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[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Hit deep-sea exploration RPG Dave the Diver, developed by Nexon's subsidiary Mintrocket, became the subject of much debate when it received an out-of-place nomination for "Best Independent Game" at the 2023 Game Awards. People pointed out that, as a subsidiary of a major Korean entertainment conglomerate, Mintrocket shouldn't have been on the list at all. At the same time, due to Dave the Diver's unique, "indie-esque" visuals and gameplay, many were not even aware of these circumstances, merely assuming that it was an indie title.

The studio itself, however, never claimed their games were indie, and in a recent interview with 4Gamer, Mintrocket CEO and Dave the Diver creator Jaeho Hwang directly addressed the controversy, emphasizingthat Mintrocket had nothing to do with the nomination.

"I wonder if people mistook us for an indie studio just because we're developing games as a small team, or just because our art styles and game systems tend to be unique. For some reason, we also ended up getting nominated for the Best Indie Game award, which caused some people to go, 'Hey, isn't that a Nexon game?', but it's not like we applied for the award ourselves (laughs)."

As Hwang pointed out, the reason why Dave the Diver ended up on the ballot indeed had nothing to do with Nexon, but rather how the nomination system for the Game Awards works. According to the Game Awards official website, nominees for most categories are chosen by an international jury of over 100 global game media outlets – and most importantly, there is no submission process through which developers can apply themselves.

The Game Awards nomination policy states that all games are automatically eligible for nominations as long as they are released before the given deadline. Furthermore, as a non-exceptional rule, developers and publishers are not made aware of nominated games in advance.

With more than 100 global publications nominating the games, one could argue that they should be aware of the games released by major industry developers, however, it seems like enough of them believed that Dave the Diver truly was an indie game. With the game possibly taking another indie title's rightful place in the ballot, the backlash was almost inevitable, sparking debate among indie developers. In response, as reported by VGC, The Game Awards executive producer and host Geoff Keighley said he ultimately decided to leave it up to the jury as "independent is a broad term" and "it can mean different things to different people."

The CEO of Mintrocket, however, explains that it wasn't their goal to make Dave the Diver feel like an indie game. They're making games for Nexon, so even if they tried to go for an indie vibe, the fact that it's a game released by a major studio still stands – which is why trying to do that would be pointless, Hwang suggests.

Dave the Diver director addresses controversial “Best Indie Game” nomination from 2023. “There’s nothing indie about us, we didn’t apply for it” - AUTOMATON WEST

CEO of Nexon's subsidiary Mintrocket and director of Dave the Diver says the studio never intended to make indie-esque games.

automaton-media.com

 

[MSduderino]

Had no idea it wasn't indie

 

[kapshin]

But is it an Xbox?

 

[MiguelItUp]

I always thought it was weird people thought it was indie, it's basically Nexon as it's a subsidiary of Nexon, lol.

 

[Punished Miku]

Very few games on console truly are indie. It has to be self-published. There are lots of publishers for most "indie" games.

At this point, I look at it as a dual term. Some people use it literally for self-published games. A lot of people use it like a genre, like indie rock, indie films, many of which aren't really indie either. They just mean art house game, small scale.

Stuff that looks far more advanced than this like Jusant is actually self-published. Or Slitterhead. They're using their own money for all of it to try and hold on to ownership of the IP. You just have to look it up. Pretty embarrassing that journalists can't even bother with that, which just goes to show how much of a joke those awards are.

 

[Biff]

Had no idea it wasn't indie

Same here. Art style totally fooled me.

I guess my takeaway from this is good on Nexon for funding a game that looks nothing like what a major studio is funding these days.

 

[Kacho]

These days the indie label is more about graphics. It's very surface level.

 

[Wildebeest]

Indie just means shitty nostalgia bait NES/SNES graphics right?

 

[calico]

Come up with a different term to mean what people usually mean when they say 'indie' imo. Dave the Diver should be in the same category as those other games, and BG3 should not be.

 

[Black_Stride]

TGAs gonna TGA.

