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Home of Nerds has just released an Indiegogo campaign for their new project Home of Indies. The latter aims to be a free, comprehensive resource center for the growing community of indie game developers, and the fundraising campaign has been setup to that end.

This platform, if successfully funded, will offer professional step-by-step guidance for indie devs who currently find themselves undersupported in the global video game business jungle. They want "to give [indie devs] a professional website, free hosting while providing access to loads of resources for you to market, update, and sell your game direct on your website".

And rather than competing with other hosting services, they " are creating something to bring professionalism and polish to the indie dev community while streamlining where you have to go for it. All resources and needs, all in one place, eliminating the need to code a website or pay others to make your project stand out."

Home of Indies plans to maintain complete transparency about its use of these funds, using a combination of weekly emails and updates from online sources.

Here's the full press release:

The online network and parent company Home of Nerds launched an IndieGoGo fundraising campaign today to create a free, comprehensive resource center for the world’s growing community of indie game developers. This central platform, Home of Indies, will offer step-by-step professional guidance for independent devs who currently find themselves undersupported in the surging global video game business. The creators of Home of Indies want to encourage emerging game developers to break into the industry, by lowering the bar to entry and supporting young developers in all aspects of their journeys.

This innovation arrives at a moment when the gaming business is witnessing explosive growth. According to VentureBeat, the U.S. market alone is on track to swell 3.6% between 2015 and 2020. To better serve independent developers struggling to find their footing within this movement, Home of Indies will offer expert support for every stage of the game development process. Users will be able to access easy-to-follow guides to every detail of indie development and marketing. And the all-in-one hub will allow developers to craft free, high-quality websites that make it easier to create, market, and distribute their games with our marketplace feature.

“Other indie marketplaces are making the entry for developers more challenging by increasing fees and competition for start-ups,” explains founder James Harris, “Indies, now more than ever, need options.”

This platform features a suite of powerful tools designed to make the development process a better experience for up-and-coming indie game developers. For instance, devs will be able to use the Home of Indies platform to launch “micro-funding” campaigns, to crowdsource development funds. This “Housekeeping” feature is a simple widget that creators can embed on their websites, to solicit donations from family, friends, and fans through all key stages of development instead of one lump, as on larger campaign crowdfunding platforms, where it’s often difficult for the smaller indies to gain traction.

Home of Indies will also host a job board so that users can advertise and apply for work on projects amongst themselves. And while they will still have complete freedom regarding where to sell their finished product, Home of Indies will offer game devs the new option of a front-end resource to attract potential customers themselves.

Home of Indies has already united a lively community of 1,600+ developers on its Discord server. There, indie devs from all over the world come together to talk shop, trade ideas or just chat. The friendly and inclusive community is growing at a rapid pace.

To transition to the next step and create this ultimate resource for developers, Home of Indies is planning to raise £15,000 in donations via IndieGoGo. Home of Indies plans to maintain complete transparency about its use of these funds, using a combination of weekly emails and updates from online sources. “The amazing indie developers out there deserve a supportive community,” says Harris. “Together, we can pull together to provide something all Indies desperately need: a home.”

Now I know that there are several developers among Tempers here itself and I've witnessed some pretty awesome indie projects myself (see my signature for the numerous projects featured in Temp'n). As such, upon getting wind of this news, I thought this campaign might interest you.

UPDATE:

The project's founder, James Harris, is on GBAtemp as user @James003999 and has already been clearing out your questions in the comments section! Feel free to contact him if you need more details about Home of Indies.

Indiegogo campaign
SOURCE: GBAtemp inbox

 

[Coto]

Amazing initiative

 

[swabbo]

Personally not a big fan of indie titles, but sounds awesome

 

[Deleted User]

I thought this way going to try to be just another Steam or GoG

Sounds neat

 

[Hells Malice]

Seems kind of pointless to be honest. 15k GBP is a hell of a goal too, for a website.

Looks like a roaring success though...a whole 60 GBP earned so far.

 

[LittleFlame]

yeah this just looks awful honestly, stick to steam lads

 

[chartube12]

The 'image' for video game indies?

 

[Pluupy]

Jesus tapdancing Christ

Can we all just stop with the mother fucking clients?!

Square Enix PlayOnline client.
Ubisoft Uplay client.
Steam client.
GOG client.
Electronic Arts Origin client.
Aeria client.

No, these will not be better than any of those. They are not professional, because they apparently need crowd-funding to start up their garbage idea. Indies are just fine using Steam, Humble Bundle, and Gog.

