List of indie game developers
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This is a list of independent video game developers, individuals or teams which produce indie games but are not owned by or receive significant financial backing from a video game publisher. Independent developers, which can be single individuals, small groups, or large organizations, retain operational control over their organizations and processes. Some self-publish their own games while others work with publishers.
List of notable developers[]
| Active |
| Defunct and no longer active |
| Undetermined status |
There are thousands of independent game development studios which either self-publish their titles, or enter into licensing or co-development agreements with publishers. This list is not intended to be exhaustive with respect to developers or their games, and includes only notable developers and their most notable game examples.
| Developer | City | Autonomous area | Country | Notable games | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 bit studios | Warsaw | Poland | Anomaly This War of Mine Frostpunk |
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| ACE Team | Santiago | Santiago | Chile | Zeno Clash Rock of Ages |
|
| Akupara Games | Los Angeles | California | United States | Whispering Willows
The Metronomicon: Slay the Dance Floor Draw a Stickman: Epic 2 The Darkside Detective (franchise) Rain World Manifold Garden Mutazione |
Includes developer and porting credited titles |
| Alec Holowka | Winnipeg | Manitoba | Canada | Crayon Physics Deluxe I'm O.K – A Murder Simulator Aquaria Night in the Woods |
|
| Alientrap | Saskatoon | Saskatchewan | Canada | Capsized Apotheon |
|
| Amanita Design[1] | Brno | Czech Republic | Samorost series Machinarium Botanicula |
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| Ambrosia Software | Rochester | New York | United States | Escape Velocity series | |
| Amplitude Studios | Paris | Île-de-France | France | Endless Space Endless Legend Dungeon of the Endless |
|
| AmnesiaGames | Santiago de Chile | Chile | |||
| Ankama Games | Roubaix | France | Dofus | Denton Designs | |
| Anna Anthropy | Oakland | California | United States | Dys4ia Mighty Jill Off |
|
| Arcane Kids | Los Angeles | California | United States | Bubsy 3D: Bubsy Visits the James Turrell Retrospective
Sonic Dreams Collection |
|
| Arcen Games | Durham | North Carolina | United States | AI War series A Valley Without Wind series The Last Federation |
|
| Arrowhead Game Studios | Stockholm | Sweden | Magicka
Helldivers |
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| Artix Entertainment | Land o' Lakes | Florida | United States | AdventureQuest DragonFable MechQuest AdventureQuest Worlds WarpForce EpicDuel HeroSmash |
|
| Aventurine SA | Athens | Greece | Darkfall Online | ||
| Babaroga | Chicago | Illinois | United States | Spore Origins Zombies!!! |
|
| Basilisk Games | Indianapolis | Indiana | United States | Eschalon series | |
| The Behemoth[1] | San Diego | California | United States | Alien Hominid Castle Crashers BattleBlock Theater Pit People |
|
| Benjamin Rivers | Toronto | Ontario | Canada | ||
| Big Finish Games | Salt Lake City | Utah | United States | Three Cards to Midnight | |
| Blitz Games Studios | Warwickshire | United Kingdom (England) | Powerup Forever Droplitz Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao |
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| Blue Fang Games | Waltham | Massachusetts | United States | Zoo Tycoon series | |
| Bohemia Interactive Studio | Prague | Czech Republic | Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis ArmA: Armed Assault Take On Mars DayZ |
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| Boomzap Entertainment | Singapore | Singapore | |||
| Bubble Gum Interactive | Sydney | Australia | Little Space Heroes | ||
| Capybara Games[1][2] | Toronto | Ontario | Canada | Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP Critter Crunch Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes Super Time Force |
|
| CBE Software | Brno | Czech Republic | J.U.L.I.A. J.U.L.I.A. Among the Stars |
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| CCP Games | Reykjavík | Iceland | Eve Online | ||
| The Chinese Room[2] | Brighton | United Kingdom (England) | Dear Esther Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs Everybody's Gone to the Rapture |
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| Choice Provisions | Santa Cruz | California | United States | Bit.Trip series | Formerly Gaijin Games |
| Christine Love | Toronto | Ontario | Canada | Digital: A Love Story don't take it personally, babe, it just ain't your story Analogue: A Hate Story |
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| Christopher Howard Wolf | Rocky Point | North Carolina | United States | DragonSpires I'm O.K – A Murder Simulator'' |
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| Cinemax | Prague | Czech Republic | Numen: Contest of Heroes Gumboy: Crazy Adventures Inquisitor |
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| Coffee Stain Studios | Skövde | Sweden | Goat Simulator Sanctum series |
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| Colossal Order | Tampere | Finland | Cities: Skylines | ||
