
IndieGameBusiness®
Candid conversations with veterans of all aspects of the business side of games. We firmly believe that great games from all developers need the support they deserve to succeed. This podcast exists to provide that support.
IndieGameBusiness® is produced by The Powell Group, a video game consulting firm specializing in business development, marketing, and licensing. Our CEO has been in the industry for 20 years and closed countless publishing and licensing deals. The Powell Group monitors over 3,500 game developers and 750+ publishers.
Latest episodes

Mar 13, 2020 • 1h
Raj Rajkotia - Acquiring Users For Your Indie Game
Raj Rajkotia joined us to discuss how indie devs can acquire users for their games as well as the market and opportunities in India for developers.
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To learn more about the show or our online business matchmaking events for indie developers visit: http://indiegame.business
Indie Game Business is produced by The Powell Group: http://powellgroupconsulting.com
Watch the official live stream: https://mixer.com/IndieGameBusiness
Watch INDIE's stream: www.twitch.tv/INDIE
Join the Indie Game Business Discord: http://discord.gg/indiegamebusiness
The Twitters to follow -
Indie Game Business: https://twitter.com/BusinessIndie
Powell Group Consulting: https://twitter.com/PowellGrp
Jay: https://twitter.com/Powell_Jay
INDIE: https://twitter.com/TheRealIndie

Mar 9, 2020 • 1h 2min
Jelle de Jong - How human competitiveness factors into retention and engagement
Jelle de Jong joins us on the show to discuss how human competitiveness factors into retention and engagement. Along the way we talk about starting Game Transactionz, why they did it, and why their hyper-casual games are retaining players 30% more than average on day 28.
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To learn more about the show or our online business matchmaking events for indie developers visit: http://indiegame.business
Indie Game Business is produced by The Powell Group: http://powellgroupconsulting.com
Watch the official live stream: https://mixer.com/IndieGameBusiness
Watch INDIE's stream: www.twitch.tv/INDIE
Join the Indie Game Business Discord: http://discord.gg/indiegamebusiness
The Twitters to follow -
Indie Game Business: https://twitter.com/BusinessIndie
Powell Group Consulting: https://twitter.com/PowellGrp
Jay: https://twitter.com/Powell_Jay
INDIE: https://twitter.com/TheRealIndieon

Feb 27, 2020 • 1h 12min
Jeff Hardy - Building a Sustainable Work For Hire Development Studio
How do you sustain and grow an indie dev team with contract work for over 10 years? That's what we talk to Jeff Hardy, CEO of Floor 84, about on the show. Along the way we also cover:
Coronavirus and GDC
How you make money as a "creative" in the industry
Planning ahead to keep your company afloat
and more...
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To learn more about the show or our online business matchmaking events for indie developers visit: http://indiegame.business
Indie Game Business is produced by The Powell Group: http://powellgroupconsulting.com
Watch the official live stream: https://mixer.com/IndieGameBusiness
Watch INDIE's stream: www.twitch.tv/INDIE
Join the Indie Game Business Discord: http://discord.gg/indiegamebusiness
The Twitters to follow -
Indie Game Business: https://twitter.com/BusinessIndie
Powell Group Consulting: https://twitter.com/PowellGrp
Jay: https://twitter.com/Powell_Jay
INDIE: https://twitter.com/TheRealIndie

Feb 27, 2020 • 1h 2min
Dr. Chris Bartel - Morality and Ethics in Video Games (not OF games)
Dr. Bartel has literally written the book on ethics in games and whether what you do in games says anything about the real you. It's a bit of a step away from our usual show but we had a fascinating chat. He's research has focused on AAA games like Skyrim, GTA V, and others. You can pre-order it here on Amazon.
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To learn more about the show or our online business matchmaking events for indie developers visit: http://indiegame.business
Indie Game Business is produced by The Powell Group: http://powellgroupconsulting.com
Watch the official live stream: https://mixer.com/IndieGameBusiness
Watch INDIE's stream: www.twitch.tv/INDIE
Join the Indie Game Business Discord: http://discord.gg/indiegamebusiness
The Twitters to follow -
Indie Game Business: https://twitter.com/BusinessIndie
Powell Group Consulting: https://twitter.com/PowellGrp
Jay: https://twitter.com/Powell_Jay
INDIE: https://twitter.com/TheRealIndie

Feb 17, 2020 • 1h 4min
Luke Stapley - Cocos, China Indies, and the CoronaVirus
Luke Stapley is a Senior Marketing Manager for Cocos based in China. With all the news surrounding the CoronaVirus it was obviously a topic we had to discuss. We also spoke about the benefits of the Cocos engine and the state of indie development. Plus:
Keys to localization and culturalization in China
Why multiplayer and social games do well
Advice for finding the RIGHT partner in China
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To learn more about the show or our online business matchmaking events for indie developers visit: http://indiegame.business
Indie Game Business is produced by The Powell Group: http://powellgroupconsulting.com
Watch the official live stream: https://mixer.com/IndieGameBusiness
Watch INDIE's stream: www.twitch.tv/INDIE
Join the Indie Game Business Discord: http://discord.gg/indiegamebusiness
The Twitters to follow -
Indie Game Business: https://twitter.com/BusinessIndie
Powell Group Consulting: https://twitter.com/PowellGrp
Jay: https://twitter.com/Powell_Jay
INDIE: https://twitter.com/TheRealIndie

