Indie video games made by tiny teams on even tinier budgets are increasingly competing with the big guys, making inroads on consoles after cutting their teeth on phones and tablets.<\/p>\n
While a blockbuster console game by mainstream publishers can set you back as much as 70 euros ($90), an indie — or video game produced by an independent developer — costs much less, if anything.<\/p>\n
In a sign of their growing appeal, both Microsoft and Sony have stressed that indie games — which started around the 1970s — can be played on their new Xbox One and PlayStation 4, the latest battleground between the gaming giants.<\/p>\n
Microsoft launched its Xbox One on Friday in more than a dozen countries including Australia, Brazil, Britain, France and the United States. It went on sale less than a week after Sony’s PlayStation 4 hit shelves on Monday — which notched up more than a million sales in the first 24 hours.<\/p>\n
The console war can only bode well for the indie movement, whose developers number in the hundreds if not thousands, from individuals on shoe-string budgets to big teams with sophisticated studios.<\/p>\n
For Sony, that future includes bringing independent game makers into the fold.<\/p>\n