16 Indie-Friendly Indie Game Publishers

By Ninichi | Contact | Follow

Have you been wondering whether or not to get a publisher for your indie game? It’s not always obvious whether it’s best to seek a publisher or to go it alone, but if you are looking then there certainly are many options open to you. You don’t need to decide now whether or not you want to publish your game yourself or not, but it’s always useful I think, to explore the possibilities.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any direct experience with any of these companies, however, I’ve worked with many indie game developers supporting them with the music to their games (I’m a game music composer, find out more about me if you want to), and I run this blog with the aim of hopefully offering some useful resources, tips and advice that can help the indie developer community along what is often a very challenging journey!

Here's my article on 11 Places to Publish and Release Your Indie Game, for those of you wanting to publish your game yourself. 

Otherwise, here are 16 indie game publishing companies which I think could be useful to be aware of:

1. Curve Digital

Curve Digital was set up in 2013 and now claims to be one of the leading publishers of games on PC and consoles. They offer development funding, internal production, PR and marketing support. In 2017 they were the ‘Publishing Hero’ at the Develop Industry Excellence Awards.

2. Ukuza

Ukuza is a publisher focused on bringing the best indie games to market. They’re a team of creative and marketers who are ex-Microsoft & ex-Amazon and they’re ready to hear all about your game!

3. Team 17

Team 17 publishes games for PC, console, mobile and handheld devices. They have over 25 years of experience in the games industry and so are probably one of the longest running independent publishers out there. They’re headquarters are in West Yorkshire (UK)

4. Devolver Digital

Devolver Digital offers digital distribution and marketing support for indie videogames and films. It’s a fairly well known indie game publisher and so it’s definitely one to take a look at.

5. Indie Fund

Indie Fund is a funding source for indie developers. It’s an alternative to the standard publisher funding model and has been designed to support indie developers to create amazing games and to grow financially independent.

6. Midnight City

Midnight City provides promotional, production and business services and support for independent game developers.

7. Serenity Forge

Serenity Forge is a game development studio with a publishing arm and wealth of other services dedicated to supporting indie developers with their game projects.

8. Noodlecake Studios

Noodlecake Studios is a small indie game studio founded in 2011 and based in Saskatoon, Canada. They make their own games but have also expanded into publishing and help to bring other developers’ games to market. They’re best known for iOS & Android games but are also interested in releasing games across all other platforms too.

9. Versus Evil

Versus Evil is a video game publisher focusing purely on publishing indie games. They publish across all major mobile, PC and next generation consoles and have worked with indie studios around the world. They offer a suite of services to support the indie games they publish, from marketing, PR, influencer outreach, social media, community, QA, localisation and development services to reach other platforms.

10. Mode 7 Games

Mode 7 was founded in 2005 and is an indie game development and publishing company based in Oxford, UK. They’ve been a publisher since 2016 and can offer support across a range of different areas including funding, PR and marketing, production / scheduling, game design, community management, business development, platform holder relationships, tech, porting and more.

11. Humble Bundle Publishing

Humble Bundle has a publishing arm, which can help you with indie game. You can connect with their 12 million customers, own your IP, get help with marketing and PR, leverage the Humble Bundle brand, get help with financing and more.

12. Surprise Attack

Surprise Attack Games is an independent games label focusing on games that bring something new or different to the table. They’re based in Australia and were created in 2013. They offer a full publishing team providing expertise and resources to the games they develop. They don’t own any share of the IP and state that the game developer always has the final say.

13. Headup Games

Headup Games has released over 100 titles since being established in 2009. They’re a hybrid games publishing and development company, always on the look out for new games to get involved with.

14. tinyBuild Games

tinyBuild helps indie developers to publish their games across a multitude of platforms, releasing games onto Steam, Xbox One, PS4, 3DS, VR, iOS and Google Play. They’ve been doing this since 2013 and offer support with funding, knowledge, production, artwork, guidance and more.

15. Steak Steak

Steak Steak is a full service indie game publishing company offering support at all stages of your game development. Whether you need help with trailers, PR, branding, development or anything else, they can help.

16. Whippering

Whippering offers marketing support and partnering relationship opportunities to indie game developers. They publish independent games and can help with the creation and execution of your marketing strategy from positioning, pitching, PR, social media and more. They can also initiate and manage platform relationships with the likes of Sony, Oculus, Valve, Nintendo, MSFT.

I hope this resource list has been useful to you. Do browse my blog for other interesting articles that may help you with various aspects of your game development. Feel free to use the search bar (on the blog homepage and on the bottom of every page) to help explore specific subject areas. A few articles that may be useful to be aware of include:

• How to Stay Motivated to Complete Your Indie Project

• 5 Top Tips for Hiring a Game Music Composer for the First Time

• 5 Top Tips for Indie Game Developers

• 6 Ways to Pay a Game Music Composer

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About the author: Ninichi is a freelance game music composer and film music composer. She creates music for indie games, films, podcasts, tv shows, commercials and more. 

