Net Yaroze - Sony’s Fascinating First Foray into the World of Indie Game Development | Push Square
In the 1980s, the hobbyist game development scene was absolutely thriving in the UK. Home computers like the ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro, and Commodore 64 all allowed their users to write custom code from scratch, in what was known as the Basic programming language.
As a result, each system had an incredibly dedicated audience of bedroom developers who were keen to hone their programming skills by creating computer games, copying them to cassette, and flogging their wares any which way they could.
It was a golden era of creativity and grassroots development that saw the rise of legendary software houses like Psygnosis and Ocean. Series like WipEout, Lemmings, and Colony Wars genuinely might never have seen the light of day were it not for this pioneering period.
Fast forward four decades to today, and independently-created video games are everywhere. With development tools like Unity being so easily accessible, and an almost limitless number of online storefronts, it’s never been easier to create and distribute vidja.
Games like Stray and Tunic have even featured in Sony’s State of Play presentations. It’s clear that indies are a hugely important part of the industry these days — but there was a time when that simply wasn’t the case.
In the late ‘80s, home computers like the ZX Spectrum began to fall out of favour with gamers, and were slowly being replaced by the smaller, more intuitive, dedicated video game consoles. Systems like the NES brought many benefits for players, but the closed-off nature of the platform meant that bedroom developers were largely locked out.
Development kits for these newfangled home consoles were prohibitively expensive for the average Joe, and publishing restrictions were often strict. If you
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