Dave The Diver Director Says It's Not An Indie Game

Summary

Dave the Diver’s director, Jaeho Hwang, has confirmed that he doesn’t think the game is an indie, settling the long-running debate once and for all.

2023 was full of surprises in gaming, fromStarfield not being the success that we all expectedit to be toBaldur’s Gate 3taking the industry by storm andbasically becoming the next Skyrim. Another massive surprise was Dave the Diver, which came out of nowhere and became one of the most-talked-about games of the year.

Outside of how great the game is, one of the biggest discussions surrounding Dave the Diver,is whether or not it’s an indie game. The Game Awards certainly seemed to think so,as it controversially nominated Dave the Diver for “Best Independent Game”, an award it ended up losing to Sea of Stars.

Is Dave The Diver An Indie Game?

Although Dave the Diver doeslookandsoundlike an indie game with its pixel art and laid-back soundtrack, it being put into the “Best Independent Game” category confused a lot of people as, even though developer Mintrocket is a relatively small team, it’s also a sub-brand of Nexon, one of the biggest publishers in the industry.

Three months after The Game Awards 2023, Dave the Diver has beennominated for an award at the BAFTA Game Awards, this time for “Debut Game”, which is a little less controversial than “Best Independent Game”. Before the awards took place, TheGamer had the chance to speak to Dave the Diver’s director, Jaeho Hwang, and set the record straight once and for all.

“I don’t think it’s an indie game because we’re working under a big company. Our creation, our work, is very independent, but I mean, there are more ‘indie’ developers working under harsher conditions. I have a big respect for them, so I don’t want to step into their category.”

As it turns out, Hwang doesn’t think that Dave the Diver is an indie game either, as he laughed (having clearly been asked it before) and pointed out that Mintrocket is working under a “big company”. He does point out that the work they do is independent, but that he doesn’t want to step into the indie category, since there are developers who fit the bill more that are working under harsher conditions than his team is with its partnership with Nexon.