She is an incredibly diverse composer with an extensive credit list to her name. If you'd like help with music for any project, feel free to contact her now.

Follow her @ninichimusic

17 Great Places to Find Free Game Art

By Ninichi | Contact | Follow

Having the right graphics in a game is incredibly important yet it’s not always possible to get custom artwork created for all aspects of your game. Sometimes budget constraints or time can make it difficult yet where can you go to find the right tilesets, textures, sprites etc. for your game?

Well if I’m honest, I wouldn’t know where the best place is! I’m just a composer (see my homepage) and so my specialty is music, however, I do work with many indie game developers (see my credits) and on other various projects that require great artwork. I often get asked if I know where one would go for these types of assets. So, to hopefully help you move in the right direction, I’ve compiled a list of resources that I think are definitely worth knowing about.

Some I’ve browsed myself, others have been recommended and I know are used by other game developers, so see what you make of them…

1. Open Game Art

This is one of the most popular sites for free 2D and 3D art and graphics for game developers. Everything is categorised and there’s also an active forum on the site which is often worth browsing too.

I’ve mentioned this site before in another blog as it also has free sound effects (see 12 Great Places to Find SFX for your Game).

2. Game Art Guppy

Their slogan is ‘helping indie game devs make a splash’ and indeed they do!  The site was created by Vicki Wenderlich to give game developers on a tight budget the opportunity find free and inexpensive art for their games. There are loads of free art assets on the site and those that you have to pay for are mostly between $5-20, so are very affordable.

3. Open Game Graphics

Most of the assets available to download from Open Game Graphics are under Creative Commons Attribution or Creative Commons Zero licenses. So, most are free to use and can be used in commercial projects, but some may require a credit. The ‘Collections’ are great as they contain pretty much everything you need for a full game.

4. Itch.io

There are many free game assets available on Itch, as well as being a great platform for finding, playing and publishing indie games. Use the search filter options to narrow down your search and to find what you need.

(Also see 11 Places to Publish Your Game)

5. GameDev Market

Similarly to Itch.io, this is a digital marketplace where people can put up various assets for a fixed price but many people do make assets available for free as well.  The search options let you filter by ‘paid’ or ‘free’ options and so play around with that to see what’s available, however, the paid assets are very much affordable and so it’s a great site to browse through generally.

6. SpriteLand

If you’re making a mobile game, this site is a great resource for you. It’s full royalty free graphics/sprites you can use for your games or apps, and there are also a range of tutorial videos, games to play and a SpriteMaker you can play around with too.

7. Game Art 2D

This site has a ‘freebies’ section, which includes some free sprites, tilesets, GUIs and more. There aren’t a huge number available but they are complete sets which include scrolling backgrounds, objects, decorations, multiple file formats etc and so it’s worth a look. The paid art bundles are fairly reasonably priced as well so good to browse.

8. Graphic Buffet

Similarly to Game Art 2D, you can buy cheap 2D art assets here or explore their freebie section.  This online graphic store was set up by designer and developer Debug Design (Aka Ian Garstang). There’s a blog and they also take requests, and so if you want something that you can’t find there, you could ask for it!

9. Craft Pix

Craftpix offers both free and premium 2D assets for games. You’ll find most of the main categories available: icons, sprites, tilesets, GUI, characters, backgrounds, game kits etc. All can be used in commercial projects and integrated easily into most game engines i.e. Unity / Unreal Engine and many others. Most assets are either free or below $10.

10. Unlucky Studio

This site is run by Sujit Kumar Yadav, the author of Game Maker for Beginners. It’s basically a blog with various informative tutorials and game art assets all available to download for free. You can offer a donation via the site but otherwise everything is presented in the form of giveaways.

11. Game Art Partners

You can download a free game art assets bundle via their site. If you sign up to their newsletter you get a discount off the paid bundles and a range of other goodies. It’s one to take a look at and be aware of for sure!

12. Glitch The Game

Glitch was a collaborative, web-based massively multiplayer game which was opened to the public in 2010 but then shut down in 2012. The whole library of art assets from the game are now freely available in the public domain and so this site is definitely worth checking out. There are over 10,000 assets available including location art, spritesheets etc etc. and they’re all really high quality.

13. Dumbmanax

This site was created by Brent Anderson, a freelance game designer and developer. He’s made a lot of artwork available to use for free and it’s easy to download as zip files. The only catch is that you need to include a credit somewhere in your game. 

