Indie gaming - statistics & facts

Indie gaming is bigger than you think. You might be surprised to learn that some of your favorite video games have actually been created by a solo developer or a mini studio. From genre classic Stardew Valley to very first iterations of Minecraft, independent developers have been putting out gaming titles which have made their mark on the gaming landscape.

Annual full game revenue of indie games on Steam
***bn USD

Annual number of indie games sold on Steam
***m

Market share of indie games released on Steam
****%

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Editor’s Picks
Current statistics on this topic

Video Gaming & eSports

All-time best-selling indie games 2025

Video Gaming & eSports

Global game developers working on projects for selected platforms 2026

Video Gaming & eSports

Terraria cumulative units sold worldwide 2024

Overview

Steam market share of indie games 2018-2024 YTD
Steam market share of indie games 2018-2024 YTD
Market share of indie games released on Steam from 2018 to 2024 YTD
Steam game sales revenue 2018-2025 YTD
Steam game sales revenue 2018-2025 YTD
Revenue generated by game sales on Steam from 2018 to 2025 YTD (in billion U.S. dollars)
Steam indie games annual full-game revenue 2018-2024 YTD
Steam indie games annual full-game revenue 2018-2024 YTD
Full game revenue of indie games sold on Steam from 2018 to 2024 YTD (in billion U.S. dollars)
Steam annual game units sold 2018-2025 YTD
Steam annual game units sold 2018-2025 YTD
Number of video game units sold by Steam from 2018 to 2025 YTD (in millions)
Steam indie games annual unit sales 2018-2024 YTD
Steam indie games annual unit sales 2018-2024 YTD
Number of indie games sold on Steam from 2018 to 2024 YTD (in millions)
Number of games released on Steam 2018-2023, by developer type
Number of games released on Steam 2018-2023, by developer type
Number of games released on Steam worldwide from 2018 to 2023, by developer type

Indie game development

Game developer employment status worldwide 2015-2023
Game developer employment status worldwide 2015-2023
Employment status among game developers worldwide from 2015 to 2023
Global video game publishers 2024, by indie game publishing status
Global video game publishers 2024, by indie game publishing status
Number of video game publishers worldwide as of June 2024, by indie game publishing status
Global F2P video game publishers 2024, by indie game publishing status
Global F2P video game publishers 2024, by indie game publishing status
Number of free-to-play (F2P) video game publishers worldwide as of June 2024, by indie game publishing status
Global video game publishers types of games 2024, by region
Global video game publishers types of games 2024, by region
Share of video game publishers worldwide publishing various types of games as of June 2024, by region
Global indie and midsize game dev platform choices 2023
Global indie and midsize game dev platform choices 2023
Platform choices of indie and mid-size video game development studios in 2023

Game performance

Most popular video game genres on Twitch 2025, by hours watched
Most popular video game genres on Twitch 2025, by hours watched
Most popular video game genres on Twitch in September 2025, by viewership hours (in millions)
Most viewed indie games on YouTube during Gamescom week 2024
Most viewed indie games on YouTube during Gamescom week 2024
Most popular indie games during Gamescom week in August 2024, by views on YouTube (in 1,000s)
The Game Awards winners 2024, by category
The Game Awards winners 2024, by category
Select The Game Awards winners in 2024, by category
The Game Awards best indie game winners 2014-2024
The Game Awards best indie game winners 2014-2024
Best Independent Game winners at The Game Awards winners from 2014 to 2024

Indie gamer preferences

Reasons for playing indie games among weekly PC gamers 2023
Reasons for playing indie games among weekly PC gamers 2023
Reasons for PC gamers in the United States and United Kingdom (UK) to play indie games as of October 2023
Number of video game purchases 2023, by type
Number of video game purchases 2023, by type
Number of games purchased among video game buyers in the past 12 months as of 2023, by type
Indie and traditional game buyer video gameplay priorities 2023
Indie and traditional game buyer video gameplay priorities 2023
Gaming priorities according to indie and traditional game buyers of 2023
Indie and traditional game buyer video game theme preference 2023
Indie and traditional game buyer video game theme preference 2023
Preferred video game settings and themes according to indie and traditional game buyers of 2023
Indie and traditional game buyer video game monetization preference 2023
Indie and traditional game buyer video game monetization preference 2023
Monetization model preferences according to indie and traditional video game buyers of 2023

Top-selling indie games

All-time best-selling indie games 2025
All-time best-selling indie games 2025
Best-selling indie games worldwide as of February 2025 (in million units sold)
Balatro units sold worldwide 2025
Balatro units sold worldwide 2025
Lifetime unit sales of Balatro worldwide as of January 2025 (in 1,000s)
Buckshot Roulette units sold worldwide 2024
Buckshot Roulette units sold worldwide 2024
Lifetime unit sales of Buckshot Roulette worldwide as of December 2024 (in 1,000s)
Cult of the Lamb cumulative units sold worldwide 2024
Cult of the Lamb cumulative units sold worldwide 2024
Lifetime unit sales of Cult of the Lamb worldwide as of October 2024 (in millions)
Dead Cells units sold worldwide 2023
Dead Cells units sold worldwide 2023
Lifetime unit sales of Dead Cells worldwide as of June 2023 (in millions)
Human: Fall Flat cumulative units sold worldwide 2025
Human: Fall Flat cumulative units sold worldwide 2025
Lifetime unit sales of Human: Fall Flat worldwide as of January 2025 (in millions)
Phasmophobia cumulative units sold worldwide 2025
Phasmophobia cumulative units sold worldwide 2025
Lifetime unit sales of Phasmophobia worldwide as of July 2025 (in millions)
Sea of Stars player count 2023-2024
Sea of Stars player count 2023-2024
Number of Sea of Stars players worldwide as of November 2024 (in millions)
Stardew Valley lifetime unit sales 2016-2024
Stardew Valley lifetime unit sales 2016-2024
Lifetime unit sales of Stardew Valley worldwide as of December 2024 (in millions)
Terraria cumulative units sold worldwide 2024
Terraria cumulative units sold worldwide 2024
Lifetime unit sales of Terraria as of October 2024 (in millions)

