It’s not uncommon for big AAA games to have enormous budgets that are often bigger than blockbuster movies. Consider the budgets for Destiny, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and Grand Theft Auto V. Respectively these games have budgets of $500 million, $275 million and $268 million.

With budgets like this these games have to be big hits that appeal to mass audiences. They need to be flashy, action-packed adventures that appeal to anyone. In essence, they need to be the summer blockbuster material.

But games like this do not appeal to everyone. Just as some have tired of the endless supply of Marvel Comics movies that dominate summer release schedules, many want games that appeal that take risks with both the narrative and gameplay. Convincing a big studio to take a risk and fund a game like this isn’t the easiest of tasks — impossible if you don’t already have the right connections — which has given rise to the Kickstarter gaming economy.

Rise of the indies

The perception that big studios are drowning out creativity and leaving the industry with a creative deficit has led to a strong Kickstarter-backed gaming community pushing out indie games. These are games that aren’t pushing to have the cutting-edge graphics, or multi-platform releases. These are games that push the envelope of narrative and interaction creativity.

“Working in independent games right now, it feels like there’s infinite potential in any direction,” indie game designer Robin Arnott is quoted as saying in the trailer to new video game documentary GameLoading: Rise of the Indies.

Kickstarter developers are not constrained by the need for their projects to become massive commercial successes. While some games utilize cutting-edge engines such as the Unreal Engine 4 or the CryTek engine (made possible by the indie-friendly license fees both have), others take a step back and incorporate retro-style 8-bit graphics.

Big studios taking notice

The rise of indie gaming has not gone unnoticed by big game studios. While initially some indie developers were ‘refugees’ from creativity-starved studios, now studios are developing publishing brands to give indies a wider release. In many ways this is like how major studios such as Fox (NASDAQ: FOX) have developed spin-off brands for indie films like Fox Searchlight Pictures.

Consider the case of Valiant Hearts, a 2D-side scroller set in the trenches of the First World War with a strong anti-war message. Neither the First World War nor side scrollers are very marketable when compared to Call of Duty style first-person shooters, but the game’s developers, who work at Ubisoft (EPA: UBI), got the publishing giant to greenlight the game and release it earlier this year.

Yoan Fanise, the game’s Content Director, explained to Kotaku, explained he got the game approved by Ubisoft’s CEO after a successful pitch meeting.

“Our luck was that Yves Guillemot, the CEO of Ubisoft himself, was emotionally touched by the story. He was a constant support for us,” Fanise explained to Kotaku. “The First World War itself is not a theme with a very wide appeal. It’s even less appealing in 2D, and even less again with no gun in your hands, so we had to constantly be knocking on doors to even exist alongside Ubisoft’s blockbusters.”

Fansie believes that eventually the game industry will evolve to incorporate more challenging, indie title as gamers’ tastes mature.

“The movie industry has the exact same problem, but is more mature and is often willing to take bigger risks. I think it’s time for our industry to grew up and be less scary about original ideas, or trying new things,” he explained.

The future of the industry

While examples like Valiant Hearts show that big studios are taking note of the rise of indie games, in many ways the indie game industry is fine without them. It used to be that big publishers played a key role in game development: you needed access to their capital to develop the game, and without their distribution network you couldn’t get your product to customers.

But Kickstarter and digital distribution platforms such as Steam have changed that; they have democratized the industry and leveled the playing field so that merit — not connections — matter when getting an idea for an indie game off the ground.

There will always be cases such a Valiant Hearts where a big studio steps in, but there are too many cases of successful game developers doing just fine without them to say that big studios play a pivotal role in the future of indie gaming. Now, it’s all about artists and developers.

The post The Rise and Rise of Kickstarter Indie Games appeared first on VR World.

Far Cry 4 is a shooter at heart, but its vast open-world sandbox can deliver some of the most chaotic and memorable events in gaming.

In recent videos we’ve sen how herds of elephants can smash enemy convoys into smithereens, and how you can rain down a flurry of bullets on baddies from the skies with the new Buzzard gyrocopter.

Wild rhinos crash into everything nearby when agitated. Use this to your advantage for tactical gunfights–just make sure you’re not in their path.

We’ve seen Ajay Ghale, the game’s protagonist, perform death defying stunts on a regular basis. Ghale has done everything from expertly navigate precipitous snow-paths on a snowmobile while blasting royal guards with a shotgun, and soar the icy heights of the highlands with his wingsuit.

But most of the footage we’ve seen is specifically pieced together. What about actual playthroughs?

The PlayStation Blog asked Far Cry 4 game director Pat Methe to describe some of his most memorable moments in Kyrat, and he provided some interesting details.

Methe talked about how the faithful the game’s hired guns can be even when faced with impossible odds.

Far Cry 4 lets you buy mercenaries to aid you throughout your journey, and seeing how hostile the landscape can be, it’s always a good idea to have an extra rifle whenever possible. These helpful hands will stay by your side even when death is almost certain–they’re that dedicated.

The Buzzer can also be an incredibly potent tool of destruction, as Methe accidentally found out.

The gyrocopter is primarily used to get to point A to point B while occasionally popping off a few rounds at enemies, but if you hop out of it without landing, it can be used as a missile of sorts to blow up nearby towers and vehicles. This isn’t a sure-fire method but when it does work, the resulting blast of fiery chaos should be pretty satisfying.

Kyrat has a rich and deep culture–even its spirituality is exotic.

The blog post also reveals Ajay’s two skill trees: the tiger and the elephant.

Tiger skills are focused primarily on offensive attacks and abilities to improve Ajay’s death-dealing prowess, whereas the elephant tree has your defensive and healing buffs and abilities. Mixing and matching specific skills will ensure a well-rounded warrior, but gamers are free to tailor Ghale as they see fit.

Kyrat is filled with treacherous hazards that make it an interesting and dangerous place to visit. Whether you’re battling squads of gun-toting psychos or going tooth-to-tooth with a vicious tiger, the region has many ways to take you out.

The highlands of Kyrat are home to grizzled wildlife born in the ice and snow. Even mountain goats aren’t to be trusted!

One of the more interesting finds was that mountain goats can actually kill you.

These brave, sure-footed billies will often knock you right off the edge of a mountain path–and if you’re quick you can save yourself with the wingsuit. But it’s surely unexpected, only going to show you that even the most benign-looking animals can turn out to be deadly adversaries.

It’ll be interesting to see what epic tales of hilarity and chaos that gamers share when Far Cry 4 releases next month, but for now we’ll have to keep our eyes peeled for more in-game footage.

Far Cry 4 is slated to release Nov. 18, 2014 across current and next-gen consoles and PC.

The post New Video Captures Epic Moments in Far Cry 4's Dynamic Open World appeared first on VR World.