14. Crateboy

Here you’ll find a collection of over 300 files all available under creative commons.  It’s basically one 28MB zip file with lots in there to play with. The 8 bit city resource files are the ones to note and you just need to credit Crateboy in your game or ‘pay what you like’.

15. WidgetWorx SpriteLib

SpriteLib is a collection of static and animated graphic objects (sprites) available for hobbyist game developers to download in one big file. If you need sprites, this could be worth a look. It’s not a biggest pack ever but there are some great landscapes and characters in there, which are easy to download and use in any 2D game.  These are available under Common Public License.

16. Kenney Game Assets

There are over 40,000 free images, audio files and 3D models all available to use for free on this site.  They’re all in the public domain and are easy to download. There’s also a paid section where you can get bundles and premium assets which is also worth a little look. 

17. Reiners Tilesets

This site was created by a hobby game developer when they couldn’t find any graphics and decided to create their own! The site now contains lots of tilesets, sprites, textured low poly meshes, sound effects, tutorials and more. Whether you’re creating a 2D or 3D game, there might be something here for you.

So there you have it! 17 amazing resources for your game. Unfortunately this is all I can really help you with from the art side of your project, but if you happen to need help with any music, I can certainly do much more! Drop me a line if you’d like to explore this further. I’m on Twitter if you want to DM me there or just pop me a message and I’ll be in touch very soon!

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About the author: Ninichi is a freelance game music composer and film music composer. She creates music for indie games, films, podcasts, tv shows, commercials and more. 

She is an incredibly diverse composer with an extensive credit list to her name. If you'd like help with music for any project, feel free to contact her now.

Follow her @ninichimusic

10 Places to Find Beta Testers for Your Indie Game

By Ninichi | Contact | Follow

One of the challenges before launching your game is finding people who are willing to test it and offer you useful feedback on it.  Getting friends and family to check it out is certainly useful but isn’t always enough. Understanding your user and ensuring that the user experience is as good as it can be before releasing your game into the market, is a hugely important part of the process.

As a game music composer, I’m not really able to offer much advice on how to develop your game but from my experiences in working with many amazingly talented indie game developers (see my credit list), I know that one area which is often tricky, is in knowing where to source those beta testers.  So, I’ve had a go at compiling a list of places that could be useful to be aware of and to check out.

I know that the game development journey can be a long one and hope that this article helps you a little bit along the way…

1. Alpha Beta Gamer

Alphabetagamer is ‘the worlds biggest beta testing site’. They cover alpha and betas on all platforms and do so for free, however they will only play your game if it’s free or if you give them some keys to distribute and offer through their website. They aim to add new games to their website each day.

2. Indie Quality Assurance

IndieQA was created in 2015 by a group of playtesters wanting to support Indie developers with their games. They offer a free service to beta test games as long as you provide keys for your game for your preferred platform.

3. Beta Family

Beta Family has over 65,000 testers that you can invite to test your game and target based on demographics and device. They have an easy to use test builder and 3 different price plans (from free to $399/month) for you to choose from.

4. PreApps

PreApps is a site that helps people to discover and test new apps before they are released. They cover apps on both iOS and Android and offer various services to help with the launch and promotion of your mobile app. This includes submitting your app to over 150 sites for review.

5. UberTesting

UberTesting provides access to real users to test and offer feedback on apps, websites and more.  For mobile game developers it can be a great way to get feedback on your game. You don’t need to integrate SDK, you can target specific user segments, set up surveys, interviews, focus groups and more.

6. Betalist

Betalist is a place to discover and showcase new startups. It’s a community of creators and early adopters. If your mobile app or game offers something exciting for early adopters to get their teeth into then check it out.

7. Playtest Cloud

PlaytestCloud offers a one-stop solution for playtesting mobile and browser games during all key stages of game development cycle i.e. prototyping, development, soft launch and after release.  You can easily set up a playtest, specify your target audience and then watch and listen to videos of people playing your game. There are 4 different products and various prices associated with the kind of survey or test you’re looking to implement. Prices range from $9 per response right up to over $1000 for longer studies.

8. Roast My Game

Roastmygame is a site which encourages indie game developers to post their games so that they can gather ‘sugarfree’ feedback on it.  Anyone can post a game and anyone can offer feedback.

