Indie Games Plus – One Year Later - [INDIEGAMING]

Happy first birthday (plus five days. NO, I didn’t forget about it.) to us! It’s been a wonderful year with you, but not one without challenges.

It’s been an endless delight to cover all of the varied things happening in indie games over the past year. Every day has been filled with new surprises as developers push to make games do more things, seeing what this medium is capable of. The constant new expressions, humorous games, pulse-pounding action titles, and emotional connections that have come from indie developers all across the world make every day a joy.

They have served to connect us, letting us share in fun, happiness, and even pain, seeking to grow empathy in a time when we all need to stick together an help one another. These games and artistic expressions and emotional journeys have shown how the interactivity of games can bring us together and remind us of our shared humanity.

We’ve grown in sharing these games with you over this past year. We’re creeping close to a million views of all the varied works we’ve shared with you, and we couldn’t be prouder. A million eyes on all of these amazing works. It’s a staggering number to me. And we’re continuing to grow every day as we work to create a safe, welcoming, and supportive site for games and the artists who create them. I’m so proud of what the writers of this site have done, and all of the artists whose works bring people together on this site (PS: If you love us too, we could always use a few bucks on our Patreon. Everything helps, believe me!).

For all of the hopefulness I’ve seen in games through the site and our work with developers, I’ve also seen some grim things. I wanted this to be a celebration of all we’ve done here, but games have also been a place of terrible ugliness that we cannot ignore.

We’ve seen the sickening allegations that have rightfully shaken many of us in the industry. We’ve seen the agony and abuse that have come from those who’ve created experiences we once treasured. From those who claim to love games, but are willing to ruin the lives of those who create them. We need to rally behind those who’ve been hurt and offer them support in these times, and in what will likely be many, many more bad times ahead.

We need to speak up when people are being hurt. We need to be vigilant for those who take advantage of new developers, or of people in general. We need to stand with those who have been harmed for the ‘crime’ of trying to make something that brings us joy. Games should not come from human rubble – no developer, no matter their talent, is worth the destruction of a life.

We can do better. We do not need to tolerate those who would take advantage of the excitement and passion of new creators. We don’t need people who use their influence and power to hurt and abuse. We can call them out. We can draw a line in the sand, rather than joke and dismiss. We can listen when our most vulnerable speak. We HAVE to listen. And we HAVE to stand with them.

I love indie games and the people who make them. My life has been enriched by the kindness and creativity of those who’ve shared their experiences and lives through games. These people, who I’ve often never met, have made my life better through their art. Have helped me become what I hope is a more empathetic person. These people are a gift to the world, and they are being trampled. It is unacceptable. As human beings being hurt, it is unacceptable.

The most generous and loving of us all need us right now. They always have, but we didn’t see it. We need to look harder. We need to always be on the lookout for signs of abuse in our peers. We need to be willing to act, even when it hurts us to discover that those we admire do hurtful things. We need to be vigilant in ourselves and our own selfish desires, be they to abuse or to just brush aside information we don’t like. We need to stand with creators when they are being torn down for the decisions they make to simply survive in this medium. We cannot abide those who would harass and harm those who are constantly pushing what games can be.

It has been a pleasure to see games grow into this loving space, but there is a long, long walk ahead of us. It will be  a challenging journey, but I hold out hope that we can do it. Everything I have seen in our work with this site, and of the strength, courage, and empathy of the brave developers who continue to make art in games, tells me that it is possible. I hope that we can stop being blind to the pain around us, and the abuse we often willfully ignored. I’m willing to walk this together with you, though.

Thank you for choosing to walk it with us. We can do this. Together.

Joel Couture
Editor-in-Chief
IndieGamesPlus

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