Video: Exploring the Japanese indie game dev scene

Developer and BitSummit director James Mielke gave an excellent English language talk at GDC 2014 about where the Japanese indie scene came from, where it is now and where it's headed next.

While his talk revolved around the lessons learned running BitSummit, Mielke also took pains to contrast the Western indie scene's burgeoning success and status with the relative anonymity of Japanese indie developers.

He also dug into why people still equate the word "indie" with "amateur" in Japan, and showcased indie developers in the region who are responsible for changing the status quo of Japanese game development -- despite the fact that Japan's mainstream media outlets rarely acknowledge their existence.

Now you can acknowledge their existence too, thanks to the tireless work of the GDC Vault recording team. The free video (embedded above) of Mielke's talk ' Exploring the Human Element of BitSummit ' is now available to watch hereon the GDC Vault.

About the GDC Vault

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vaultoffers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.

Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC, GDC Europe, and GDC Next already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.

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