By industry terms,Finjiis a very young company. The publisher and video game developer relaunched in 2014, headed by Rebekah and Adam Saltsman. In-between publishing hits likeChicory: A Colorful Tale,Night in the Woods, andWilmot’s Warehouse, Finji also produces its own games includingOverlandand a secret in-development project. Suffice to say, Finji is well-versed in all aspects of game development, which makes it authoritative when it says that indie games are getting expensive to make.
Speaking with IGN, Rebekah Saltsman talked about how indie development is challenging because the industry can change so much in-between game releases. Maintaining a following or fanbase is difficult on its own without indie studios disappearing between game releases. Saltsman says that one of the biggest changes, perhaps thelargest challenge indie developers faceat the moment, is the rapid increase in development costs. Saltsman explains that, for both developers and publishers, everything has become “wildly expensive.”
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Five years ago Saltsman says thatFinjicould make a game for a “million dollars,” which she says was crazy to think about even then. Now, however, Saltsman says that they feel good about a project if they can say they can make it for under four million. “It’s so much money,” she says, especially when that cost has to be thought about in the context of total units sold of the game so that it can make a profit.
While Saltsman doesn’t get into any specifics regarding game sales, she is willing to say that the number of indie games that manage tosell over 100,000 copies of a gameremains incredibly few. Further, indie games are stuck underneath a “cap” on pricing, as video game players focus on pricing for smaller games of around $10-20. Anything higher would be a risk. Then the platform holder’s percentage has to be taken into account, too. Even at its simplest, the math makes clear 100,000 copies sold isn’t paying for a $4 million budget – or even a $2 million.
With indie game development funding what it is, and dozens ofindie development studiosin need of the kind of funding publishers like Finji offer, Saltsman also has a warning. Many publishers will try to minimize their risk through predatory contracts, taking IP rights and higher percentages of revenue that developers need to survive. Making indie games is a minefield. Even Finji is limited in what it’s able to provide.
Yet Finji is a great example of how indie game development and publishing is thriving even as risk remains high. In 2021, Finji will be releasing the highly anticipatedaction-adventure gameTunic, helpingI Was a Teenage Exocolonistget closer to release, and perhaps sharing more information about its in-house game, too. Game development may be increasingly expensive, but publishers likeFinjiare helping make it manageable – at least for a few.
