At first sight it seems, that these are two completely different spheres with their own laws and rules. Nevertheless, it is possible to find common tendencies in the development of the cryptocurrency and indie game markets.

Working on the FairWin project, whose field of activity is at the intersection of gambling, indie games and cryptocurrencies, I have followed both the market of cryptocurrencies and what has been happening to indie games. And this is what I have found out.

Low entry threshold

The Binding of Isaac

It is characteristic of both the cryptocurrency projects and indie games. Now, anyone can release a cryptocurrency or make an indie game. No big investments or special technologies are necessary. The considerable percentage of failed blockchain startups and “weak” indie games is connected with this. The difference is that there are many more swindlers among ICOs than among the developers of indie games, but it is due to the specificity of each sphere.

Market oversupply

Over the last 5 years, the number of published indie games has grown almost 12 times! 7672 indie games were published in 2017. The lion’s share of them sold badly.

Releases on Steam per year

Some extremely pessimistic analysts point out that because of the great amount of indie junk it is hardly possible to find really worthy games. Therefore, even good indie games risk being unnoticed by players. This phenomenon has received the name the Indie Post-Apocalypse among game journalists. Pessimists consider that the industry of indie games, if these tendencies persist, is threatened with decline and the loss of players’ interest.

It reminds me of the situation on the cryptocurrency market, oversaturated with altcoins and blockchain startups. The more projects appear on the market, the lower the interest to them and the higher the chances that even a startup with a worthy idea will go noticed by investors.

The growing influence

Undertale

The growth of attention to indie games has been connected with the outstanding success of Minecraft-type games. The influence of indie games has become notable, and the features which were first used by indie developers are now borrowed and copied by large manufacturers all around.

The same goes for cryptocurrencies. If earlier cryptocurrencies were for a small group of enthusiasts, now they are spoken about by the governments of different countries and the technology of blockchain is tested by large companies like Google, Amazon and others.

Marketing

Already one year ago the success of a blockchain startup was impossible without a thorough marketing campaign. Now the same thing is true for indie games. Browsing topical forums on Reddit, I often see how developers complain that the game on which they wasted so much time and money has turned out to be a failure. Many ask for help in the promotion of their games. Because of the high competition, at least a minimum advertising campaign is necessary for any game so that its release is not left unnoticed. Now, with every new day, developers have to pay more and more attention to marketing. Even now crowdfunding campaigns on Kikstarter have the same traits as ICOs.

I think that the oversaturation does not mean decline at all. In the case of cryptocurrencies and indie games, we can see a transformation and leaving the underground scene. Despite a considerable share of failed projects, the volume of investments in cryptocurrency startups grows every year, just like the attention of gamers to indie games.

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