie Developers Talk Games". IGN. j2 Global. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
^ Ligman, Kris (June 13, 2013). "Double Fine receives Indie Fund backing for two new titles". Gamasutra. UBM Tech. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
^ "TribePlay Rebrands as Dr. Panda in Honor of Children's Game Franchise". adweek.com.
^ Charla, Chris (February 27, 2014). "New Developers Sign On to ID@Xbox". Xbox Wire. Microsoft. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
External links
Indie DB, a comprehensive database of indie developers and titles.