Hades 2 has finally entered Early Access as of May 6 2024, and while it's a triumph for all us patient fans, some ę¾³ę“²å¹øčæ5å¼å„å·ē åå²ę„čÆ¢:indie game devs pray you spare a thought foź¦r them during these trying times.
SFB Games' Tom Vian, co-creator of upcoming horror game Crow Country, was able to make light of standing in Supergiant's godlike shadow. "Good thing we picked a quiet news week to launch a video game," he remarked š²on . Crow Country releases later this week on May 9, meaning survival horror fans will be pulled between the PS1-style shooter and the sequel to everyone's favorite roguelike.
. "A heads up to support any smaller indies launching in the shadow of this," Kanaris-Sotiriou says in solidarity. With Mythwrecked slated to launch later this year at an as-yet unconfirmed date, however, players eager for more Greek mythos-fuelled adventures might want to wishlist it on to check out later in 2024.For some, it's a situation to make light of. Keen Games, developer of survival game Enshrouded, that development had been "pushed back 3 weeks," while indie publisher Devolver Digital claimed it had abruptly ended an entire šmeeting after the shadow drop. Dan Fornace, creator of platform fighter Rivals of Aetherš, that his sequel "is planned for late 2024 because I have incredible foresight" in response to the release.
But it's not all fun and games. Aggro Crab, which launched its underwater soulslike Another Crab's Treasure last month, that while its š¬sales were not really affected, "I feel bad for people releasing this week." Elsewhere, consultant Richie De Wit asked "can we collectively stop doing shadow drops for majorly anticipated games? ź¦ÆIt is, respectfully, a massive fuck you to your peers who have had to squeeze the most out of (in most cases) minimal marketing budgets."
Iām happy a sequel of a massive šÆindie gaš¤”me is doing well, but can we collectively stop doing shadow drops for majorly anticipated games?Itās is, respectfully, a massive fuck you to your peers who have had to squeeze the most out of (in most cases) minimal marketing budgets.
De Wit's comments might seem extreme, but it's not long since we saw the impact of EA's sudden drop of a host of old Command & Conquer games, which bulldozed their way through Steam's new šÆgame chaź¦rts - crucial for indie devs hoping to get in front of the largest possible audience. Hades 2 developer Supergiant doesn't quite have that same heft behind it, but it can't be denied that it's goą“t a massive reputation for an indie company, and a sequel to a game that contested for GOTY status in 2020 is always going to draw plenty of attention. Shadow drops are probably never gšoing away, but their impact on the indie scene isn't ever likely to diminish either.
Get a closer look at what's on its way with these ę¾³ę“²å¹øčæ5å¼å„å·ē åå²ę„čÆ¢:upcoming indie games.
Jasmine is a staff writer at GamesRadar+. Raised in Hong Kong and having graduated with an English Lišterature degree from Queen Mary, University of London in 2017, her passion for entertainment writing has taken her from reviewing underground concerts to blogging about the intersection between horror movies and browser games. Having made the career jump from TV broadcast ošperations to video games journalism during the pandemic, she cut her teeth as a freelance writer with TheGamer, Gamezo, and Tech Radar Gaming before accepting a full-time role here at GamesRadar. Whether Jasmine is researching the latest in gaming litigation for a news piece, writing how-to guides for The Sims 4, or extolling the necessity of a Resident Evil: CODE Veronica remake, you'll probably find her listening to metalcore at the same time.
