We’ve launched! But what have we launched, and why?

We’ve launched! But what have we launched, and why?

Greetings, all, and welcome to The Indie Game Website! Over the past few months, we’ve been scuttling away setting things up, getting into the habit of posting, building contacts and content and all that good stuff. Today, we feel just about ready to tell you all about it, in rip-roaring journalism-basics FAQ form.

Q. What is The Indie Game Website?

A. The Indie Game Website is an indie game website.

Q. Why is The Indie Game Website?

A. Over the past several years, the amount of quality content about indie games has reduced. This doesn’t seem to be out of a lack of desire from games publications to cover underground stuff. It’s more than editorial budgets have been shrinking, and more highly specialised games sites owned by bigger publishers have been phased out in favour of a more generalist approach. Meanwhile, a shift toward video has meant fewer opportunities to get covered.

We wanted to create a space on the web that serves both indie game developers and the people who play them. Our aim is to become the premier resource on the web for the latest indie game news, insightful features, reviews, previews and all that good stuff. There’s an entire community out there looking for this content, and a sea of developers looking to get their games the attention they deserve, so that’s where we hope we come in – across both of those fronts.

Q. Who is The Indie Game Website?

A. The Indie Game Website was set up by Lewis Denby, whose mini-consultancy Game If You Are supports indie developers, primarily with media relations. Lewis has a background in games journalism, having been a regular contributor to PC Gamer, PC Zone, Eurogamer, Rock Paper Shotgun, The Telegraph and Gamasutra back in the day. Also involved is Jon Calvin, whose bylines have appeared all over Eurogamer and GameReactor, and who also works as a consultant for Game If You Are.

You won’t see Lewis and Jon’s work too frequently on The Indie Game Website (although they may pop up from time to time) as it’s important to avoid conflicts of interest where we can (and be fully transparent about them where we can’t). To that end, we have a wonderful team of editors and writers responsible for the day-to-day. The website’s editorial is headed up by Neil Duncan; its news editor is Andrew May; and its reviews and previews editor is James Sheppard. Our fab regular contributors include Jemellee Santos and Jerome Bailey. And we have a bunch more occasional contributors too.

Q. Where is The Indie Game Website?

A. It is on the web. Specifically, here, and on Twitter.

Q. When is The Indie Game Website?

A. Multiple times daily! Right now we’re still finding our feet, so expect a semi-sporadic content schedule. But over time, we want to be delivering to-the-minute news content, plus daily reviews, previews, features, and whatever else we can think to offer you.

To that end, if you’re an indie developer, we want to hear from you! If you’re making a game, and it looks genuinely interesting, we’ll probably cover it in some capacity. Hit us up at pr[at]indiegamewebsite[dot]com.