Global Indie Games Market Report 2024

Oct, 2024 Contact: sales@vginsights.com
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Global Indie Games Market Report 2024
Indie games are doing better than ever, but what’s driving it?

Table of Contents
Steam Indie Games Ma rket Today
Indie Market Segments
Indie Market Maturity
3 -6
10 -13
14 -16
Growth of the Indie Games 7 -9
Overview of the VGI Global Indie Market Report 2024
2

Steam Indie Games Market Today
3

Notes: Data as of 30 th Sep 2024
Full game revenue on this and other slides includes only revenue from copies sold. It does not include in -game spend
Indie games making as much money on Steam as AAA and AA games for the
first time ever; indie revenue share has doubled since 2018
State of Indie on Steam in 2024, as of 30 th Sep 2024
48% 52%
Number of Games Released
58%
42%
99%
1%
Indie
AA & AAA
Units Sold (Millions) Full Game Revenue (Millions USD)
13 007 $8.3Bn 504M
Indie
AA & AAA
Indie
AA & AAA
97.2% 97.9% 98.6% 98.9%
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
YTD
47% 45% 46% 48% 50% 49% 58%
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
YTD
24% 27% 28% 29% 32% 31% 48%
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
YTD
Indie Mix Over Time
4

2024 saw some of the most successful indie game laun c hes , but Black Myth
and Palworld stand out as exceptional
Top Indie Game Launches of 2024, by Units Sold on Steam
20.6 M
Units Sold
43h
Average Playtime
96%
Positive Reviews
20.1 M
Units Sold
50h
Average Playtime
94%
Positive Reviews
3.3 M
Units Sold
14h
Average Playtime
87%
Positive Reviews
3.0 M
Units Sold
28h
Average Playtime
86%
Positive Reviews
3.0 M
Units Sold
5h
Average Playtime
95%
Positive Reviews
Notes: Data as of 30 th Sep 2024. Units sold include free giveaways
1 2 5 4 3
5

Indie games have become ever harder to define and there is often no clear
answer whether something falls under indie or AA/AAA
Defining Indie Games
Production qualities can match AAA Large publishers can provide leverage Well known IPs can bring brand awareness
• The production quality of modern “indie” games can
now rival, and sometimes even surpass, that of AAA
titles
• For instance, Black Myth reportedly had a budget of
$70 million, which is comparable to modern AAA
game budgets
• Games like Dave the Diver are produced by small,
indie -style teams within large corporations like Nexon
• Similarly, titles like Helldivers 2 are developed by indie
or AA studios but are published by major AAA
companies, such as PlayStation
• Indie studios can often boost their visibility by
leveraging well -known IPs, blurring the line between
AAA brand recognition and indie developers using
established brands
• A prime example is Baldur’s Gate 3, which successfully
tapped into the Dungeons & Dragons brand and its fan
base
Notes: VGI definitions on indie vs AA vs AAA – https://vginsights.com/about 6

Growth of the Indie Market
7

The indie market continues to grow despite the wider industry’s slowdown,
reaching new heights in 2024
Indie Game Releases, Units Sold and Full Game Revenue by Year, 2018 -24
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
3.4k
12.9k
2024
YTD
16.2k
8.1k 7.9k
9.7k
11.2k 12.2k
13.7k
+11%
+18%
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
87M
294M
2024
YTD
222M
181M
249M
276M 267M 286M
381M +5%
+33%
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
$0.9Bn
$4.0Bn
2024
YTD
$1.3Bn $1.2Bn
$2.0Bn
$2.1Bn $2.5Bn
$2.7Bn
$4.9Bn
+16%
+82%
Actual
Estimated Rest of the Year
Number of Games Released
(Thousands)
Units Sold
(Millions)
Full Game Revenue
(Millions USD)
Notes: Data as of 30 th Sep 2024. Units sold include free to play downloads 8

Indie game r evenue growth in 2024 was mainly driven by Black Myth: Wukong
and Palworld
Indie Market Revenue in 2023 VS 2024 Broken Down
2023
$0.5bn
$1.0bn
$0.8bn
$1.7bn
2024 YTD
$2.7bn
$4.0bn
OTHER 2024 RELEASES
PRE 2024 INDIE GAMES
Notes: Data as of 30 th Sep 2024. Units sold include free giveaways
• Black Myth and Palworld were the primary
drivers of indie market growth in 2024
• All other 2024 indie releases (excluding Black
Myth & Palworld) combined generated less
revenue than Black Myth on its own
• Indie games released before 2024 accounted
for 43% of total indie market full -game
revenue in 2024
9

Indie Market Segments
10

To truly understand the indie market, we have to segment the indie games into
categories based on their size and look at them individually
Indie Market Segmentation Into 4 Groups
Triple I Indies Middle Market Small Teams Hobbyists
Team Size 50+ c. 15 -50 c. 3 -15 1-2
Performance 1
(Units) 1m+ Units 200k -1m Units 20 -200k Units 2-20k Units
Performance 1
(Revenue) $50m+ c. $10m c. $1m c. $50k
Big and well funded teams working on
games that match AAA quality
Professional companies that don’t
have the AAA level of funding
Small teams of people with some
level of professionalisation
Typically solo developers where the
focus is more on creativity than
business
Notes: Size and performance is just an indication. There are smaller teams doing Triple I indie level performances and larger teams
failing to get any traction with their games at all. This serves as a rule of thumb .
1. Performance is “first year sales” Games from 2024 are underreported as they don’t yet have a full year of sales. 11

