LogInManor Lords, Enshrouded, and Content Warning are among the top-performing indie games of 2024, bringing the indie market to new heights.
Pocketpair
Indie games market hit new heights this year, unprecedently reaching the same level of revenue as AAA and AA titles. The VGI's report on the global market of indie games reveals information on its revenue and number of sold units, the most successful titles, and trends in the sphere.
According to the report, in 2024, indie games made as much money on Steam as AAA and AA games, and their revenue share has doubled since 2018. The indie games' share over the past year constitutes almost half of the full game revenue, namely 48%:
Some of the indie titles have received global success. The top-performing game is Black Myth: Wukong, which hit 20.6 million units sold and gained 96% positive reviews, closely followed by Palworld, with 20.1 million sold units and 94% favoring reviews. Manor Lords, Enshrouded, and Content Warning are other top indie releases of 2024.
Despite the overall industry's slowdown, the indie market continues to grow, seeing an increase in the number of released games, sold units, and full-game revenue. The number of released titles increased by 7% since 2021, sales rose by almost 20%, reaching 295 million units, and full-game revenue skyrocketed from 16% in 2021 to 81% in 2024, reaching $4 billion.
Also, the report states that indie developers are getting more mature and experienced, as more of them than ever before launch their second and third games:
However, some of the biggest indie hits were not the studio’s first game. For instance, Pocketpair released four other games before Palworld.
Yesterday, we shared an overview of indie developers' Twitter posts, in which they showcase progress in creating their games, how they add more complex visuals and mechanics, and how they develop custom technologies, such as "indie ray tracing" and their own Unity shader.
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