'Is Dave The Diver an indie game? I would say no,' says game director

GamesAdventureDave the Diver’Is Dave The Diver an indie game? I would say no,' says game directorWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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(Image credit: Nexon)

Dave holds up a fish he just caught

Every year—and sometimes multiple times per year—the same gaming debates pop up all over again. Review scores: are they good or bad? Are esports players real athletes? Should difficult games always have easy modes? And don’t forget the interminableyellow paint debate.

The definition of “indie game” is one of those recurring discussions, and it came up once around last year’s Game Awards, whenDave the Diverwas nominated for ‘Best Independent Game’ alongside games like Dredge and Cocoon. Not everyone was thrilled about that: while Dave The Diver definitely has “indie vibes” like 2D pixel art, and the development team at Mintrocket is a relatively small one, Mintrocket itself is a sub-brand of Nexon—a large South Korean game publisher.

At the Game Developers Conference this week in San Francisco, I sat down with Dave the Diver’s game director, Jaeho Hwang, to ask for his take on the debate, whether he considers Dave the Diver an indie game or not, and what exactlyisan indie game, anyway?

“If you ask ‘Is Dave The Diver an indie game?’ I would say no,” Hwang told me. He was still pleased to receive the nomination in recognition of the hard work his team did. “I really appreciate all the media and critics for nominating us for the best indie game,” he said. “That’s a big honor for us.”

“I don’t want [indie developers] to think that we are invading their territory,“Game director Jaeho Hwang

“I don’t want [indie developers] to think that we are invading their territory,”

“I don’t want them to think that we are invading their territory. I have a huge respect for them.”

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Everyone says triple-A or indie, but there’s so many games in between.Jaeho Hwang

Everyone says triple-A or indie, but there’s so many games in between.

So, what does the term “indie game” mean to Hwang? “It’s a tough word to define,” he said. “If you started development under a certain organization, maybe you’re not an indie because there might be some business strategy involved already.” According to Hwang, Nexon was mostly hands-off and didn’t give Mintrocket much direction on Dave the Diver’s development, but he still recognizes his studio is part of a much larger operation. “So I don’t think we are indie in that perspective.”

It’s possible we simply need more words to describe games, Hwang says. “Triple-indie?” he suggested, along with “single-A,” laughing a little. “Everyone says triple-A or indie, but there’s so many games in between.”

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