Indie Eh? Some Kind of Game Studies.

Abstract

This introduction to this special issue of Loading... considers the articles of the issue in the context of game studies’ growing interest in, and implication with, the cultures of independent game development and the ‘indie scene’ in general. ‘Indie’ is the question not the answer for the authors of this issue. Together the articles herald a long term collaborative program of research that implicates concerns with the discrete and varied cultural contexts of game production, a recognition of the nuances and diversity in the tastes and values of players, and the place of digital games and game discourses in shaping and reshaping the public sphere. After this issue, we may argue about whether game studies has finally found its object but we can all agree that our engagement with the question of ‘indie’ has intriguing implications for the future of our work as games researchers, designers and cultural political actors.