List of indie game developers

This is a list of developers of indie games, which includes video game developers who are not owned by nor do they 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

Legend
Active
Defunct or no longer active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
17-Bit Kyoto Japan Founded as Haunted Temple Studios in 2009
ACE Team Santiago Santiago Chile
Akupara Games Los Angeles California United States Includes developer and porting credited titles
Alec Holowka Winnipeg Manitoba Canada
Alientrap Saskatoon Saskatchewan Canada
Amanita Design[1] Brno Czech Republic
Ambrosia Software Rochester New York United States Escape Velocity series
AmnesiaGames Santiago de Chile Chile
Ankama Games Roubaix France Dofus Denton Designs
Anna Anthropy Oakland California United States
Arcane Kids Los Angeles California United States
Arcen Games Durham North Carolina United States
Arrowhead Game Studios Stockholm Sweden
Artix Entertainment Land o' Lakes Florida United States
Atelier 801 Lille Hauts-de-France France Transformice
Aventurine SA Athens Greece Darkfall Online
Babaroga Chicago Illinois United States
Basilisk Games Indianapolis Indiana United States Eschalon series
Bennett Foddy New York United States
The Behemoth[1] San Diego California United States
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)
Blue Fang Games Waltham Massachusetts United States Zoo Tycoon series
Bohemia Interactive Studio Prague Czech Republic
Boomzap Entertainment Singapore Singapore
Capybara Games[1][2] Toronto Ontario Canada
CBE Software Brno Czech Republic
CCP Games Reykjavík Iceland Eve Online
Choice Provisions Santa Cruz California United States Bit.Trip series Formerly Gaijin Games
Christine Love Toronto Ontario Canada
Chromatic Games Gainesville Florida United States Dungeon Defenders
Christopher Howard Wolf Rocky Point North Carolina United States
Cinemax Prague Czech Republic
Comcept Tokyo and Osaka Japan Mighty No. 9 Founded by Keiji Inafune
Compulsion Games Montreal Quebec Canada
ConcernedApe Seattle United States Stardew Valley, Haunted Chocolatier Developer and publisher
Craneballs Studio Ostrava Czech Republic Planet Nomads
Croteam Zagreb Croatia
Crytek Black Sea Sofia Bulgaria Formerly Black Sea Studios
Curve Games London England United Kingdom
Cypronia Michalovce Slovakia State of War Formerly Cypron Studios
Daedalic Entertainment Hamburg Germany
Daisuke Amaya Japan
Datcroft Games London England United Kingdom Fragoria
Daniel Benmergui[2] Buenos Aires Argentina
Daniel Remar Sweden Iji
Davilex Games[2] Houten Utrecht Netherlands A2 Racer
Dejobaan Games[1] Boston Massachusetts United States
Denis Galanin Russia
Dennaton Games Sweden
Derek Smart Fort Lauderdale Florida United States
Derek Yu[2] Pasadena California United States
Digital Eel Seattle Washington United States
Digital Happiness Bandung West Java Indonesia Dreadout
Dreadlocks Ltd Prague Czech Republic
DrinkBox Studios Toronto Ontario Canada
Dr. Panda[3] Chengdu China Formerly TribePlay
Edmund McMillen[2] Santa Cruz California United States
Elixir Studios London England United Kingdom
Eurocom Derby England United Kingdom
Evony, LLC Guangzhou China Evony: Age I
Extremely OK Games Vancouver British Columbia Canada Formerly Maddy Makes Games
Facepunch Studios Walsall England United Kingdom
Firefly Studios London England United Kingdom
Flying Wild Hog Warsaw Poland
Freebird Games Markham Ontario Canada To the Moon
Frictional Games Helsingborg Sweden
Frima Quebec City Quebec Canada
Frogwares Kyiv Ukraine
Frontier Developments Cambridge United Kingdom (England)
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
Giant Sparrow Santa Monica California United States
Giant Squid Santa Monica California United States
Gogii Games Moncton New Brunswick Canada
Greenheart Games Brisbane Queensland Australia Game Dev Tycoon
Grip Digital Prague Czech Republic
Guild Software Milwaukee Wisconsin United States Vendetta Online
Haemimont Games Sofia Bulgaria
Halfbrick Studios Brisbane Queensland Australia
Hanako Games United Kingdom
hap inc. Tokyo Japan
Hazelight Studios Stockholm Sweden
Heart Machine Culver City California United States Hyper Light Drifter
Hello Games[1] Guildford England United Kingdom
Hexage Mníšek pod Brdy Czech Republic
Hidden Path Entertainment Bellevue Washington United States
Himalaya Studios Chandler Arizona United States Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine
House House Melbourne Victoria Australia Untitled Goose Game
Ice-Pick Lodge Moscow Russia
Image & Form Gothenburg Sweden SteamWorld series
Inti Creates Ichikawa Chiba Japan Developer and publisher, formed by ex-Capcom staff
Introversion Software United Kingdom
Invictus Games Debrecen Hungary Project Torque
Jagex Cambridge England United Kingdom
Jason Rohrer[1] Potsdam New York United States
Jonatan "Cactus" Söderström[1] Gothenburg Sweden Clean Asia!
Jph Wacheski Ottawa Ontario Canada
Keen Software House Prague Czech Republic
Kiro'o Games Yaounde Cameroon Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan
Kitfox Games Montreal Quebec Canada Developer and publisher
Kloonigames[1] Finland Crayon Physics Deluxe
Kunos Simulazioni Vallelunga Circuit Latium Italy
Laminar Research Columbia South Carolina United States X-Plane
Larian Studios Ghent Belgium Developer and publisher
Lazy 8 Studios San Francisco California United States
Lindsay Grace Washington, DC District of Columbia United States Big Huggin'
