Ten years ago, I confess, I didn’t know what i was indie video games.
Now I can tell you that in the top 3 of my favorite video games of all time there are two independent titles: Gone Home and To The Moon.
And this is a sign.
Not only of my personal and professional growth, but above all of the evolution of the indie scene.
In fact, in the last decade we have seen independent developers struggle to leave Serie B video games and show the world that beautiful games, those that leave their mark, are not the prerogative of large studios and large publishers.
Behind a great digital work there are first of all passion and determination. The rest comes later. Which obviously does not mean that funds, knowledge, skills and human resources are not needed. But first you need the desire to do something, the ability not to give up and the right creative vision. All elements that I found at the preview of Join the Indie 2022.
Join the Indie 2022: what is it?
Join the Indie is a format created by Videogames Party Srl with the aim of tell the Italian indie scene to video game enthusiasts.
The event, which ends today, 11 June, gave space to some of the most important Italian studios, namely AnotheReality, Cordens Interactive, Jyamma Games, MoonWolf, Nacon Studios, ReplyGameStudio, Smallthingstudios, Stormind Games, Trinity Team, 34bigthings.
To support the event, now in its fourth edition, was once again Intel. The multinational, known for the production of semiconductor devices, microprocessors, network components, motherboard chipsets, video card chips and many other integrated circuits, has long been alongside developers. In fact, developers from all over the world can sign up for the Game Dev Program, thus being able to access a series of resources that can help developers create immersive and engaging experiences.
An exciting future
I want you to take a dip in the past.
Close your eyes and try to remember your first one Milan Games Week.
Mine was that of 2012. And, thinking about it, at the time it still wasn’t called “Milan Games Week”.
Before that moment I had never been to a video game fair, so I looked around and I found everything incredible: the stands, the people, the cosplayers, the vibrant atmosphere, the desire to play and share that burning passion that animated everyone. visitors.
I try to make an effort of memory but no, I’m pretty sure that in 2012 there was no area dedicated to Italian indie developers.
That came at least a couple of years later.
And at first it was greeted with some skepticism.
In short, Italians are famous for art, food, cars, design… but video games? Mh… those looked like someone else’s territory. And that someone else tended to be American and Japanese.
Yet, a year later, Milan Games Week after Milan Games Week, the developers of the Bel Paese have grown, in number and in products distributed on the market. At the same time, the public has also changed and has begun to see the potential of the emerging indie scene, both local and foreign. Why, let’s face it, independent developers have the courage and the desire to dare, to experiment, to take risks. All elements that we struggle to find in the great software houses.
This attitude, this desire to jump into it, has rewarded them.
Indie video games are no longer the Serie B of this sector. They are no longer relegated to a corner, hidden under the carpet, ambushed in some sub-category of the various digital stores. In 2022, independent titles are appreciated, loved and awarded.
And this is the beginning. The future looks even brighter.
Join the Indie 2022: the present of the Italian indie scene
But before looking with confidence at what will happen in the next few years, it is good to find out what is happening in the here and now.
In short, what are the Italian studios and video games that are driving this revolution? What are the potential of independent titles showing to the world? Who hold the flag high to show that yes, Italy can also be the home of the video game?
To open the dance, during the preview of Join the Indiewas Matteo Favarelli, COO and Founder of AnotheReality. This study, which began with Yon Paradox in 2016, focuses on the production of content that exploits new technologies: virtual reality, augmented reality and the new – and still little understood – extended reality. Their latest effort is called Tennis League VR and yes, that’s exactly what you expect: a tennis game for VR headsets. Or rather, for now only for Oculus.
The title, in Early Access su Sidequest, will arrive in the fall and has been developed with a triple goal:
- provide a fun and exciting game for both newbies and tennis enthusiasts;
- include an entire section for learning the fundamentals;
- allow remote meetings thanks to the integration of a multiplayer component.
I don’t know about you but I can’t wait to try it out.
Cordens Interactive he showed his instead Vesper, which landed on Steam last year and on Nintendo Switch this April. A visionary adventure starring Seven, a small android who finds himself abandoned in a world full of traps and mysteries.
“What we wanted to say with Vesper is that in the end there is always a choice – he said Tommaso Loiacono, Co-Founder and Game Director – Even when there seems to be no hope, there is always a chance to change things for the better. “
If you haven’t played Vesper yet, it’s time to get it back.
The project of Jyamma Games. We are talking about Project Galileoa soulslike about which we know very little for now.
“We decided to do something that would recall the Italian spirit because in reality Italian folklore and culture have never been adequately represented abroad”, he explained Giacomo Greco, CEO of the software house, without unbuttoning too much but anticipating that a new trailer with in-game images will be released on July 5. What to say? We can’t wait to understand more of this Project Galileo.
There is also room for card games with Temperia: Soul of Majestic. Don’t imagine it as a classic card game though, because Moonwolf Entertainment took a slightly different approach. It is played face-up, with a 3 × 3 grid to fill and two decks, one consisting of 20 Creatures and one of 20 pieces of equipment. But that is not all. The developers have designed the game to ensure that matches last a maximum of 9 minutes. In short, the clashes will be quick and also suitable for mobile. But before seeing it land on smartphones and tablets we will have to wait a few months. But soon you will finally be able to buy it on PC.
More information park instead Fabio RespighiHead of Design del neo-nato Nacon Studio Milan. This is the first software house of the French group Nacon, a software house that unites Lunar Great Wall Studios, author of Another Sight, e RaceWard Studio, rresponsible for RiMS Racing.
What are they working on today? Fabio just anticipates that it is an adventure based on a famous IP, a videogame work that will lead the studio to further expand, occupying all the 900 square meters of the office that they have just inaugurated in Milan, in Piazza San Babila.
Reply Game Studios – formerly Forge Reply – instead took the opportunity to speak Soulstice, coming this year to PC and console. This action RPG, which is inspired by Berserk and Claymore, will have as protagonists two sisters, committed to countering the “Ghosts”.
Vi ricordate Remothered, la saga survival horror? Beh, Stormind Games, the software house that gave life to this series, has decided to completely change the genre. And so it was born Batora: Lost Heaven, an action RPG extremely focused on the narrative component and designed to accompany us on four different planets, characterized by a single element (earth, air, water and fire).
“The strong point of Batora is the dualism, or at least the balance – he explains Giacomo Masi, Stormind Games Narrative Director – because we always have number two. Either one choice or another. And this also in the gameplay, with two completely different fighting styles. And then different choices, different endings, the possibility of doing quests in a different way. “
The game will arrive in the fall, published by team17.
There was also a preview of Join the Indie Marco Massaruttoco-founder of Kunos Simulations. Yes, those of Assetto Corsa.
We know, AC looks anything but indie. Instead, about 15 people gave life to this game. Now the studio has grown and Kunos is hard at work Assetto Corsa 2, that this time it will use a proprietary graphics engine instead of Unreal Eninge. The target? Rely on a platform that allows the game to evolve over time, without the stakes and constraints imposed by the Unreal Engine.
From cars to bedtime stories. Almost. Yes why The Darkest Tales, the last effort of Trinity Teams, aim for an unusual mix, with cute and cuddly elements – starting with the bear protagonist of this adventure – and wait much more …