The winners of Indies Crash E3, an initiative to send ten indie studios to Los Angeles' AAA-dominated mega-tradeshow, have just been announced—but this isn't just a feelgood project to get some lesser-known names in the limelight. The ten winners will be affecting some serious change in the entire industry, says Ian Kinsey, director of SemiFormal Studios and the Indies Crash E3 project.
"I foresee us being able to affect a serious change at E3, and in the industry as a whole," Kinsey tells PC Gamer, when asked their reasons for doing this. "Indie games are arguably where most of the innovation and creativity come from, so getting more players addicted to those clever indie titles will force big developers to compete with equally compelling gameplay."
"Nothing against profit-seeking—if E3 didn't make money, it wouldn't happen—but being a show for the industry, we think E3 needs to be accessible to all facets, not just the most profitable ones."
Fans were asked to nominate their favorite indie studios, with Saibot Studios, Kaiju Combat, and Project Neumann topping the list—the full list of winners can be found at the Indies Crash E3 site . Each of the winning studios will receive two passes to the tradeshow, as well their nominator. Kinsey, himself an indie developer, admits that while other conventions and conferences are much more indie-friendly, it's important that indies have a right to be at E3 too.
"Frankly, E3 is the gaming show in terms of coverage," he explains. "E3 is an event meant to showcase what's going on in the industry; the big boys rule that playground. Yes, we indies are more welcome elsewhere, but we're a big part of the industry and it doesn't sit right that we don't have a major presence at an industry event."
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