Gaming Indie News
Latest headlines and updates for indie game developers.
The decision wasn't a pivot. It was a forced bet.
Listen to the full conversation with Thimas Lehr
Published: Sep 04, 2026 | Read More25 people became 3. Nobody got laid off.
Drop the �win-win� framing. Sunrise Village had hit a ceiling. Lehr was upfront that the revenue numbers in the original piece, sourced from SensorTower, undercounted reality since they miss direct-to-consumer and browser revenue. But the actual number doesn't change the structural problem: a 25-person team on a game that had plateaued for years, with no path back to growth.
Published: Sep 04, 2026 | Read MoreThe actual unlock was a logging exercise.
The options on the table were 1) a skeleton crew, 2) outsourcing, or 3) AI. Lehr killed the first two fast. A skeleton crew without tooling just slow-bleeds a game to death; you can't produce enough content to retain players, so you're choosing a slower version of the same outcome. Space Ape sold us the �Lean Live Ops� narrative back in 2018. That story didn�t last the test of time.
Published: Sep 04, 2026 | Read MoreThey stuck with GPT-4o for a year and a half deliberately
Outsourcing brought management overhead and a loss of ownership that InnoGames wasn't willing to trade for. AI was the only option that didn't involve managing the decline.
Published: Sep 04, 2026 | Read MoreSkill erosion is real, and Lehr didn't dodge it
Key takeaway #1: If you�re sitting on a plateaued title, the AI question only gets interesting once you've ruled out the boring alternatives. Most studios never get that far. They jump straight to the AI pitch deck without doing the elimination work first.
Published: Sep 04, 2026 | Read MoreUK Games Growth Package driving "exceptional demand" one year on from launch
The UK government's £30 million Games Growth Package "is already making an impact" a year on from its launch, according to UK Creative Industries Minister Ian Murray. Read more
Published: Sep 04, 2026 | Read MoreThe GamesIndustry.biz Summer Party 2026 in photos
Last week, GamesIndustry.biz once again hosted the great and good of the UK games industry at our annual summer party, held once again on Brighton Pier during the Develop: Brighton conference. Read more
Published: Sep 04, 2026 | Read MoreXbox announces backwards compatibility for PC and handheld devices
Xbox is introducing backwards compatibility for PC and handheld devices, starting with four original titles: BLiNX: The Time Sweeper, Conker: Live and Reloaded, Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge, and Fuzion Frenzy. Read more
Published: Sep 04, 2026 | Read MoreGamescom 2026's exhibition area is fully booked for the first time
The exhibition area of Gamescom 2026 has hit a new milestone and is, for the first time, completely booked up this year. Read more
Published: Sep 04, 2026 | Read MoreDespite Xbox console sales doubling YoY, hardware sales across the US are down 62% | US Monthly Charts
Total video game sales in the US fell by a fifth year-on-year, with total projected video game sales estimated to have dropped from $5.7 billion to $4.5 billion between June 2025 and June 2026. Read more
Published: Sep 04, 2026 | Read MoreAnnounce Your Launch (coming soon)
Gameseek allows indie devs to make a "Grand Announcement".
Public Announcement Feature
Bring a massive wave of traffic to your site.
When you announce your site publicly on Gameseek:
- Your game is featured at the very top of the homepage.
- A notification is sent to our active user base.
- You get a "Featured Today" badge for your own site.
- It creates a dedicated thread for user feedback and reviews.