The INDIE Live Expo Winter 2023, a highly anticipated digital showcase for indie game enthusiasts, concluded its final event of the year with a spectacular two-day broadcast in English, Japanese, and Chinese. This global event, renowned for connecting indie gaming communities worldwide, featured world premieres, updates on more than 100 games, a virtual trip to the Netherlands, and the prestigious fourth annual INDIE Live Expo Awards ceremony.
This year's INDIE Live Expo Summer Spotlight made a remarkable return during the winter, unveiling eagerly-awaited titles and making several fresh announcements. A standout moment was the open beta release of Omega Crafter, an open-world crafting survival game by Preferred Networks, now available on Steam for PC. Enshrouded, a cooperative survival action RPG by Keen Games, captivated audiences with its latest trailer, featuring scavenging, crafting, and battles against mythical beasts.
Japanese indie publisher PLAYISM showcased multiple updates, including the announcement of Fight Crab 2's release date. Developed by Calappa Games, this sequel to the popular crustacean combat game is set to launch on Steam on February 13, 2024. Additionally, Momodora: Moonlit Farewell, the next chapter in the award-winning metroidvania series Momodora, is scheduled for release on January 11, 2024.
Viewers also got a sneak peek at Witch and Lilies, a romantic JRPG dungeon-crawler developed by Stromatosoft Inc. The trailer hinted at the game's unique bonding mechanics during battles. Another highlight was Boyhood's End, a sci-fi adventure by WSS playground, set for a Spring 2024 release on Steam, exploring deep questions about humanity.
In its special INDIES Around the World segment, the Expo showcased the Dutch indie gaming scene. This segment included a feature on Fahrenheit 213's TSURUGUHIME, a fully hand-drawn RPG, offering insight into global indie game development. Since its inception in 2020, INDIE Live Expo has presented over 2400 indie games to an audience of 88 million fans.
The INDIE Live Expo 2023 Award Winners were announced in various categories:
- Local Cultural Representation Award: Venba (Visai Games)
- Best Game Feel Award: Blasphemous 2 (The Game Kitchen, Team17)
- Best New Characters Award: Sea of Stars (Sabotage Studio)
- Internet Viral Award: Party Animals (Recreate Games, Source Technology)
- Rules of Play Award: Viewfinder (Sad Owl Studios, Thunderful Publishing)
- Trailer of the Year Award: 『HUMANITY』Reveal Trailer (tha ltd., Enhance)
- Best Short Game Award: Viewfinder (Sad Owl Studios, Thunderful Publishing)
- Rediscovery Award: OXENFREE II: Lost Signals (Night School Studio, Netflix)
- Late Bloom Award: Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord (TaleWorlds Entertainment)
- Most Addictive Game Award: EVERSPACE 2 (ROCKFISH Games)
- Grand Prize: Viewfinder (Sad Owl Studios, Thunderful Publishing)
The standout winner of this year's event was Viewfinder, securing the prestigious Grand Prize along with the Rules of Play and Best Short Game awards. Developed by Sad Owl Studios and published by Thunderful Publishing, Viewfinder's impressive performance at the awards highlighted its innovative gameplay and captivating storytelling.
In conjunction with the event, the INDIE Live Expo Steam event is currently offering discounts on games showcased at Winter 2023, along with alumni indies from past events. Among these is last year's award-winning game, Unpacking, developed by Witch Beam, available at a discounted rate until December 10, 2023, at 3:00 JST.
Ryuta Konuma, Founder and CEO of Ryu's Office, expressed immense satisfaction with the event's success. He stated, “We're already excited about the future and look forward to elevating indie gaming to even greater heights in 2024.”
The Expo extends its gratitude to sponsors, media partners, and the voting panel for their invaluable contributions. Fans who missed the live broadcasts are encouraged to rewatch DAY1 and DAY2 on YouTube, ensuring that the celebration of the global indie gaming community continues.
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