Indie Games Are Breaking Out–But It’s Still Tough Out There

Developer House House and publisher Panic announced today that their co-op multiplayer puzzle/exploration/goof-around game Big Walk has achieved huge sales success in just under a week. In a post on Bluesky, Panic announced that Big Walk has already passed over one million units in sales.

For small development teams and publishers, one million is a tremendous milestone–one that plenty of big commercial releases from major publishers often fail to reach. But we’ve seen a fair few massive indie hits in 2026 so far. Today the official X account of Ball X Pit posted that they’ve just crossed 2 million in sales while also teasing future content updates. Bizarre raising sim/RPG hybrid Mewgenics also crossed the million mark, reportedly earning back its development cost in a matter of mere hours.

Other indie darlings, such as ReStory and Mina the Hollower, have also trumpeted their sales figures–and while they hadn’t hit the magic millions at the time of the posts, six-figure sales are certainly nothing to sneeze at for indie titles. And, of course, there are tremendous breakout hits like Meccha Chameleon, which has sold over 15 million copies–absolutely eclipsing the expectations of anyone, most of all its small development team in Japan.

These indie success stories are certainly feel-good moments in a sea of what seems like unrelenting bad industry news. However, it’s easy to forget that indie development–and success–rarely comes easily. For every massive indie hit, there are hundreds of quality indie games yearning for success and recognition that go largely unnoticed, whose developers are praying for a hit so they can finally quit their day job. If there’s a small game you love, be sure to spread the word–your voices are what can help turn a small passion project into a life-changing success.