| Comcept | Tokyo and Osaka | Japan | Mighty No. 9 | Founded by Keiji Inafune | |
| Compulsion Games | Montreal | Quebec | Canada | Contrast
We Happy Few |
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| Craneballs Studio | Ostrava | Czech Republic | Planet Nomads | ||
| Croteam | Zagreb | Croatia | Football Glory Serious Sam series The Talos Principle |
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| Crytek Black Sea | Sofia | Bulgaria | Knights of Honor WorldShift |
Formerly Black Sea Studios | |
| Curve Digital | London | United Kingdom (England) | Fluidity series
Stealth Inc. series |
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| Cypronia | Michalovce | Slovakia | State of War | Formerly Cypron Studios | |
| Daedalic Entertainment | Hamburg | Germany | Edna & Harvey series The Whispered World Deponia series The Dark Eye series The Night of the Rabbit |
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| Datcroft Games | London | England | United Kingdom | Fragoria | |
| Daniel Benmergui[2] | Buenos Aires | Argentina | Today I Die I Wish I Were The Moon |
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| Davilex Games[2] | Houten | Utrecht | Netherlands | A2 Racer | |
| Dejobaan Games[1] | Boston | Massachusetts | United States | AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! – A Reckless Disregard for Gravity The Wonderful End of the World |
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| Dennaton Games | Sweden | Hotline Miami Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number |
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| Derek Smart | Fort Lauderdale | Florida | United States | Battlecruiser 3000AD Universal Combat |
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| Derek Yu[2] | Pasadena | California | United States | I'm O.K – A Murder Simulator Aquaria Spelunky Eternal Daughter |
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| Digital Eel | Seattle | Washington | United States | Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space Strange Adventures In Infinite Space |
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| Digital Happiness | Bandung | West Java | Indonesia | Dreadout | |
| Dreadlocks Ltd | Prague | Czech Republic | Rune Legend Dex |
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| DrinkBox Studios | Toronto | Ontario | Canada | Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack Guacamelee! Severed |
|
| Dr. Panda[3] | Chengdu | China | Formerly TribePlay | ||
| Edmund McMillen[2] | Santa Cruz | California | United States | Gish Super Meat Boy Aether Spewer The Binding of Isaac The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth |
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| Elixir Studios | London | England | United Kingdom | Republic: The Revolution Evil Genius |
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| Error Loading Media | Colorado Springs | United States | Spooky Street | ||
| Eurocom | Derby | United Kingdom | Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy Batman Begins Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End Vancouver 2010: The Official Videogame of the Winter Olympic Games GoldenEye 007 |
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| Evony, LLC | Guangzhou | China | Evony: Age I | ||
| Facepunch Studios | Walsall | United Kingdom (England) | Garry's Mod Rust |
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| Firefly Studios | London | United Kingdom (England) | Stronghold Stronghold 2 Space Colony Stronghold 3 Dungeon Hero Civ City: Rome Stronghold Kingdoms |
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| Flying Wild Hog | Warsaw | Poland | Hard Reset
Shadow Warrior series |
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| Freebird Games | Markham | Ontario | Canada | To the Moon | |
| Frictional Games | Helsingborg | Sweden | Penumbra series Amnesia: The Dark Descent SOMA |
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| Frima | Quebec City | Quebec | Canada | Chariot Zombie Tycoon |
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| Frogwares | Kyiv | Ukraine | Journey to the Center of the Earth Sherlock Holmes: Secret of the Silver Earring Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened Dracula: Origin |
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| Frontier Developments | Cambridge | United Kingdom (England) | Frontier: Elite II LostWinds LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias |
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| The Fullbright Company[2] | Portland | Oregon | United States | Gone Home | |
| Games Distillery | Bratislava | Bratislava Region | Slovakia | Aqua | |
| GarageGames | Eugene | Oregon | United States | Marble Blast Ultra | |
| Gogii Games | Moncton | New Brunswick | Canada | ||
| Greenheart Games | Brisbane | Queensland | Australia | Game Dev Tycoon | |
| Grip Digital | Prague | Czech Republic | Atomic Ninjas The Solus Project |
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| Guild Software | Milwaukee | Wisconsin | United States | Vendetta Online | |
| Haemimont Games | Sofia | Bulgaria | Tropico 3 Tzar: Burden of the Crown |
