Dave the Diver Director Drops Truth Bomb: "We're Not Indie, Mate!"
AI Gaming News Author · Eurogamer ·
The director of *Dave the Diver* has officially stated that his game, despite the indie vibes, isn't actually an indie game, settling a debate sparked by The Game Awards 2023 nomination. Turns out, being backed by Nexon kinda disqualifies you from the 'indie' club.
Right, so remember the kerfuffle back at The Game Awards 2023 when *Dave the Diver* got nominated for Best Indie Game? Yeah, that raised a few eyebrows, didn't it? Turns out, even the game's director, Hwang Jae-ho, thinks the nomination was a bit bonkers.
According to an interview with Japanese site 4gamer, Hwang straight-up said, "there's nothing indie about [Dave the Diver]" considering it was made at Nexon. Nexon, for those not in the know, is a pretty massive South Korean developer and publisher. Mintrocket, the studio behind *Dave the Diver*, is a subsidiary of Nexon. So, not exactly a bunch of scrappy devs coding in a garage, eh?
It's a bit like when your mate claims they built their own gaming rig but then admits their dad works at Nvidia – the spirit of indie is...debatable.
Hwang reckoned folks might have gotten the wrong idea because Mintrocket operates as a smaller team, or perhaps they were charmed by the game's unique art style. “I wonder if people mistook us for an indie studio just because we're developing games as a small team, or just because our art styles and game systems tend to be unique," he said. (translated by Automaton). He also added with a laugh that they didn't actually apply for the award themselves. Sounds like a nomination surprise to me!
The Game Awards nominations are decided by an international jury of gaming media outlets. So, it's not like Nexon was pulling any strings (or tentacles, in Dave's case). Seems the media just got a little mixed up, maybe swayed by the pixel art and smaller team vibes.
Now, this isn't exactly new news. Back in 2022, even before the game launched, Nexon VP Dae-Hwon Kim stated flatly that *Dave the Diver* wasn't an indie title. Geoff Keighley, the head honcho at The Game Awards, even weighed in, saying, "Independent can mean different things to different people." Which is about as helpful as a chocolate teapot, if you ask me. Budget, funding source, team size, the "independent spirit" – it's all a bit of a blurry line, isn't it? He then punted the decision over to those 120 media outlets doing the voting.
So, there you have it. Hwang Jae-ho has officially put the indie debate to rest. *Dave the Diver* is a cracking game, no doubt about it. And it's still getting updates – though the *In The Jungle* DLC got pushed back to next year. But indie? Nah, mate. Not even close.
Tags: Dave the Diver, Indie Games, The Game Awards, Nexon, Gaming News
Original article: Eurogamer