The floor-level standard for surviving in the video game industry across indie and triple-A players has always been ‘difficult,’ but in the last few years, it’s been kicked up a notch. GDC’s State of the Game Industry 2026 reported that 1-in-4 of its surveyed video game industry professionals have been laid off in the last two years, and it’s difficult for all studios, regardless of scale, to stay afloat. But that hasn’t stopped the global video game industry from reaching over $200B in revenue last year.
A year which also saw titles from independent developers dominate the cultural conversation. One where revenue was driven by PC players buying a variety of games outside of the biggest franchises at lower costs. Amidst the chaos and strife, indie games continue to carve their path, with or without publishers, and veteran consultant Jason Della Rocca put that path to a specific timeline that can be followed. If you’re clear on what kind of business you’re actually in.
When I was looking through the list of presentations ahead of XP Game Summit in Toronto this past May, I couldn’t help but be drawn to Della Rocca’s. The New Timeline for Indie Success. I don’t think I know many people who wouldn’t have their eyes caught by that, even if their first reaction was repulsion, rather than intrigue. I sat in a packed room with developers furiously taking notes, listening to Della Rocca explain the state of the industry in a way that dug under the surface, and efficiently presented the reality developers face.
His talk was engaging and, even amongst the doom and gloom, showed a path forward that took nothing more than what he would later tell me is “a subtle reframing.” With Della Rocca’s status as one of the many industry professionals playing a key role in which games we see make it to players and what gets left behind, I was immediately interested in talking to him about his seemingly hopeful, suspiciously simple, and fairly straightforward timeline, and the career that informed it.
Della Rocca has worked in the video game industry for three decades, getting his start on the hardware and technology side. What defined his career came after. The nine years spent as executive director of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA). “The world’s largest nonprofit membership organization serving all individuals who create games,” according to its website. Della Rocca’s appointment to the role in 2000 is marked on the IGDA’s timeline alongside the appointment of every other executive director, including the current director, Dr. Jakin Vela, in 2022.
The organization’s founding in 1994 and other milestones over the last thirty-plus years. With both professional and student chapters in almost every part of the world, the IGDA and the execution of its mission statement can draw mixed reactions depending on who you speak to, but the organization is still the perfect place to be to meet game developers across all roles, departments, and studios.
“I was working with developers from all across the globe, you know, the entire value chain,” Della Rocca told me in a conversation weeks after the Summit. “From the biggest of big studios to the smallest of small indies and students to the schools and governments, and all this kind of stuff, so really trying to level up or professionalize the game development community.” After nine years of supporting developers through the IGDA, Della Rocca took those learnings and began his consulting career, starting Execution Labs with his other co-founder, Keith Katz, just three years post IGDA.
Together, they’ve funded and supported indie projects at multiple points of the development process, and have worked with publishers and developers like Caves of Qud and Dwarf Fortress publisher Kitfox Games and Outward 2 makers Nine Dots Studio.
At the same time, both during the beginning of Execution Labs and to this day, Della Rocca has sat on different advisory boards, consulted for government bodies in Canada and elsewhere on how to help the local video game industry grow, and most recently became a venture partner with Griffin, the world’s largest dedicated video games industry fund, which manages over $1.6 billion. $100 million of which will support indie games through a recently established “special opportunities” project investment fund for premium PC and console games.
He also continues to operate Execution Labs with Katz, and now that you’ve read my abridged version of Della Rocca’s “super abridged” version of his thirty-year career, you can certainly see how he’d be in a position to establish something that has the words ‘timeline’ and ‘success’ in the title.
“Part of it is just what I’ve been seeing in the marketplace and talking to many, many, many developers, both successful ones as well as failed ones. And then also comparing notes with Chris Zukowski, who famously runs the How to Market a Game website,” Della Rocca said on the formation of the timeline. “He was coming up with similar timing elements, but from the announcement phase onward, like you’re announcing your game, now what are the steps, how do you do the demo, when do you go to [Steam] Next Fest.”
“I said, well, geez, I’m working with developers literally from the start, so I need to also think about the steps leading up to the announcement. So we were comparing notes on the back half, but then I came up with the rest of the timeline from the start. I wouldn't say it's an invention in my brain, it's more just trying to synthesize what you're seeing and just making it clear to people.”
