Skip to main content

Long read: The beauty and drama of video games and their clouds

"It's a little bit hard to work out without knowing the altitude of that dragon..."

If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

IndieCity opens its virtual doors to the public

Over 45 games on the store.

IndieCity, the PC portal for indie games (no mainstream games allowed), has opened its virtual doors to the public.

Over 45 games are on the store, set up by Blitz Games.

A recommendations engine helps gamers digest what's on offer. A download client manages the game library, and lets you set free games and demos to be automatically downloaded.

IndieCity aims to give indie developers a better deal: up to 85 per cent if the developer integrates their game with IndieCity's SDK. This share will rise to 90 per cent if 100 games are on the store by 31st December.

Project lead Chris Swan said: "It's absolutely fantastic to now be open to the public. The fundamental reason for IndieCity existing was the lack of a single destination website that allowed gamers to explore the entire breadth of the indie gaming scene.

"So I'm already delighted that the variety of the games being sold, even in this early phase, fully backs up our beliefs"

Gamers can now browse the site and download games at IndieCity.com.

You get your own personalised homepage based on what games you and your friends like. You also get badges, achievements and points as you use the site, for example for writing a helpful review or retweeting a developer's Tweet about their game.

In July Swan told Eurogamer he hoped IndieCity would uncover the next indie game developer superstar.

"For many indie developers that's what they want to do," Swan said. "Not those who believe Notch is now a sell-out. They perhaps aren't quite so keen on that.

"You don't have to be poor to be an indie developer. That's a fallacy. You don't have to be living in squalor just because you're an indie dev.

"We want to create a place where these indie devs can make a living from making their own games."