All sizes of indie games have seen a boom during Covid, but it’s really the larger
end of indies that have grown the most in the last 10 years
Historical Trends of the 4 Indie Games Segments
0
5
10
15
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
0
10
20
30
40
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
0
100
200
300
400
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
# of Games
Released
Trends
• Triple I Indies first really became a
thing during Covid as many more
players became interested in indie
hits
• 2024 stands out with a significant
amount of 1M+ unit sales indie
games released as games like Black
Myth: Wukong boost Triple I
quality to new levels
• Middle Market games also saw a
huge boost during Covid, but have
been fairly flat since then
• 2024 has seen some “middle
market” games push to the Triple I
category instead
• Small Team indie games have seen
a steady growth since 2018…
• …however, they never quite
recovered to their 2016 peak levels
• Hobbyist games continue to grow
as more people value the freedom
of “doing their own thing” and
start side -projects
Triple I Indies Middle Market Small Teams Hobbyists
Notes: Data as of 30 th Sep 2024 12

All types of indie studios have seen growth since Covid, however, the relative
share of all revenue is increasingly skewed towards the biggest games
Steam Indie Games Full Game Revenue by Year, by Segment
Steam Indie Games Full Game Revenue by Segment (Millions USD) 1
Notes: Data as of 30 th Sep 2024
Missing the revenue from games who sold <2000 units and don’t fit under any of the indie segments
$0.0Bn
$0.5Bn
$1.0Bn
$1.5Bn
$2.0Bn
$2.5Bn
$3.0Bn
$3.5Bn
$4.0Bn
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 YTD
Triple I Indies
Middle Market
Small Teams
Hobbyists
Triple I Indies
Middle Market
Small Teams
Hobbyists
Revenue Distribution by Segment
13% 11% 8%
36% 29%
20%
34%
37%
19%
18% 23%
53%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2020 2023 2024 YTD
• The overall revenue continues
to get more concentrated
since Covid, with over half of
the indie revenue coming
from a handful of Triple I
games in 2024
• Triple I indie games were very rare pre Covid. However, since 2020 these games have seen
increasing success, making up over half of all indie game revenue in 2024
• Middle Market studios have also grown rapidly since 2019
• Small Teams and Hobbyists , although also growing, have grown relatively less quickly and make up
a small part of the total indie games market
13

Indie Market Maturity
14

Indies are getting more experienced. More indies than ever before are
launching their 2 nd and 3 rd games
Number of New Game Releases Split by How Many Games a Developer Has Released Before
4,284 4,250
5,091 5,504
6,074
6,654 6,854
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
YTD
+9%
1st Game Releases by Indie Developers 2nd Game Releases by Indie Developers 3+ Game Releases by Indie Developers
1,321 1,326
1,667
1,887
2,101
2,372
2,137
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
YTD
+12%
2,317 2,250
2,787
3,626 3,874
4,580
3,701
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
YTD
+15%
CAGR CAGR CAGR
Notes: Data as of 30 th Sep 2024 15

Studio experience matters. 2 nd games tend to outperform firsts, 3 rd games
second ones etc. Some of the biggest indie hits were not the studio’s first game
Analysis on How First Games Released by Studios Tend to Underperform Further Releases
1st Game 2nd Game 3+ Game
$120k
$168k
$209k
+40%
+24%
Average Revenue per Indie Game Based on How Many
Games a Studio Had Released Before (USD k)
Examples of Hit Games that Took Many Tries
All of the developers of these major recent indie hits had developed games before. All of
them ended with a hit game that was an order of magnitude more popular than their
previous games combined.
• Zeekerss – Lethal Company (>$100M revenue) VS 3 previous games (<$1M combined)
• Sunlock Studios – V Rising (>$100M) VS 4 free to play games previously
• Pocketpair – Palworld (>$400M) VS 4 previous games (<$15M combined)
16

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17

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Appendix
20

Definitions and methodology
Glossary
Terms Definitions
AA /AAA games Large budget games developed by massive teams and companies. AAA game budgets are typically over $100M to develop
CAGR Compound annual growth rate
CCU Concurrent users – active players in -game
FtP Free to play games
Full Game Revenue Revenue from the direct sale of a game, excluding any DLC and MTX revenues
IAP In-app purchases
Indie games Games developed by independent studios. This covers a large range of studios from 1 person hobby projects to larger studios o f a
few hundred employees, but budgets still fall far short of the AAA game levels
MTX Microtransactions
Unit Sales Estimate Using different estimation methods, including an algorithm based on our internal database of actual sales and the Boxleiter
method to get from Steam review numbers to estimated sales. Detailed overview of the method is highlighted in the section bel ow
Revenue Estimate Estimated units sold multiplied by the price at the time. This is gross revenue, including the Steam cut, but adjusted for lo cal
currencies, returned products and discounts
More information:
Definitions: https://vginsights.com/about
Methodology: https://vginsights.com/insights/article/steam -sales -estimation -methodology -and -accuracy
Email: Support@vginsights.com
21

Legal Disclaimer
Legal Stuff. We’ll Keep It Brief
Video Game Insights (VGI) is in no way affiliated with Steam or Valve.
All data provided in this report is freely available and can be shared without any restrictions.
All data provided in this report is based on estimates and should be considered as such.
VGI uses third -party suppliers and applications, often internet enabled. VG Insights can therefore not guarantee the accuracy of all data coming from third parties. This might be due to
mis -tagging or mis -reporting of data and VG Insights will adjust and fix the issues when highlighted to us.
Limitation of liability
VGI hereby declines any and all liability for damage, consequential loss and/or indirect loss owing to the use of VG Insights ’ d ata and services.
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