Feb 11, 2020 • 52min
Cory Trese - Indie Game Kickstarter and Steam Page Tips: Part II
Cory Trese returned to the show to talk about what they've done to prep for their latest Kickstarter project. This interview was recorded shortly before the launch of the campaign. While Cory jokes in the episode that all their advice may be worth nothing if the Kickstarter fails, it should be noted it was fully funded in less than 12 hours.
We also touched on:
Marketing tips from their years of experience in indie games
How they managed to do 200 content updates to their last game with absolutely no DLC
and the strategy behind timing and pricing your Steam sales
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To learn more about the show or our online business matchmaking events for indie developers visit: http://indiegame.business
Indie Game Business is produced by The Powell Group: http://powellgroupconsulting.com
Watch the official live stream: https://mixer.com/IndieGameBusiness
Watch INDIE's stream: www.twitch.tv/INDIE
Join the Indie Game Business Discord: http://discord.gg/indiegamebusiness
The Twitters to follow -
Indie Game Business: https://twitter.com/BusinessIndie
Powell Group Consulting: https://twitter.com/PowellGrp
Jay: https://twitter.com/Powell_Jay
INDIE: https://twitter.com/TheRealIndie

Feb 11, 2020 • 47min
Cory Trese - Indie Game Kickstarter and Steam Page Tips: Part I
Cory Trese returned to the show to talk about what they've done to prep for their latest Kickstarter project. This interview was recorded shortly before the launch of the campaign. While Cory jokes in the episode that all their advice may be worth nothing if the Kickstarter fails, it should be noted it was fully funded in less than 12 hours.
We also touched on:
Marketing tips from their years of experience in indie games
How they managed to do 200 content updates to their last game with absolutely no DLC.
and the strategy behind timing and pricing your Steam sales
_____
To learn more about the show or our online business matchmaking events for indie developers visit: http://indiegame.business
Indie Game Business is produced by The Powell Group: http://powellgroupconsulting.com
Watch the official live stream: https://mixer.com/IndieGameBusiness
Watch INDIE's stream: www.twitch.tv/INDIE
Join the Indie Game Business Discord: http://discord.gg/indiegamebusiness
The Twitters to follow -
Indie Game Business: https://twitter.com/BusinessIndie
Powell Group Consulting: https://twitter.com/PowellGrp
Jay: https://twitter.com/Powell_Jay
INDIE: https://twitter.com/TheRealIndie

Jan 30, 2020 • 1h 34min
Discussing the 2020 GDC "State of the Industry" Report
GDC released their 2020 "State of the Industry Report" and Jay and Indie are diving into it line by line.
Did you know only 25% of developers are using a publisher? Lots of interesting tidbits and discussion around their findings.
Get the report here: http://reg.gdconf.com/gdc-state-of-game-industry-2020
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To learn more about the show or our online business matchmaking events for indie developers visit: http://indiegame.business
Indie Game Business is produced by The Powell Group: http://powellgroupconsulting.com
Watch the official live stream: https://mixer.com/IndieGameBusiness
Watch INDIE's stream: www.twitch.tv/INDIE
Join the Indie Game Business Discord: http://discord.gg/indiegamebusiness
The Twitters to follow -
Indie Game Business: https://twitter.com/BusinessIndie
Powell Group Consulting: https://twitter.com/PowellGrp
Jay: https://twitter.com/Powell_Jay
INDIE: https://twitter.com/TheRealIndie
Sponsorships: on

Jan 27, 2020 • 1h 18min
Developer Roundtable - Challenges Facing Indie Game Devs in 2020
Ericka Evans and Brandon Pham join us for our first developer roundtable. We'll discuss:
What’s the biggest issue facing developers this year?
Should developers be planning for multi platform launches
What is the role of the publisher in 2020 from the developer standpoint
How do you handle crunch?
How are you planning for ongoing education for your teams?
and more..
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To learn more about the show or our online business matchmaking events for indie developers visit: http://indiegame.business
Indie Game Business is produced by The Powell Group: http://powellgroupconsulting.com
Watch the official live stream: https://mixer.com/IndieGameBusiness
Watch INDIE's stream: www.twitch.tv/INDIE
Join the Indie Game Business Discord: http://bit.ly/IGBDiscord
The Twitters to follow -
Indie Game Business: https://twitter.com/BusinessIndie
Powell Group Consulting: https://twitter.com/PowellGrp
Jay: https://twitter.com/Powell_Jay
INDIE: https://twitter.com/TheRealIndie

Jan 25, 2020 • 1h 36min
Peter Kojesta - All the S*^& They Don't Tell You About Indie Game Development
Peter Kojesta is the CEO at Exis Interactive and he's been in the industry for 20 years. We sit down for a talk on all the crap they DON'T tell you about being an indie dev. Things like:
The outsource / contracting world and the trap for indies
How you’ll often get stuck with a newbie managing outsource – even when you have 15+ years’ experience.
How change in client’s team means you often lose the gig
Common misconceptions for small developers / a few hard truths
and a lot more....
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To learn more about the show or our online business matchmaking events for indie developers visit: http://indiegame.business
Indie Game Business is produced by The Powell Group: http://powellgroupconsulting.com
Watch the official live stream: https://mixer.com/IndieGameBusiness
Watch INDIE's stream: www.twitch.tv/INDIE
Join the Indie Game Business Discord: http://bit.ly/IGBDiscord
The Twitters to follow -
Indie Game Business: https://twitter.com/BusinessIndie
Powell Group Consulting: https://twitter.com/PowellGrp
Jay: https://twitter.com/Powell_Jay
INDIE: https://twitter.com/TheRealIndie