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| Halfbrick Studios | Brisbane | Queensland | Australia | Fruit Ninja
Jetpack Joyride |
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| Hanako Games | United Kingdom | Cute Knight Fatal Hearts |
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| Heart Machine | Culver City | California | United States | Hyper Light Drifter | |
| Hello Games[1] | Guildford | England | United Kingdom | Joe Danger series No Man's Sky The Last Campfire |
|
| Hexage | Mníšek pod Brdy | Czech Republic | Reaper: Tale of a Pale Swordsman Redcon |
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| Hidden Path Entertainment | Bellevue | Washington | United States | Defense Grid: The Awakening
Defense Grid 2 |
|
| Himalaya Studios | Chandler | Arizona | United States | Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine | |
| Ice-Pick Lodge | Moscow | Russia | Pathologic The Void |
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| Image & Form | Gothenburg | Sweden | SteamWorld series | ||
| Inti Creates | Ichikawa, Chiba | Japan | Mega Man Zero series Mega Man ZX series Gal Gun series Azure Striker Gunvolt series Blaster Master Zero |
Developer and publisher, formed by ex-Capcom staff | |
| Introversion Software | United Kingdom | Uplink Darwinia DEFCON Subversion (development has stopped temporarily) Multiwinia Prison Architect |
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| Invictus Games | Debrecen | Hungary | Project Torque | ||
| Jagex | Cambridge | England | United Kingdom | RuneScape Ace of Spades |
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| Jason Rohrer[1] | Potsdam | New York | United States | Passage Gravitation Between |
|
| Jonatan "Cactus" Söderström[1] | Gothenburg | Sweden | Clean Asia! | ||
| Jph Wacheski | Ottawa | Ontario | Canada | ||
| Keen Software House | Prague | Czech Republic | Miner Wars 2081 Space Engineers |
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| Klei Entertainment[1] | Vancouver | British Columbia | Canada | Eets Shank Shank 2 Mark of the Ninja Don't Starve Invisible, Inc. |
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| Kloonigames[1] | Finland | Crayon Physics Deluxe | |||
| Kunos Simulazioni | Vallelunga Circuit | Latium | Italy | Assetto Corsa Ferrari Virtual Academy netKar Pro |
|
| Kiro'o Games | Yaounde | Cameroon | Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan | ||
| Laminar Research | Columbia | South Carolina | United States | X-Plane | |
| Larian Studios | Ghent | Belgium | Divinity: Original Sin
Divinity: Original Sin II |
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| Lazy 8 Studios | San Francisco | California | United States | Cogs BioShock Infinite: Industrial Revolution |
|
| Lindsay Grace | Washington, DC | District of Columbia | United States | Big Huggin' | |
| Little Green Men Games | Zagreb | Croatia | Starpoint Gemini Starpoint Gemini 2 |
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| Llamasoft | United Kingdom | Polybius (2017 video game) Space Giraffe Gridrunner Revolution |
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| Madfinger Games | Brno | Czech Republic | Shadowgun Dead Trigger Dead Trigger 2 Unkilled Shadowgun Legends
|
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| Mega Cat Studios | Pittsburgh | Pennsylvania | United States | Bite the Bullet Log Jammers |
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| Messhof | Los Angeles | California | United States | Nidhogg | |
| MidBoss | San Francisco | California | United States | Read Only Memories | |
| Mighty Rabbit Studios | Cary | North Carolina | United States | Saturday Morning RPG Breach & Clear Breach & Clear: Deadline |
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| Mode 7 Games | Brighton | East Sussex | England | Frozen Synapse series Tokyo 42 |
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| Mojang | Stockholm | Sweden | Minecraft Cobalt Scrolls |
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| Molleindustria | Turin | Italy | Faith Fighter Phone Story |
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| Moon Studios | Vienna | Austria | Ori and the Blind Forest Ori and the Will of the Wisps |
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| NeocoreGames | Budapest | Hungary | The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing | ||
| New Star Games | United Kingdom | New Star Soccer | |||
| Nicalis | Santa Ana | California | United States | NightSky Cave Story VVVVVV 1001 Spikes The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth |
|
| Nifflas | Umeå | Sweden | Knytt Knytt Stories Within a Deep Forest |
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| Nival Interactive | Moscow | Russia | Blitzkrieg Silent Storm |
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| Number None | California | United States | Braid The Witness |
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| The Odd Gentlemen[1] | California | United States | The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom | ||
| Owlchemy Labs | Boston | Massachusetts | United States | Snuggle Truck AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality Job Simulator: The 2050 Archives |
|
