Here's how you can navigate the differences between working in indie gaming versus corporate gaming.

in my humble opinion, being a corporate in gaming (at least in mobile gaming, is less preferred) small and agile teams can do better and in fact most successful games are based on small teams, if you're a corporate, build small indie studios within your corporation that consists of small and well bonded team.

Indie studios engage directly to the gaming community through social media, for better understanding how to improve the game. Developers often focus on different genres and they don't afraid to use unconventional gameplay mechanics or physics. However, these projects do not always guarantee financial stability.

Being an indie studio can lead to the impression of flexibility i.e. you can work on what you want, when you want; but you might find you and your team are limited in terms of having all the necessary skills to create your game and/or run your studio. Being creative in the artistic sense and in the roll-up-your-sleeves and skilling up in your weak spots is a must. Finding trusted advisors like an accountant and lawyer that know the games industry can help you take care of the admin side of running a studio faster and allow you to focus on the development side. Having links to people who will connect you to others can help open doors and opportunities is also helpful - but be wary of who to trust and ask fellow devs for recommendations.

Working as part of a larger study can provide more structure in terms of roles and hierarchy. It’s less do-it-all-yourself compared to being an indie with more focus on being a specialist in one area. Being part of a larger study may also mean you can lean on internal service departments like legal, finance and IT to cover any of those needs. You may also have access to a larger library of software licences that can help with game development work. Larger studios means more processes and likely slower response times but hopefully an overall legally compliant and smooth running corporate machine.

- Indie Teams: Foster a close-knit community where every opinion is valued and decision-making is collaborative. - Corporate Teams: Operate within a hierarchical structure where decisions are typically made by upper management. - Adaptability: Adjusting to different team dynamics is essential for effective collaboration and personal job satisfaction. - Communication Skills: Effective communication within these frameworks is crucial for success. Preference Awareness: Knowing whether you prefer a family-like team or a larger, departmentalized one can guide your career choices.

Regardless of team size or indie/corporate structure it is important to listen to your colleagues and take value from differences in and diversity of opinion. In a corporate environment it can be tempting to be combative with management or rebel against corporate structure, but remember that raising problems without solutions is not helpful for anyway and making improvements take time to be implemented. Trust the process and work with managers to create positive change from inside the organisation.

The flip side of having more ownership over your work in indie is the extra hats that come with it. Your discipline’s team might be small or just you. As a result, folks in indie tend to grow faster by necessity and have a comprehensive knowledge of their discipline’s larger pipeline. It can be overwhelming at times, but for the right people, it can also be exhilarating! At larger companies, you are more likely to specialize. This lets you gain mastery over one specific part of your discipline’s pipeline and collaborate with a larger team. However, you likely won’t have the same amount of creative freedom. Neither option is better than the other. It all depends on what your values are!

Creative control can be impacted be several factors whether you’re an indie or larger studio: working with a third party client - for example if you are providing work-for-hire services - working with a publisher or funder and/or working with a third party IP holder/licensor. In each case you are likely to have to give up some creative control, but as an indie working on your own project with a publisher you should ensure your contract protects your creative vision for your game. If you are working with a licensor (eg Games Workshop) they will want a degree of control over their IP and how it is used or looks in your game. Ditto if a client is paying for certain work you have to accept that you can’t just deliver what you want!

When buying corporate gaming titles, expectations are clear due to their high cost. Indie games, however, are like a storage wars. You're aware of the lower budget but if the developers turn limited resources into creativity, it can be more enjoyable than a AAA game. Conversely, if they combine limited resources with lack of vision, they end up with poor ratings. As Theodore Roosevelt said, "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."

As an indie you’re likely to be wearing all of the game development hats - including producer and / or project manager. Luckily there are wide range of tools (some free, some not) that can help you and your team stay organised and on top of your backlog.