Indie game engagement

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth peak concurrent player number on Steam 2019-2025
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth peak concurrent player number on Steam 2019-2025
Monthly number of peak concurrent players of The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth on Steam worldwide as of July 2025
Garry's Mod peak concurrent player number on Steam 2025
Garry's Mod peak concurrent player number on Steam 2025
Monthly number of peak concurrent players of Garry's Mod on Steam worldwide as of July 2025
Hades peak concurrent player number on Steam 2025
Hades peak concurrent player number on Steam 2025
Monthly number of peak concurrent players of Hades on Steam worldwide as of July 2025
Rust peak concurrent player number on Steam 2019-2025
Rust peak concurrent player number on Steam 2019-2025
Monthly number of peak concurrent players of Rust on Steam worldwide as of July 2025 (in 1,000s)
Valheim peak concurrent player number on Steam 2025
Valheim peak concurrent player number on Steam 2025
Monthly number of peak concurrent players of Valheim on Steam worldwide as of July 2025 (in 1,000s)

Indie gaming leader: Devolver Digital

Devolver Digital annual revenue 2021-2024
Devolver Digital annual revenue 2021-2024
Annual revenue of Devolver Digital from 2021 to 2024 (in million U.S. dollars)
Devolver Digital annual net profit/loss 2021-2024
Devolver Digital annual net profit/loss 2021-2024
Annual net profit/loss of Devolver Digital from 2021 to 2024 (in million U.S. dollars)
Devolver Digital annual revenue share 2024, by platform
Devolver Digital annual revenue share 2024, by platform
Distribution of revenue of Devolver Digital in 2024, by platform
Devolver Digital annual game output 2021-2024
Devolver Digital annual game output 2021-2024
Annual number of games published by Devolver Digital from 2021 to 2024
Devolver Digital indie gaming franchise portfolio 2024
Devolver Digital indie gaming franchise portfolio 2024
Gaming franchise portfolio of Devolver Digital as of December 2024

Other indie gaming companies

Everplay annual revenue 2016-2024
Everplay annual revenue 2016-2024
Annual revenue generated by Everplay from 2016 to 2024 (in million GBP)
Everplay annual net income 2018-2024
Everplay annual net income 2018-2024
Net income generated by Everplay from 2018 to 2024 (in million GBP)
tinyBuild annual revenue 2022-2024
tinyBuild annual revenue 2022-2024
Revenue of tinyBuild from 2022 to 2024 (in million U.S. dollars)
tinyBuild annual net profit/loss 2022-2024
tinyBuild annual net profit/loss 2022-2024
Annual net profit/loss of tinyBuild from 2022 to 2024 (in million U.S. dollars)
tinyBuild revenue diversification 2017-2024
tinyBuild revenue diversification 2017-2024
Revenue diversification of tinyBuild from 2017 to 2024
Hooded Horse video games cumulative units sold worldwide 2024
Hooded Horse video games cumulative units sold worldwide 2024
Lifetime sales generated by select video games published by Hooded Horse as of October 2024 (in 1,000s)

Annual full game revenue of indie games on Steam
***bn USD

Annual number of indie games sold on Steam
***m

Market share of indie games released on Steam
****%

Key figures

The most important key figures provide you with a compact summary of the topic of "Indie gaming" and take you straight to the corresponding statistics.

- Balatro lifetime unit sales
- 5m
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Detailed statistics
Balatro units sold worldwide 2025
- Cult of the Lamb lifetime unit sales
- 4.5m
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Detailed statistics
Cult of the Lamb cumulative units sold worldwide 2024
- Human: Fall Flat lifetime unit sales
- 55m
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Detailed statistics
Human: Fall Flat cumulative units sold worldwide 2025
- Stardew Valley lifetime unit sales
- 41m
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Detailed statistics
Stardew Valley lifetime unit sales 2016-2024
- Best-selling indie game of all time
- Minecraft
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Detailed statistics
All-time best-selling indie games 2025

- Share of game devs who are self-employed
- 13%
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Detailed statistics
Game developer employment status worldwide 2015-2023
- Number of indie game publishers worldwide
- 403
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Detailed statistics
Global video game publishers 2024, by indie game publishing status
- Share of game publishers in Europe that publish indie games
- 65.7%
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Detailed statistics
Global video game publishers types of games 2024, by region

- Quarterly number of indie gaming viewership hours on Twitch
- ***m
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Detailed statistics
Most popular video game genres on Twitch 2025, by hours watched
- The Game Awards Best Indie Game winner in 2024
- Balatro
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Detailed statistics
The Game Awards best indie game winners 2014-2024
- Most viewed indie games on YouTube during Gamescom 2024
- Goat Simulator Remastered
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Detailed statistics
Most viewed indie games on YouTube during Gamescom week 2024

- Top reason for playing indie games
- Creativity
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Detailed statistics
Reasons for playing indie games among weekly PC gamers 2023
- Number of indie games purchased by indie games buyers in past 12 months
- ***games
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Detailed statistics
Number of video game purchases 2023, by type
- Indie gamer monetization preference
- Full paid games
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Detailed statistics
Indie and traditional game buyer video game monetization preference 2023

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Indie gaming - statistics & facts

Key insights

Editor’s Picks Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic