The indie gaming scene is volatile at the best of times. With growing uncertainty facing the industry as a whole, it’s reasonable to expect that experienced developers will start looking for opportunities that offer them a firmer footing.
This is the overarching reason behind the trend of Unity developers turning their attentions to the casino market. But what else is at play, and why are studios that serve the iGaming space such an attractive proposition?
The Problems Facing Indie Game Development
On the surface at least, indie gaming is in rude health. It’s a $4.85 billion market that’s growing 14.54% a year. This sounds like a recipe for reliable success.
Unfortunately, revenues aren’t consistently strong across every developer in the space. For every outlier like Team Cherry and its ability to sell 7 million copies of Hollow Knight: Silk Song in just 3 months, hundreds of less fortunate studios and solo devs pour years of time and effort into projects that sink without a trace.
Looking at the number of new games launched on Steam each year demonstrates the extent of the issue; in 2023, it was 11,583. In 2024, it rose to 15,522. Standing out when an average of over 40 games arrive on this platform every day is challenging, and getting harder.
Then there’s the high likelihood that developers who do strike it lucky will find themselves the subject of takeover bids by major publishers. A buyout followed by a swift studio closure, as the small company is subsumed by its multinational owner, is an all-too-common story. So all these factors combine to make a pivot away from indie game development popular with more and more veterans.
The Brave New Age of iGaming
The online casino market is larger and more stable than the indie gaming market, with revenues of over $111 billion in 2024 and near-double-digit growth projected for the next five years. As it becomes regulated and accepted in more countries, there’s room for further expansion. So from a Unity developer’s perspective, the appeal of working for existing studios serving this market, or converting their operations to address its needs on their own terms, is obvious.
The diversity of platforms is equally impressive. While Steam might dominate the PC space, there are literally hundreds of different iGaming sites out there. For instance, if you click here for Impressario Casino you’ll find a slick, modern site with a vast number of games to play. And this is just one example of a market that’s highly competitive and surprisingly varied.
Then there’s the fact that Unity has an established presence in the gambling space. It’s used to build games available at land-based casinos, and many of these are then adapted for online play, so it’s possible to address two market segments with one project. This further reinforces the stability of iGaming compared with the indie scene.
The only thing holding developers back from jumping into this change with both feet may be moral objections to gambling and games of chance. This is a reasonable position to take, although if you’re contributing to game development in this space, then you also have the opportunity to alter its trajectory and produce player-positive experiences that are as fair as possible.
The Bottom Line
Indie game development isn’t going anywhere, but it is changing. With the possibility of pivoting to iGaming studios, professionals in this sphere have an important choice to make.
If anything, virtual gambling needs more seasoned developers from other parts of the industry to continue growing and delivering compelling experiences for players. So in addition to the stability it represents, there’s also the opportunity to get creative.