Games can be made in many ways, and on many different timelines, though the one that Della Rocca presents is a common one we’ve seen developers follow many times before. It’s not a secret, and as he explained it during XP Game Summit, the actual steps and how long it all takes to happen matter less than your approach to the work and what business you’re actually in.
The basic steps, as Della Rocca puts it, are: you spend time concepting what your game will be, build a prototype and verify which concept you’ll move forward with. Announce your game, run private and then later public playtests, release a demo, participate in Steam Next Fest, and then launch when you’re ready in early access.
Easy-peasy when you just say it like that. Not so easy in actuality, and made even more difficult if you don’t approach it with the right frame of mind, and at least give yourself a chance of success. “A big part of what I really push for is early validation,” Della Rocca said. “The thing is, too many developers waste years of their life working on some random passion project that may have a lot of meaning to them, but has no commercial potential, no chance to succeed or break through in the marketplace, and listen. For some developers, they don’t care about money."
"They have a day job, and instead of writing a poem, they make a game to express themselves. That’s totally fine, games are a medium of expression. But what pains me is when a developer says, ‘Oh no, I’m a pro here, I want to make a living. I don’t want the day job, I want to have a career as a game maker."
"And that doesn’t mean they want to be a gazillionaire, it just means they want to make a living making games, and so assuming that’s a baseline, you have to think about audience. Get stuff out, announce, get feedback, validate, get a market signal, otherwise you’re wasting years of your life pursuing things that have no chance of success.”
2025 was practically defined by indie games, at a time when it’s more difficult than ever for studios to find success. It’s still in many ways its own kind of lottery ticket, but it’s at least partially uplifting to see data supporting a turning tide. PC gaming drives industry growth through its diversity, with most of the platform’s revenue and playtime coming from games outside of the top 20 biggest franchises per Newzoo. There’s reason to hope, but as Della Rocca reminded everyone in the audience this past May, ‘hope’ is not a valid business model.
You want to ground your business in something more tangible, evidence that your game can and will find success, whether it’s due for release next week or in three years from the time of this writing. The only way to turn your hope into what feels like an actual business plan is to have evidence grounded in constant playtesting and community building.
“If you go to any game industry event, you bump into game developers, [and say] ‘hey, you're a game developer, like, what business are you in?’ They will reply something to the effect of, well, ‘I'm in the game-making business, I [work at a] game studio, I'm a game developer, my business is to make games’, and the answer is always insufficient or wrong in that ultimately, we make games in order to make fans to build a community. The value of your company really is only determined by the reach you have and the awareness people have about what you do, and that they care, care about your creations, etc."
“As game studios, we are competing with every other form of entertainment and media in the world, whether that’s musicians or film directors or book authors, and all of them are focused on the fans," he continues. "Building an audience, whereas most game developers are just tinkering with tools, trying to make something. If you want to build a long-term, successful, sustainable company in an entertainment business, you must be an engine for fan creation."
"That ultimately is what the goal of the business needs to be. Now, as game makers, the way we do that is make cool games for the fans to fall in love with, so yes, we’re making games. But ultimately it’s in service of creating an audience, building a fan base, building a community. It’s a subtle reframing of really what the business is about.”
If you can build a community around the cool game you’re making, you have a better chance at finding funding, presenting your game backed by reams of social proof and community engagement. But you need funding to be able to work on the game so you can show it to a community, playtest it, and make a living while you’re building your cool game.
It’s a paradox, and it’s a symptom of the state of video game investment and indie game investment currently locked in what Della Rocca calls an era of “evidence-based investing.” If you can build an audience, publishers will come to you, but there’s no one (or at least very few) people interested in funding the gap between inception and a publisher knocking on your door.
The most important pitch you make is the one you make to players, to your potential fans, not to publishing executives in a conference room. That’s the unavoidable truth, and if you’re building your game through community engagement through constant playtesting, a ‘no’ or a ‘we’re not saying no, just not saying yes right now’ from a publisher in response to your pitch could drive a conversation that gets your game signed.
This is what makes Della Rocca’s reframing so compelling, particularly when you look at some of the biggest indie successes in recent years. Baldur’s Gate 3 is an example on the larger end of the scale, but it spent years in early access and public playtesting before its 1.0 launch, at which point it was on the path to becoming one of the biggest games of the past decade.
Early access hits from 2026 like Slay the Spire 2 and Subnautica 2 are built on original games that also followed an early access path. Hades 2’s arrival on PS5 and Xbox Series consoles earlier this year was a reminder of that game and its predecessor’s own early access path.