This is just another platform for shovelware. Lowering the bar of entry? To get your game posted on Steam all you do is pay $100! Get real!

 

[James003999]

Amazing initiative

Thank you @Coto!

I thought this way going to try to be just another Steam or GoG

Sounds neat

Thanks @VinLark!

Seems kind of pointless to be honest. 15k GBP is a hell of a goal too, for a website.

Looks like a roaring success though...a whole 60 GBP earned so far.

@Hells Malice The IndieGOGO has been up for less then a whole day, and hasn't even been promoted via our discord outlets yet, Give it a time it's a shame people are so hasty to jump on the badwagon that everything is a bad idea these days, granted there has been many drilled into the heads of gamers and developers but, we're trying to make a positive change!

yeah this just looks awful honestly, stick to steam lads

For sure, we're not competing with any other marketplace (itch, steam), or trying to get developers and gamers away from them in anyway we are providing a solution to what has been a problem for a while within the indie developer community.

Jesus tapdancing Christ

Can we all just stop with the mother fucking clients?!

Square Enix PlayOnline client.
Ubisoft Uplay client.
Steam client.
GOG client.
Electronic Arts Origin client.
Aeria client.

No, these will not be better than any of those. They are not professional, because they apparently need crowd-funding to start up their garbage idea. Indies are just fine using Steam, Humble Bundle, and Gog.

This is just another platform for shovelware. Lowering the bar of entry? To get your game posted on Steam all you do is pay $100! Get real!

Again same as above, it's not a competitive marketplace, we don't want to stop developers from selling their games on steam or itch, we are providing a central hub that allows developers to have full control of their website, keys, mini funding and all the rest!

 

[Izual Urashima]

For sure, we're not competing with any other marketplace (itch, steam), or trying to get developers and gamers away from them in anyway we are providing a solution to what has been a problem for a while within the indie developer community.

Again same as above, it's not a competitive marketplace, we don't want to stop developers from selling their games on steam or itch, we are providing a central hub that allows developers to have full control of their website, keys, mini funding and all the rest!

You actually are becoming competition for Steam and the others the moment you'll go online, since people are already dropping indies there. Plus, Steam offers indies more exposition than a focused platform since Steam reaches all players, while your platform will only reach indie enthusiasts, and having a "indie only platform" won't magically get you rid of every other game, since the other platforms already exist. In the end, it seems more to be a bad idea than a "solution to what has been a problem for a while".

Give it a time it's a shame people are so hasty to jump on the badwagon that everything is a bad idea these days, granted there has been many drilled into the heads of gamers and developers but, we're trying to make a positive change!

It isn't an idea drilled in any way. People just got deceived by games like Mighty no9 and No Man's Land, and are actually asking for decent quality in their games, not for games pushed from nowhere by friends and earning awards for absolutely no reason (if you want examples outside of the two above, I'll point out Revolution 60 or the recent Ladykiller in a Bind).

 

[Kyrio]

I also think this is a great initiative. Browsing r/Gamedev, you'll realize how many gotchas indie devs find when they decide to publish their game. Not even mentioning Steam not giving any focus to new titles anymore - or at least not separating them from ripoffs and DLC.

Although a lot of the grounds for this project were also why Itch.io was created in the first place, and I wish good ideas would come together instead of taking different paths, I can only support this. Good luck guys!

 

[James003999]

You actually are becoming competition for Steam and the others the moment you'll go online, since people are already dropping indies there. Plus, Steam offers indies more exposition than a focused platform since Steam reaches all players, while your platform will only reach indie enthusiasts, and having a "indie only platform" won't magically get you rid of every other game, since the other platforms already exist. In the end, it seems more to be a bad idea than a "solution to what has been a problem for a while".

We are fully focused on indie titles, i feel as if you haven't read the entire statement, or via the indiegogo, you are putting too much into the marketplace side of things your missing the rest - marketing tools, website builder, mini-funding, marketplace, in-depth tutorials

It isn't an idea drilled in any way. People just got deceived by games like Mighty no9 and No Man's Land, and are actually asking for decent quality in their games, not for games pushed from nowhere by friends and earning awards for absolutely no reason (if you want examples outside of the two above, I'll point out Revolution 60 or the recent Ladykiller in a Bind).

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

I also think this is a great initiative. Browsing r/Gamedev, you'll realize how many gotchas indie devs find when they decide to publish their game. Not even mentioning Steam not giving any focus to new titles anymore - or at least not separating them from ripoffs and DLC.

