Will We Stroll the Boulevards Of IndieCity?

Blitz Games have decided to do something quite ambitious in their foray into the wider sphere of indie game publishing/distribution/production, and that thing is called IndieCity. It aims to be a "one stop shop" for indie gaming, and boasts features such as a downloader client that will both recommend things you might like, and automatically download free games and demos that you might like. It opened for general usage today. More on this below.

We've been tracking this project for a while, and you might recall I interviewed project mastermind Chris Swan over here. His ambitions seem to be coming to fruition now, and there's quite a bit of game up there for us to get our teeth into.

Announcing the end of the public beta today, Swan said: "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." What does it back it up with? Well, 45 games, some of which are interestingly esoteric. Becoming a one-stop shop, of course, means getting hundreds of other developers and their games on board, too, as well as people buying them. It's something of a gamble, particularly now the indie world seems to be getting "organised" and the cash has begun to flow. Now the real competition - the competition for the limited attention and wallet-span of gamers - takes place.

So it's fair to say that IndieCity has a lot to prove, and quite a bit of ground to cover, but the project is fascinating, and seems to have the best intentions. Developers get 85% of the cash from sales, and the developer site itself is loaded with tips and stuff from various industry types. Blitz have drawn on their own long experience of being a small studio, and are calling in the favours. Mr Swan even asked that shady Rossignol character for some advice on approaching the press, so that's in there too. Yes, it's got a way to go, but there's definitely something here. Probably worth you taking a look?