Indie RPGs - What Does 'Indie' Mean?

Indiestatik have an editorial about when a game can be tagged as an Indie game. In the end the article cannot really give a concise answer, but does state it is not as simple as 'no publisher is involved'.

Alright then. Let’s start this thing from the top: ‘Indie’ is short for ‘independent’, right? And a game studio can be ‘independent’, i.e. not owned, funded or aided by the money of a publisher. So………..there ya’ go, then! Problem solved! Jeez, why have you guys been struggling with this one for so long? This question’s a cinch! Yup. Without a doubt I have just crafted an ironclad definition that, as a community, we can all agree is 100% accurate:

In-die   noun
1.      A video game created by a development studio that is ‘independent’ from publishers.
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HAHA. Oh man. I even fooled myself for a sec there! I mean, good lord, if only it really was that simple! Well, actually it would seem there’s plenty of people out there who DO think it’s that simple, and are more than willing to cause one hell of a ruckus about it…….when it suits them. For a rather unflattering example, one need only think back to the 11th month of the 32nd year of our lord Notch (known to some as May 2012), when the unholy titan of evil, Electronic Arts, dared unleash a plague of cut price video games upon the fair province of Steam. The name of this abomination? The EA ‘Indie’ bundle.