Triple-A publishers ♊understandably play it safe. Often, it takes an Indie dev to prove that a risky idea can actually make some money. In many cases, entire genres were ignored by big studios for years until one breakout indie made them impossible to ignore.

I’ve lost count of how many mainstream games are now chasing mechanics that small teams did better (and first). These are the genres that only got the Triple-A treatment after indie games took the creative leap (and, sometimes, do 🎶it better).

10 𒀰 Farming Si🍃ms

168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Stardew Valley didn't just revive the farming sim genre. It redefined it. It was everything cozy and nostalgic from 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Harvest Moon, but modernized with deeper characters and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:dungeon crawling. Plus, it was made by one guy.

Suddenly, publishers were dusting off their hoes. Fae Farm and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Disney Dreamlight Valley are clearly gunning for that Stardew magic, and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Story of Seasons even starꩵted copying its own spiritual successor. It took an in🌟die to remind everyone that planting parsnips could be fun.

9 🍸 Roguelikes

Once upon a time, permadath was seen as a niche punishment. Then games like 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The Binding of Isaac and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dead Cells made randomized runs not just bearable, but addictive. Now we’ve got Returnal from Sony, Remnant II from Gearbox, and even Assassin’s Creed Infinity rumored to include 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:roguelike mechanics.

Triple-A devs are finally realizing that dying over and over is the point, not necessarily a failure. Now, stu🌌dios with billion-dollar budgets are starting to use these mechanics that were pioneered in literal basements.

8 ꧃ Social Deduction Games 🌺

Among Us was made in 2018 and ignored until 2020, when it suddenly dominated Twitch streams and classrooms. That led to a cascade of social-deduction clones like Deceit 2, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Goose Goose Duck, and most notably, Ubisoft’s Project U. Even Fortnite has a Sus mode now.

The indie success of a few crewmates and imposters wasn't the first of its kind, but it was the first to see such ꦿpopularity (and it led to a slew of copycats). It reminded publishers that the biggest thrill can come from lying to your friends.

7 🌞 Narrative-Dri༒ven Walking Sims

168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Gone Home. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Firewatch. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:What Remains of Edith Finch. These games proved you didn’t need combat to deliver emotional gut punches. For years, AAA studios brushed them off as 'not real games.' However, now we're getting games like 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The Last of Us Part II, which has entire sections that play like a walking sim, and Death Stan♏ding.

It's a bit strange to see this 'boring indie concept' start popping up in m🐼uch larger games. Now, it's considered prestige-level storytelling.

6 ꦦ Surviva𓆏l Crafting

168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Don’t Starve, Rust, and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The Forest made survival brutal and chaotic (and oddly satisfying). For a while, big publishers stayed away from games in this category. Then Valheim exploded in Early Access and sold five million copies in a month. Fast-forward: now we’ve got Grounded from Obsidian, Palworld from P🐻ocketpair climbing the charts, and Ark II trying to rope in Vin Die🔜sel for survival clout.

Even 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Minecraft Legends is a little on the survival side of things. Indies made c༺ampfires coo🐽l, and now AAA is starting to catch interest.

5 🙈 Deckbuilders 💦

When 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Slay the Spire quietly launched in Early Access, most players didn’t expect it to spark an entire genre renaissance.﷽ However, s🤪omething about its tight loop of strategic cardplay and roguelike structure made it an instant indie darling.

Triple-A games started to take notice, and we suddenly got games like Marvel’s 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Midnight Suns from Firaxis blending deckbuilding with tactical RPG mechanics, and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Gears: Tactics experimenting with similar systems. Plus, there are tons of other games that are starting to integrate this system into their gameplay, even if their games aren't only deckbuilders.

4 Cozy Life Sims �ꦏ�

Before 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Unpacking, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Spiritfarer, or 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:A Short Hike, most big publishers didn't know what to do with 'cozy' as a game category. However, now, 'cozy' is starting to be implemented across the industry. Nintendo's 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Animal Crossing has always been a little bit cozy, but it was indies that really 🔴grabbed onto the concept and ran with it as an entir💛e genre.

After that, EA jumped in with 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The Sims 4: Cottage Living, and Disney followed with Dreamlight Valley. The fact that Xbox literally featured 'Cozy' ꦦas a genre in its 2023 showcase tells you indies built this wave.

3 ๊ Top-Down Extraction Shooters

168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Escape from Tarkov built its hardcore rep with high-stakes gunfights and loot extraction, but games like 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dark and Darker and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Zero Sievert took the concept even further. These weren't 🍬just shooters. They simula𓄧ted real loss (with real stress).

Now, we're also starting to get things like Exoborne from AAA studio Sharkmob, and DMZ modꦑe in Call 🅷of Duty: Warzone 2. Smaller indie games proved that this gameplay loop could be a big win, and then AAA publishers swooped in with polish.

2 Bullet 💯Hells

168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Vampire Survivors 🃏dropped in 2021 and wasn't taken very seriously. It had auto-attacks, retro sprites, and continuous waves of enemies. But, then it became successful, and everyone started raising their eyebrows. Plus, it probably helped that it cost under $5.

Soon after, Ubisoft announced Project U, and HoloCure brought VTuber fandom into the genre. Even Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor from Ghost Ship Games takes heavy notes from the formula. Somehow, the formula of 🐬minimal controls and maximum chaos was a winner.

1 Battle Royales﷽

Before Fortnight was even thought of, the genre was invented by indies. H1Z1’s King of the Kill mode and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) laid the groundwork, built by small teams and modders. It wasn't even its own game.

It wasn’t until PUBG pulled in millions of players that the big publishers pounced. EA launched 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Apex Legends, Activision fired up Warzone, and Ubisoft threw Hyper Scape into the ring (RIP). AAA didn't even come close to inventing battle royales. They just showed up after indies proved 99 people losing could🐻 be wildly profitable.