9. Reddit

There are various subreddits, which allow you to share your game and ask for feedback. Check the rules for each subreddit to make sure it’s ok to post something there before doing so. Here are a few to maybe take a look at:

• /r/gamedev
• /r/playtesters
• /r/playmygame
• /r/inat
• /r/gamedevclassifieds
• /r/gamedevscreens
• /r/testmyapp
• /r/alphaandbetausers
• /r/androidapptesters
• /r/startups
• /r/indiegaming
• /r/iosgaming

10. Twitter

There is a huge gaming and gamedev community on Twitter with many people very willing to take a look at and support your game. Find me there @ninichimusic! If you have a strong following on Twitter, then ask your followers if they want to beta test your game. As well as that, here are some hashtags that may be useful for you:

• #gamedev
• #indiedev
• #indiegame
• #indiegames
• #indiegaming
• #betatesting
• #betatesters
• #testmyapp
• #apptesting
• #mobileapptesting

Read next: How to Promote Your Game on Twitter

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About the author: Ninichi is an experienced game music and film music composer. She creates music for games, film and other media, and would be delighted to help you create the music for your game or project. 

Contact Ninichi to explore working with her now and follow her @ninichimusic

How to Stay Motivated to Complete Your Indie Project

By Ninichi | Contact | Follow

As an indie game developer or indie filmmaker, one of the toughest challenges in your creative journey is staying motivated through it. If you’re working alone or even in a small team, maintaining that energy and enthusiasm through the various stages of your project can be really hard – especially each time you hit a stumbling block, which you inevitably will.

As a music composer I have supported various game developers and filmmakers, helping them to realise their exciting concepts and to bring their games and films to life. Being a part of the process is a real privilege and if I can – I like to help others where I can, so here are some tips that I hope you will helpful:

1. Know why you’re doing this

What’s driving you to make this game or film? What’s exciting about it and which aspects do you really want to get your teeth into? Know what the reasons are for doing this and jot those down. Keep them close to you as a reminder and motivator. Know the purpose of this whole exercise and experience and think about what you’re hoping to get out of it.

2. Establish what you want to do (and what you don’t want to be doing)

What areas do you want to be involved in and which areas aren’t so interesting for you? Often people lose motivation when they’re stuck doing something that they never really wanted to be doing in the first place. Creating a game or film requires lots of skills.  You may not have all of these skills and you may or may not want to develop all of these skills.

There is nothing wrong with not wanting to learn absolutely everything and in finding others to help with those key areas.

3. Set some achievable goals & reward yourself along the way

Try to make a plan with some goals, milestones, and targets for you to aim for. Break it down into manageable tasks so that it doesn’t feel overwhelming and each time you make a break through – celebrate! There will be many steps along the way and it’s important to know what those steps are, to keep moving forwards and to appreciate how far you’ve come.

4. Build a support network

Find people who can support you through your game development or filmmaking journey. These could be people who:

-       Have done it before and can share experiences

-       Are creating their own games / films now – who are in the same boat

-       Can offer expertise in specific areas e.g. music / sound effects / art etc. 

-       Can form part of your team – and work with you to complete the project

-       Are enthusiastic about games / films and can be supportive and loyal fans

5. Invest real money into it

I’m a big believer in investing in projects that you really want to work and believe in. This means investing both your time and money into it.  If you put some financial investment into it (it doesn't have to be masses by the way - just a little is fine), this means you’ve got some skin in the game and you have to make it work. 

The amount of investment is completely up to you - but if you invest in the game (in the assets / sound / your team), or your film (the crew / cast / music etc) - you will have that extra drive and need to make your project successful. Failure will not be an option and you will make it happen! 

6. Tell people about what you’re doing

Don’t be shy about your game or film. What you’re doing is exciting, brave and challenging. Your friends / colleagues will most likely be really supportive and could be helpful along the way. Another key reason to shout about it – is that often when you tell others that you’re going to do something – by having said it out loud – you will hold yourself accountable to making it happen and staying true to your word.  Say that it’s what you are doing, and you will make it so.

(Also see: How to Promote Your Game on Twitter)

7. Try to stay focused

You may have lots of other ideas – of other games or films that you want to work on, but realistically there is only one of you and you only have so much time. Pick one to prioritise and see it through. If you don't, you will most likely keep getting distracted and finish none of your great ideas - so focus focus focus! 

8. Don’t procrastinate

Your time is precious, and so use it wisely and make sure that you’re moving your project along whenever you can. Try to get into a routine whereby you dedicate a bit of time to your project every day or week or whatever you decide works for you – and stick to it. It may seem tough initially but if you stick to your routine and also take some time to figure out what routine works best for you - it will become a habit and part of your lifestyle.

Completing a project can be really challenging but it’s worth it! Your game or film deserves to be created and for others to be able to see and appreciate what you’ve built and put together. Don’t give up – and if you need some help with music, don’t hesitate to drop me a line! 

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About the author: Ninichi is a music composer for games, films & media. She is the in-house composer for games company Quinton Studios and enjoys working on a range of freelance composing projects. Contact her now to discuss your project and music needs.

Follow her @ninichimusic