| Parallax Studio | Nixa | Missouri | United States | Darkstar: The Interactive Movie | |
| PixelJAM Games | United States | Dino Run | |||
| Polytron Corporation[1] | Montreal | Canada | Fez | ||
| Playdead[1] | Copenhagen | Denmark | Limbo Inside |
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| Puppy Games | Notting Hill | United Kingdom (England) | Revenge of the Titans Droid Assault |
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| Positech Games | United Kingdom | Democracy Gratuitous Space Battles |
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| Private Moon Studios | Hungary | AGON series Yoomurjak's Ring |
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| Provox Games | Zagreb | Croatia | Space Force: Rogue Universe | ||
| Psyonix Studios | San Diego | California | United States | Rocket League Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars ARC Squadron |
|
| Punch Entertainment | Palo Alto | California | United States | ||
| Q-Games | Kyoto | Japan | Star Fox Command PixelJunk series |
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| Rake in Grass | Prague | Czech Republic | Jets 'n' Guns Larva Mortus |
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| Red Thread Games | Oslo | Norway | Dreamfall Chapters Draugen |
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| Renegade Kid | Austin | Texas | United States | Mutant Mudds | |
| Daniel Remar | Sweden | Iji | |||
| Relentless Software | Brighton | United Kingdom | Buzz! Blue Toad Murder Files |
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| Re-Logic | Floyds Knobs | United States | Terraria | ||
| Renegade Kid | Austin | Texas | United States | Dementium: The Ward Moon Dementium II |
|
| Roll7 | London | United Kingdom (England) | OlliOlli
OlliOlli2: Welcome to Olliwood Not a Hero |
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| Ronimo Games[1] | Utrecht | Netherlands | de Blob Swords & Soldiers Awesomenauts |
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| Rovio Entertainment | Espoo | Finland | Angry Birds | ||
| S2 Games | Rohnert Park | California | United States | Savage: The Battle for Newerth Savage 2: A Tortured Soul Heroes of Newerth |
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| Saber Interactive | Millburn | New Jersey | United States | Will Rock TimeShift |
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| Sandlot Games | Bothell | Washington | United States | Cake Mania | |
| Santa Cruz Games | Santa Cruz | California | United States | Tomb Raider: Underworld Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash |
|
| Schell Games | Pittsburgh | Pennsylvania | United States | I Expect You To Die | Developer and publisher |
| Scott Cawthon | Salado | Texas | United States | Five Nights at Freddy's series | |
| Semi Secret Software[1] | Austin | Texas | United States | Canabalt | |
| Sidhe | Wellington | New Zealand | GripShift Shatter Rugby Challenge series Rugby League series (2003-2010) |
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| Simogo | Malmö | Sweden | Device 6 Year Walk Beat Sneak Bandit Bumpy Road |
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| Silver Creek Entertainment | Grants Pass | Oregon | United States | Soltrio Solitaire | |
| Ska Studios | Marcy | New York | United States | Survival Crisis Z The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES 1NIT!!!1 The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile Charlie Murder Salt and Sanctuary |
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| Skygoblin | Gothenburg | Sweden | The Journey Down | ||
| Soldak Entertainment | Dallas | Texas | United States | Depths of Peril Kivi's Underworld Din's Curse |
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| Spiderweb Software | Seattle | Washington | United States | Exile series Avernum series Geneforge series Nethergate |
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| Splash Damage | London | United Kingdom (England) | Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory Enemy Territory: Quake Wars |
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| Squad | Mexico City | Mexico | Kerbal Space Program | ||
| Stardock | Plymouth | Michigan | United States | Galactic Civilizations series Elemental series The Political Machine series |
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| Storm Impact | Glenview | Illinois | United States | TaskMaker | |
| Studio Pixel | Japan | Cave Story Ikachan Kero Blaster |
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| Studio Thunderhorse | Roseville | California | United States | Flynn: Son of Crimson | |
| Subatomic Studios | Boston | Massachusetts | United States | Fieldrunners | |
| Supergiant Games | San Jose | California | United States | Bastion Transistor Pyre Hades |
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| SuperVillain Studios | Santa Ana | California | United States | Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony Order Up! |
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| Tarsier Studios | Malmö | Sweden | Little Nightmares | ||
| Tale of Tales | Ghent | Belgium | The Endless Forest The Graveyard The Path |
