Will 2015 Be the Year of the Indie?

[RaychelSnr]

With 2015 looking to start a bit slow in terms of games, especially with big AAA titles, there is a window for some indie developers to steal the spotlight. This is especially true in the sports space, as some industrious indie folks could come along and make a big impact in either an established sport or a fringe one. As both the Xbox One and PS4 start to gain market share — and with the WiiU, mobile and Steam providing other opportunities — there are lots of potential users for almost any sport. The proverbial brass ring is there if a developer wants to grab it.

What sort of games could we see? Frankly, I think almost every sport is up for consideration.

Read More - Will 2015 Be the Year of the Indie?

[jpollack34]

Nothing would be greater than to see the rise of the indies. It would provide much needed juice to a lagging genre. More than anything I would like to see the growth of customization. The sports genre is lagging behind and you can sense it. Not sure if it's fear but one senses the developer's lack of providing the users with any real options. It's palpable, and runs contrary to what's happening pretty much every where else - providing users with more power.

Let's end the nonsense of ever increasing licensing costs (passed on to the consumers) and barrier to entry for competitors. Hand over power to the users - that birth can only come from the indie scene.

[tarek]

Whilst licensing is a massive issue which limits authenticity with indie games I personally believe it provides a very interesting opportunity in the area of customization and community content.
Whilst a product can be released in a generic sense, if the community is allowed to mod and customize, then the experience becomes far greater. I mean, most people want to use real life sports teams, players, personalities, etc but they also want depth and gameplay.
An indie can provide great gameplay and depth, but often not the realism of licensed products. But there are no rules against community content, and so a community that creates the realism just adds to the experience.

I love my text sims, and I think OOTP, Beyond the Sideline football, Pro Strategy Football on iOS, Dynasty Manager on iOS and others are just proof of how awesome indie games can really be.

[Hulksavage]

I would be all over a non-license wrestling game, if it played well. To me, those games are all about created content. My friends and I always made a stable of our own wrestlers and came up with wacky back stories for them. I think wrestling games really have the ability to let people be creative and have fun with crazy characters. I have had friends that were so straight laced, they hardly cracked a smile, but put them in front of No Mercy, and they'd become their creation. I mean, I don't care about playing with John Cena; the Great Canadian Beast would break him!

[Dubsonic]

If OOTP gets a 3D front end ala Sega's Football Manager series it would put it over the top. Something lacking with text sims for a long time. #bridgethegap

[Simple Mathematics]

Please, somebody make a new hockey game.

[H to the Oza]

Dont forget, Rocket League has been announced for PS4 (maybe XB1?) - an arcade style mix between soccer and racing

[Fresh Tendrils]

I don't really care in what form it comes, but I really need something similar to NBA Street and NBA Jam in my life. Hell, even the NFL Street game was entertaining. Maybe some independent companies can hammer out some skating and snowboarding games while we're daydreaming here.