 

[Connificent]

 

[Little Mac]

If anyone is interested the Godzilla and Dredge DLC for Dave the Diver is currently free on Steam if you have the base game.

 

[Hideous Snake]

Now I love them more. Yeah, definitely not an indie game. People thinks if a small team makes a game or it's in a certain style then it's automatically an indie game. No it isn't

 

[March Climber]

Now I love them more. Yeah, definitely not an indie game. People thinks if a small team makes a game or it's in a certain style then it's automatically an indie game. No it isn't

This should have all snowballed into Geoff finally creating a 'Best AA' category. Unfortunately I don't think it will ever happen, as they just get shoved next to AAA to compete against them just to not win the awards.

 

[Fbh]

"nominees for most categories are chosen by an international jury of over 100 global game media outlets"
That's basically why it got nominated. Can't expect self proclaimed "jounralists" to at least look into the game they are nominating

Indie just means shitty nostalgia bait NES/SNES graphics right?

Nah, but a lot of people basically use it as a way to say "lower budget game".
Stray won the award a couple of years ago and that's a pretty modern looking game, though it's technically not an indie either.

 

[MSduderino]

Begs the question: what exactly is an indie game and what makes it one?

You kind of know one when you see one, but it's hard to define and some that look like indie games apparently aren't.

Are Hazelight, Supergiant, or Sandfall indie devs?

Can a dev ever "graduate" from indie to (mainstream?) devs?

To me, it seems to be a game without major top down influence from publishers, but obviously that's incomplete and maybe flat out wrong. Maybe no definition is perfect because indie can be how a game is made or a genre-fication of what we all think of as indie games - smaller experiences with generally less demanding graphics and smaller teams?

 

[Revolutionary]

If anyone is interested the Godzilla and Dredge DLC for Dave the Diver is currently free on Steam if you have the base game.

Those two DLC were always free. The Yakuza one is paid.

 

[Super Lemon Drop]

"Controversial" lol

Video games.

 

[Crayon]

Indy just means 2D now. So need to make a new name for independently published if you want to get any precision back.

 

[Madonis]

They were making an indie-like, on a purely visual level, but not as an actual indie operation.

 

[Jesb]

This is an industry that calls big budgets AAA. But you expected accuracy with this?

 

[Brakum]

Indie hasnt really meant independent pretty much since we started using the term.

 

[Deerock71]

Whatever. Just play the game. You'll lose 40 hours of your life living as a fat, retired diver, and you'll love every second of it.

 

[Durin]

The term has kinda gotten watered down to just "smaller budget game" for years now. I don't really care too much, but for an awards show it is stupid not to call it something else, or stick to self-published games.

 

[tTHANOSs]

But is it an Xbox?

Asking the real questions.

 

[FoxMcChief]

 

[MSduderino]

Yo, eff the nominees. Let's look at the winners. Which of these are truly indie games and which are frauds?:

2024 Balatro
2023 Sea of Stars
2022 Stray
2021 Kena: Bridge of Spirits
2020 Hades
2019 Disco Elysium
2018 Celeste
2017 Cuphead
2016 Inside
2015 Rocket League
2014 Shovel Knight

 

[ssringo]

With more than 100 global publications nominating the games, one could argue that they should be aware of the games released by major industry developers, however, it seems like enough of them believed that Dave the Diver truly was an indie game

Game publications not knowing about games or doing some basic research using the internet?

 

[Aenima]

Sorry, but if my 12 year old laptop can run your game, im calling it indie. Thers very few indie games that dont have a publisher. A trully independent game is Baldurs Gate 3, and i dont think its a game that fits the indies game cathegory.

 

[rofif]

Clair Obscur is also considered indie... but they outsourced a ton of work and have a publisher with gp deal etc.

 

[Hideous Snake]

This should have all snowballed into Geoff finally creating a 'Best AA' category. Unfortunately I don't think it will ever happen, as they just get shoved next to AAA to compete against them just to not win the awards.

Expedition 33 was also made by a small team. Is it also indie? No. I'm with you though, 100% behind Best AA category because those games are actually out there