Other games like Valheim, Witchfire, No Rest for the Wicked, the pirate adventure Windrose, and Roadside Research support Della Rocca’s assessment that ‘a’ or arguably ‘the’ path and timeline for success is paved with playtesting. It’s not the only path, nor is it the right path for everyone, and Della Rocca is clear that the timeline he presents and the framing he brings to the studios he advises is based on what he has seen in the industry throughout three decades of experience and constant research of its movements.
Following these steps does not promise to be a surefire path to success, but Della Rocca’s insight into this timeline doesn’t come from just a pub chat. His emphasis on playtesting, on paying attention to metrics like demo median playtime, which he believes to be a “stronger indicator of success potential,” particularly over wishlists on Steam, which don’t actually give you much information.
“Median playtime is your actual time in the game, and demonstrates your desire to play and to keep playing. I can’t fake that, and if the game is compelling and well designed, and the gameplay is fun, you’ll [the player] spend more time with it. This is a stronger indicator that success is possible, so I really like median playtime as something to focus on. When the time is low, the team has to panic. You have to ask all these questions about why people are bailing or getting frustrated or not advancing, and it becomes a good thing for the team to focus on.”
One of the timeline steps that is particularly relevant to demo median playtime is Steam Next Fest, which recently saw the coming and going of the June 2026 edition, with the final SNF of the year set for October. A three-times-a-year event, Steam Next Fest gives indie developers a good chance to get that playtesting evidence they desperately need, and there’s a way to approach it for success.
“The main thing for Next Fest, and I said this in the lecture, is the demo has to be amazing when it hits Next Fest. You have to have done months of private playtesting, and even [have] the demo itself live on Steam a month or two before Next Fest.” That was something that I had at least already noticed myself, as someone who enjoys doing round-ups of demos I find interesting on Next Fest.
Several of them are live weeks ahead of Next Fest, and many of them also stay up long after Next Fest ends, if they’re taken down at all. But what makes a good Next Fest demo? You may be able to guess by now, but your launch timing factor on having a ‘good’ Next Fest demo matters less than how much you’ve playtested and iterated whatever you’re releasing.
“One of the biggest mistakes that developers make is they’re getting the demo ready for Next Fest and no one’s ever touched it before. Then it’s there, and it’s crashing, the UI is busted, it’s too hard, the boss is killing everyone, and [the developers] are discovering these issues for the first time as you’re in Next Fest. Then you’ve got to make updates and tweaks and fix it, but at that point your momentum is gone. Not many developers realize that the version of the demo that goes live in Next Fest is like, version 27. That’s a good demo. A polished version that’s been banged on and iterated over several months.”
Steam Next Fest wasn’t the only industry event on the horizon when I spoke to Della Rocca after the Summit, and it felt like it would be a missed opportunity not to discuss the potential impact that events like Summer Game Fest and The Game Awards can have for an indie game. If you have the $250-$550k lying around to afford a slot in either show, it probably won’t hurt your chances at success (save for the pre-launch hit your studio runway takes), but you’re better off picking your battles a little more wisely than just gunning for the biggest stage. And again, nothing replaces evidence gained from playtesting.
“Why I really emphasize playtesting and call it ‘the new indie religion’ is, you’re doing the flashy stuff to really get people into the community, so they playtest your game, they give you feedback; is it too hard, is it too easy, is the UI understandable or not. Or new ideas and so on, so you’re actually improving the game based on real players, and you’re using that as an excuse to make some noise and say, ‘Come on over, come play, come join the community.’ Like, the Highguard folks did not do any of that, right?"
"They were just doing the flashy stuff and not doing the hands-on bits, and that kind of burnt them in the end. I would not say that’s a problem of the festival or showcases, they’re doing the job they’re supposed to do which is bring attention. But then you, as the developer, you have to capture that attention, put it to work, bring it into the community, get them to provide feedback on the game, etc.”
There’s no way to guarantee success in the video game industry. You can do all the market research, get all the funding you need via publishers or even government support (which is its own kettle of fish), have all the wishlists you want, and still not land where you expect. There’s no denying that’s always a possibility. But Della Rocca’s timeline and praise for ‘the new indie religion’ of playtesting can at least point you in the right direction. You just have to get the framing right.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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