Little Green Men Games Zagreb Croatia
Llamasoft United Kingdom
Madfinger Games Brno Czech Republic
MDickie United Kingdom Wrestling Empire
Mega Cat Studios Pittsburgh Pennsylvania United States
Messhof Los Angeles California United States Nidhogg
MidBoss San Francisco California United States Read Only Memories
Mode 7 Games Brighton East Sussex England
Mike Bithell United Kingdom
Molleindustria Turin Italy
Moon Studios Vienna Austria The studio began as an xbox game studios first-party developer and their first commercial video game was the Ori video game series which was entirely financed by Microsoft who also holds the games Intellectual Property.
Muse Games New York City New York United States Guns of Icarus Online
NeocoreGames Budapest Hungary The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing
New Star Games United Kingdom New Star Soccer
Nicalis Santa Ana California United States Developer and publisher
Nifflas Umeå Sweden
Nival Interactive Moscow Russia
Number None California United States
The Odd Gentlemen[1] California United States The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom
OMOCAT United States [[OMORI]]}}
Owlchemy Labs Boston Massachusetts United States
Parallax Studio Nixa Missouri United States Darkstar: The Interactive Movie
PixelJAM Games United States Dino Run
Polytron Corporation[1] Montreal Quebec Canada Fez
Playdead[1] Copenhagen Denmark
Puppy Games Notting Hill England United Kingdom
Positech Games United Kingdom
Private Moon Studios Hungary
Provox Games Zagreb Croatia Space Force: Rogue Universe
Punch Entertainment Palo Alto California United States
Q-Games Kyoto Kyoto Prefecture Japan
Queasy Games Canada
Rake in Grass Prague Czech Republic
Red Barrels Montreal Quebec Canada Developer and publisher
Red Thread Games Oslo Norway
Relentless Software Brighton England United Kingdom
Re-Logic Floyds Knobs Indiana United States Terraria
Renegade Kid Austin Texas United States
Roll7 London England United Kingdom
Ronimo Games[1] Utrecht Netherlands
Rovio Entertainment Espoo Finland Angry Birds
S2 Games Rohnert Park California United States
Saber Interactive Millburn New Jersey United States
Sandlot Games Bothell Washington United States Cake Mania
Santa Cruz Games Santa Cruz California United States
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 Since 2021 only active as a publisher
Semi Secret Software[1] Austin Texas United States Canabalt
Sidhe Wellington New Zealand
Simogo Malmö Sweden
Silver Creek Entertainment Grants Pass Oregon United States Soltrio Solitaire
Ska Studios Marcy New York United States
Skygoblin Gothenburg Sweden The Journey Down
Sokpop Collective Utrecht Utrecht Netherlands
Soldak Entertainment Dallas Texas United States
Spiderweb Software Seattle Washington United States
Stardock Plymouth Michigan United States
Stoic Studio Austin Texas United States The Banner Saga series
Storm Impact Glenview Illinois United States TaskMaker
Studio Pixel Japan
Studio Thunderhorse Roseville California United States Flynn: Son of Crimson
Subatomic Studios Boston Massachusetts United States Fieldrunners
Supergiant Games San Jose California United States
SuperVillain Studios Santa Ana California United States
Tarsier Studios Malmö Sweden Little Nightmares
Tale of Tales Ghent Belgium
TaleWorlds Ankara Turkey
Team Shanghai Alice Ebina Kanagawa Japan Touhou Project
Telltale Games San Rafael California United States
Terry Cavanagh London England United Kingdom
thatgamecompany[1] Los Angeles California United States
Three Rings Design San Francisco California United States
Thunder Lotus Games Montreal Quebec Canada
Tiger Style[2] Austin Texas United States
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
Torpex Games Bellevue Washington United States Schizoid
Tomorrow Corporation United States
Tribute Games Montreal Quebec Canada Developer and publisher
Trickster Arts Brno Czech Republic
Uber Entertainment Kirkland Washington United States
Vectorpark Brooklyn New York United States
Virtual Adventures Montreal Quebec Canada Star Quest 1 in the 27th century Developer and publisher
Vlambeer[2] Utrecht Netherlands
Wadjet Eye Games New York City New York United States
WayForward Technologies, Inc. Valencia California United States
Wolfire Games Berkeley California United States
XGen Studios Edmonton Alberta Canada
XMG Studio Toronto Ontario Canada
Xona Games[4] Yarmouth Nova Scotia Canada
Yacht Club Games Valencia California United States Shovel Knight Founded by former Wayforward director Sean Velasco
Young Horses Chicago Illinois United States
Zachtronics Seattle Washington United States
Zoetrope Interactive Istanbul Turkey
Zoink Gothenburg Sweden
Zoonami Cambridge England United Kingdom
ZootFly Ljubljana Slovenia First Battalion

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Webster, Andrew (June 23, 2012). "26 indie game developers you need to follow". GamesRadar. Future plc. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Campbell, Colin (December 18, 2012). "12 Top Indie Developers Talk Games". IGN. j2 Global. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
  3. ^ "TribePlay Rebrands as Dr. Panda in Honor of Children's Game Franchise". adweek.com.
  4. ^ Charla, Chris (February 27, 2014). "New Developers Sign On to ID@Xbox". Xbox Wire. Microsoft. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  • Indie DB, a comprehensive database of indie developers and titles.