The indie scene is very much alive. While the broader entertainment industry is slowing down, independent creators are building audiences, owning IP and paving careers on their own terms. 

The playbook is still being written and Community seems to be right at its core. Welcome to the Indie Movement.


Games

As the barriers to entry the market fall, more independent developers are shipping their second and third games than ever before (VGI Global Indie Games Market Report), while smaller studios can now release polished titles faster than before. 

The conversation has, therefore, shifted from development to discoverability issues and the mid-tier developer seems to be feeling the biggest squeeze of all, left at the mercy of a refined algorithm, without the marketing muscle to help.

According to Steam analytics, 66% of titles in 2025 failed to cross the $1,000 revenue mark. 40% of games didn’t even recover the $100 fee to put a game on Valve's store (80 Level). The most successful ones came from "Triple-I" studios, independent in name but operating with budgets and teams similar to AAA. Push forward to 2026 and the picture sharpens: Games-Stats estimates that half of the games released on Steam in the first hundred days of the year earned less than $290 - some of them launching straight into a loss. 

As an anonymous game dev would write - this is a high-risk, low-probability “game”. 

Surviving it may require rethinking when marketing work actually begins. As Steve Stopps argues, "90% of your marketing is done when you decide what to make" - a principle that reframes visibility issues right from the start. In his survival playbook, Code Monkey argues that devs must generate demand themselves, prove it exists, and only then plug it into Steam to multiply the results, meaning devs should build a community long before the game is finished. He also advises leaning on demos and playtests and capitalizing on every external resource within reach, letting short-form video feed the algorithm. 

Through all of this, never lose sight of the one question Chris Zukowski keeps returning to: do your players find the fun? If they do, ship it. Ship it fast. 

Film

Streaming platforms have shifted from growth at all costs to protecting their margins and this means investing more in their own branded originals instead of licensing indie films like they used to. And evidence is showing at a festival level. At SXSW or Sundance - which used to work as traditional acquisition markets -  less distribution deals are now being done. Most films arrived either with deals already in place (release dates set and marketing campaigns running) or left without one. What was once an indie success barometer, indie festivals now mainly serve as a marketing launchpad. 


But when major studios and streaming platforms retract, independent filmmakers will fill the gap. Instead of waiting for the perfect momentum that may never come, they are taking control and building their own direct-to-audience distribution pipeline. Depending on when you start, the path may look different. For some, crowdfunding seems to have evolved into something much bigger than fundraising - it’s now proof of an audience invested in seeing the film succeed and a signal that demand already exists. On the other hand, for YouTubers like Markiplier (Iron Lung) or Curry Baker (Obsession) their fanbase was already there. And with that kind of strength, creators greenlight themselves. 

The new indie filmmakers look like career-building storytellers, distribution strategists, teachers, brand collaborators, IP owners. And equally important, they build an authentic following.


Animation

According to YouTube's Culture & Trends report, 61% of animation fans aged 14 to 24 say they enjoy series made by independent animators for YouTube as much as, or more than, series from a major studio. A generation raised online has stopped regarding the studio product as the sole guarantee of quality and are more receptive to a range of production standards. To them, a creator working alone can carry the same weight as a century-old animation house. That single belief is enough to shake the industry forward.

That shift is amplified by another: borders are dissolving. Half of online animation fans aged 14 to 49 happily watch series in languages other than their own, which means a creator's potential audience is no longer their town or their country. Globalization is now their playing field. 

So while the animation industry's appetite for producing animation in-house and commissioning seems to be shrinking, a new model is emerging. One where creator-owned IP and digital-first audiences take the stage. One built with audiences, not for them. YouTube-first creators behind series like Helluva Boss, Murder Drones and The Amazing Digital Circus have done this for years, growing global followings that earned their shows second homes on Netflix, Prime Video and HBO Max.

Indie Glitch Productions are proving what becomes possible when artists pair up together to give their peers the financial and the creative backing to build something special. They hire independent animators, many discovered on YouTube, to make series that live on their channel, while letting the showrunners keep creative control (YouTube's Culture & Trends report).


Build It until You Make It

Indies are taking their chances. Creating because they love it. Shipping because they believe in it. And there’s no need to figure it out alone. While we’ve been witnessing this shift for a while, what felt missing was the room to actually sit down together and compare notes. So we built two of these moments:


The Pitch Days at THU 2026

On September 28-29, as part of THU 2026 in Troia, Portugal, Pitch Days is designed to bridge the creative community with the world of business and investment. It runs a two-day intensive program around questions the indie movement cannot afford to leave unanswered: how to market your game?; how to master a pitch; and how to build an independent business. The Academy covers all of it and is open to every ticket holder, no project required.

For projects ready for the next step, the Pitch Sessions also offers a rare closed-door format: a live presentation to an investor panel, followed by a ten-minute expert Q&A. No audience. No noise. Just the feedback that matters. But for those, you need to apply until the end of July.

Existing THU 2026 ticket holders receive 35% off.


THU Indie Movement Event - live on October 27-28

THU’s Indie Movement event wants to bring together the makers at the forefront of this shift, with the goal of celebrating indies and sharing the knowledge, strategies and hard-won lessons. Live in October from the @The Tribe Space - Elevating Indie Creators .

The schedule so far includes:

And many more.


Join us!