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| TaleWorlds | Ankara | Turkey | Mount&Blade Mount&Blade: Warband Mount&Blade: With Fire & Sword |
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| Team Shanghai Alice | Ebina | Kanagawa | Japan | Touhou Project | |
| Telltale Games | San Rafael | California | United States | Sam & Max episodic series
The Walking Dead series Minecraft: Story Mode |
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| Terry Cavanagh | London | United Kingdom (England) | VVVVV Super Hexagon |
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| thatgamecompany[1] | Los Angeles | California | United States | flOw Cloud Flower Journey |
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| Three Rings Design | San Francisco | California | United States | Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates Bang! Howdy Whirled |
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| Tiger Style[2] | Austin | Texas | United States | Waking Mars Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor Spider: Rite of the Shrouded Moon |
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| tinyBuild | Bothell | Washington | United States | No Time to Explain | Since 2016 only active as a publisher |
| Terri Vellmann | Brazil | Heavy Bullets | |||
| Toby Fox | Boston | Massachusetts | United States | Undertale Deltarune |
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| Torpex Games | Bellevue | Washington | United States | Schizoid | |
| Tomorrow Corporation | United States | Little Inferno World of Goo |
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| Total Mayhem Games | Rotterdam | Zuid-Holland | Netherlands | We Were Here | |
| Trendy Entertainment | Gainesville | Florida | United States | Dungeon Defenders | |
| Tribute Games | Montreal | Quebec | Canada | Wizorb Mercenary Kings Curses 'N Chaos |
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| Trickster Arts | Brno | Czech Republic | Hero of Many Hackers |
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| Twisted Pixel[1] | Austin | Texas | United States | The Maw 'Splosion Man Ms. Splosion Man |
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| Uber Entertainment | Kirkland | Washington | United States | Planetary Annihilation Monday Night Combat Super Monday Night Combat |
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| Vectorpark | Brooklyn | New York | United States | Windosill Metamorphabet |
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| Vlambeer[2] | Utrecht | Netherlands | Super Crate Box Serious Sam: The Random Encounter Luftrausers Nuclear Throne |
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| VoxelStorm | Manchester | United Kingdom | GolfXTRM Fractyr AdvertCity |
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| Wadjet Eye Games | New York City | New York | United States | The Shivah Blackwell series Gemini Rue Shardlight |
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| WayForward Technologies, Inc. | Valencia | California | United States | Shantae series Contra 4 A Boy and His Blob Mighty Switch Force series Double Dragon Neon DuckTales Remastered |
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| Wolfire Games | Berkeley | California | United States | Black Shades Lugaru: The Rabbit's Foot Overgrowth |
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| Xona Games[4] | Yarmouth | Nova Scotia | Canada | Score Rush | |
| XMG Studio | Toronto | Ontario | Canada | ||
| Yacht Club Games | Valencia, California | California | United States | Shovel Knight | Founded by former Wayforward director Sean Velasco |
| Young Horses | Chicago | Illinois | United States | Octodad
Octodad: Dadliest Catch Bugsnax |
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| Zachary Barth | Seattle | Washington | United States | Infiniminer SpaceChem |
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| Zoetrope Interactive | Istanbul | Turkey | Darkness Within Darkness Within: The Dark Lineage |
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| Zoink | Gothenburg | Sweden | PlayStation All-Stars Island The Kore Gang |
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| Zoonami | Cambridge | England | United Kingdom | Zendoku Bonsai Barber |
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| ZootFly | Ljubljana | Slovenia | First Battalion |
 | This list related to video games is incomplete; you can help by . (October 2021) |
See also[]
- Casual game
- Dojin soft
- Fangame
- Indie game
- List of video game developers
References[]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Webster, Andrew (June 23, 2012). "26 indie game developers you need to follow". GamesRadar. Future plc. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Campbell, Colin (December 18, 2012). "12 Top Indie Developers Talk Games". IGN. j2 Global. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
- ^ "TribePlay Rebrands as Dr. Panda in Honor of Children's Game Franchise". adweek.com.
- ^ Charla, Chris (February 27, 2014). "New Developers Sign On to ID@Xbox". Xbox Wire. Microsoft. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
External links[]
- Indie DB, a comprehensive database of indie developers and titles.
Categories:
- Video game lists
- Video game development companies