Although a lot of the grounds for this project were also why Itch.io was created in the first place, and I wish good ideas would come together instead of taking different paths, I can only support this. Good luck guys!

@Kyrio That's something I indeed wish there was a simple solution to combine, we have a discord community of indie developers around 1600+ now, and I see first hand the struggle some of the devs have, for example, they could have an amazing game, bells, and whistles but they have no idea or way to market it, they can't afford to get their name out there, and a steam page link just isn't enough in this day and age, one of the very reasons we decided to start this initiative, so I'm thankful for the support!

- J

 

[Izual Urashima]

We are fully focused on indie titles, i feel as if you haven't read the entire statement, or via the indiegogo, you are putting too much into the marketplace side of things your missing the rest - marketing tools, website builder, mini-funding, marketplace, in-depth tutorials

I read the whole statement.

Website builder ? Some already exist, and with great tutorials to explain how one can create its own website.
Mini-funding ? Many platforms like Patreon and Kickstarter already exist, and are able to pull mini-fundings with much more security than anything else available.
Marketplace and marketing tools ? Have your game on Steam and/or GOG and, assuming it's good, it'll get popular by word-of-mouth.
In-depth tutorials ? About what else than those points covered could it be useful if you already have your game planned and in progress ?

Your platform is even more void and low-entry than any of the others available, and as it has already been pointed, will only allow more indie shovelware.

 

[James003999]

I read the whole statement.

Website builder ? Some already exist, and with great tutorials to explain how one can create its own website.
Mini-funding ? Many platforms like Patreon and Kickstarter already exist, and are able to pull mini-fundings with much more security than anything else available.
Marketplace and marketing tools ? Have your game on Steam and/or GOG and, assuming it's good, it'll get popular by word-of-mouth.
In-depth tutorials ? About what else than those points covered could it be useful if you already have your game planned and in progress ?

Your platform is even more void and low-entry than any of the others available, and as it has already been pointed, will only allow more indie shovelware.

By sitting amongst a ton of developers each day you can pretty much pin point in what is going wrong with the scene, and if like you say, our project is of low entry and void, then why are the problems still there no one has created a solution yet, so until there is a real solution it wont ever be void.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

I read the whole statement.

Website builder ? Some already exist, and with great tutorials to explain how one can create its own website.
Mini-funding ? Many platforms like Patreon and Kickstarter already exist, and are able to pull mini-fundings with much more security than anything else available.
Marketplace and marketing tools ? Have your game on Steam and/or GOG and, assuming it's good, it'll get popular by word-of-mouth.
In-depth tutorials ? About what else than those points covered could it be useful if you already have your game planned and in progress ?

Your platform is even more void and low-entry than any of the others available, and as it has already been pointed, will only allow more indie shovelware.

p.s @Izual Urashima I'm not trying to argue, it's just I'm very passionate about the project, and I see the deep rooted stress and struggle of the day to day indie developer, and this project has been put togeather by a huge list of things that indie developers do want, and has been discussed over and over again, i understand it's not for everyone! so I wish you the best

 

[Pluupy]

Nobody needs another marketplace, crowd-funding site, or "help site". Indie developers are doing just fine. They very obviously don't need another stressful platform to struggle with.

IndieDB already has a fine collection of indie games and an established community. Each indie game gets their own page listing which includes news, where to buy them, updates, etc. All visitors need. What they offer is already superior than anything you can promise. IndieDB is a sister site of GameFront, a news site which has been around for a long time.

No, this project just seems like a copycat trying to scam morons out of money. No better than those copycat Potato Salad Kickstarters. Can't wait to see an idubbbz's episode on this trash.

Flexible funding? Nobody should donate to this shit. This person just wants free handouts. By turning on flexible funding, you're basically saying "yeah i'll pocket any money you can give me whether I actually deliver or not".

 

[chartube12]

This is wjy kickstarter is better. You can't due flexible goal over 5k on kickstarter!!!!

 

[Gamefreakjf11]

ready to watch this crash and burn

 

[James003999]

ready to watch this crash and burn

Thank you for the vote of confidence!

 

[dimmidice]

Snip

I quite agree. It just gives off that odor of "scam" to me. even if they get fully funded its not close to enough to achieve what they're proposing. Plus everything they promise is vague as hell

But maybe i'm wrong. You never can tell with these fundraising things. Personally i'm erring on the side of caution and never using them.

 

[barronwaffles]

Someone needs to crowdfund a service that collects all these various services into a central hub... a 'digital cancer central' if you will.