Some Train2Game students have already founded their own independent game studios, but what exactly does it mean to be an indie developer? For Jeremiah Slaczk, Creative Director of Scribblenauts developer 5^th Cell, it’s to be part of a small team and making the games you want to.

“For me “indies” are usually small teams making quirky stuff born out of the love of making games, so getting bought isn’t part of their plan.” he told Game Informer.

“For us independence means we get to wake up every morning and do what we love and without anyone else dictating to us how to run our studio or how to make our games their way. The reason we can do this is because we were able to start from nothing and work on smaller projects to build our company and retain control.” said Slaczk.

The 5^th Cell Creative Director also told Game Informer that for an independent studio to be successful, they not only need to be exciting, but also need good funding to be completed properly.

“My big buzz word lately is “compelling”. You need to create something compelling for people to take interest in it, for people to want it over something else.” Slaczk said.

“That means it should be an idea people are excited by when they see it, so it’s got to be a good idea and it needs the financial backing to be executed well. If you look at the top studios in the world, they are typically very well-funded.” he added.

5^th Cell recently released an iPad version of Scribblenauts, and are currently developing Hybrid, a third person shooter scheduled for release through Xbox Live Arcade in 2012. The full Game Informer interview with Creative Director Jeremiah Slaczk is interesting reading for Train2Game students.

So Train2Game, what do you make of Slaczk’s definition of an independent game developer? And what do you think makes an indie studio an indie studio?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Game Informer]