It is now more or less impossible to put a precise figure on the number of video games released each year. According to data published by the digital store Steam, almost 19,000 titles were released in 2024 and thats just on one platform. Hundreds more arrived on consoles and smartphones. In some ways this is the positive sign of a vibrant industry, but how on earth does a new project get noticed? When Triple A titles with multimillion dollar marketing budgets are finding it hard to gain attention (disappointing sales have been reported for Dragon Age: The Veilguard, the Final Fantasy VII remakes and EA Sports FC), what chance is there for a small team to break out?And yet it does happen. Last years surprise hit Balatro has shifted more than 5m copies. Complex medieval strategy title Manor Lords sold 1m copies during its launch weekend. But what awaits a small developer after they achieve success? And what does success even mean in a continuously evolving industry?James Carbutt and Will Todd of Coal Supper are still trying to make sense of it. Their acerbic satire Thank Goodness Youre Here!, in which players slap their way through bizarre quotidian scenarios in the fictional humble northern town of Barnsworth, is now an award-winning game. Its just not registered as a success in my head at all, says Carbutt. The numbers are going up on screen, and there have been YouTube playthroughs and some erotic fan art. Beyond that, it wont register.I cant imagine making any more games. I dont know where I would go from hereAfter spending three years working on the project, the pair now find themselves in the confusing glare of the spotlight, fielding questions about whats next. Its horrible, Carbutt jokes. But I dont think we feel any sort of second-album syndrome. The space it gives you to be a bit introspective about what you want to do next is the interesting quirk of a successful indie game.Veteran indie developer Gabe Cuzzillo (Ape Out, Baby Steps) offered them sage wisdom. He spoke about how you should focus not just on making something good because how do you quantify that, its amorphous? says Todd. Instead we should look at what it is we want to explore and judge success intrinsically, based on whether we explored that thing. The pressure of speed to market doesnt apply to us, because its never going to be possible to crank something out in six months to chase success anyway. Its more like, in the wake of this being received well, whats the next thing we want to explore? Thats something were interrogating at the moment.Australian developer Grace Bruxner has also redefined success after leaving behind a trilogy of Frog Detective games: bite-size adventures co-developed with Thomas Bowker that quickly became cult indie hits.Has it impacted peoples lives in a positive way? Frog Detective. Photograph: WormclubSuccess in games has always been a bit of a lie, a bit of an illusion, she says, pointing to typical markers such as cultural impact, player numbers and financial gain. My measure of success is: did I make something Im proud of, and has it impacted my life and other peoples lives in a positive way? And yes, it did, so thumbs up.Bruxner began working on the series during her final year at university as an experiment, to see whether she could produce a commercial game. After a relatively breezy first outing, the second Frog Detective game demanded that Bruxner and Bowker lock in, and spend most of their time on the project. By the third instalment, the hard work had paid off, though the pressure had begun to take its toll. Throw in the pandemic, as well as mental and physical health issues, and Bruxner was ready to take a break. I wasnt grinding super hard, but I also wasnt having a great time, she says. It just was really nice to make that choice to stop.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Pushing ButtonsFree weekly newsletterKeza MacDonald's weekly look at the world of gamingPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionIm looking forward to making art again, instead of feeling like I have to show up to a job I never applied toBruxner still has game ideas swirling in the back of her head, but she wanted to escape the endless production cycle that has swallowed up many of her peers, regardless of mounting exhaustion or burnout. Its not universal advice, she says, but if youre a solo dev or a really small team, I dont think theres any shame in leaving it there. Unless you love making games. Im not sure I love making games. I was quite young when we released the first Frog Detective, so it was like, This is my entire identity for life. I dont know how to be a separate person from that.Three years after the series swan song, she is on indefinite hiatus, exploring alternative creative paths such as pottery. I cant imagine making games, because of the expectations on me as a creator, she explains. I dont even know where I would go from here.Bruxner has been surprised by her ability to sustain herself on the modest amount of money provided by Frog Detective. If your game continues to have a tail, and you can budget properly and live within your means, it is possible to have a passive income that isnt tied to being a horrible landlord, she explains. Even so, she knows how taboo it can be to talk plainly about money, especially in creative circles like the indie game scene. I have the free time to chill and decide what I want to do, but I assume at some point Ill probably need to have a career again. My biggest question is will this money last forever? Probably not, and then what happens when it runs out? I dont know.Opportunities are limited Consume Me. Photograph: HexecutableIt may seem as though more indies than ever have broken into the spotlight in recent years. But enduring games industry turbulence has made finding financial support for follow-ups and debuts more complicated. The elephant in the room is everything thats happened over the past couple of years, with mass layoffs, studio closures and evaporating funding opportunities, explains AP Thomson, a developer of the forthcoming indie Consume Me with fellow NYU Game Center graduate Jenny Jiao Hsia. Before that, there was a pretty major change around the mid-2010s when indie publishers and funders started rising in prominence. Everything weve heard suggests that the same opportunities no longer exist or are incredibly limited.Consume Me, the duos coming-of-age scheduling RPG doesnt have a release date but has already been nominated for five gongs at the Independent Games Festival awards. As such, Jiao Hsia and Thomson are already under pressure to decide their next endeavour. Multiple people have told us we should be moving forward once it launches, says Thomson.Even with growing expectations, the pair arent keen to get ahead of themselves. Everything weve heard suggests that now is really not a great time to be pitching, so were going to focus our energy on the launch and then read the temperature of the room after that, Thomson adds.Im looking forward to finding enjoyment in making art again, instead of feeling like I have to show up to a job I never applied to, explains Jiao Hsia. The idea of making art for fun, without worrying about making money off it, is something I cant wait to do.