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There have been some remarkable indie games over the years. Titles like Stardew Valley and Minecraft have helped redefine genres and have become successes from a sales and marketing point of view, but what success means to most indie game developers isn’t always as measurable as sales figures or profit. For many indie devs, success can feel more difficult to define.

In an interview that followed up with the developers of indie games that went on to become cult hits, Australian developer Grace Bruxner, who helped create the Frog Detective trilogy of games, explained why she didn’t judge success by sales figures. “Success in games has always been a bit of a lie, a bit of an illusion,” she said. “My measure of success is: did I make something I’m proud of, and has it impacted my life and other people’s lives in a positive way?”

She points to her own series of short games about a frog detective that found an international audience and says, “And yes, it did, so thumbs up.”

Focusing on things other than hard sales figures can be necessary in an industry that is notorious for being ruthless to even well-established studios. AP Thomson and Jenny Jiao Hsia have already earned multiple awards for their upcoming coming-of-age scheduling RPG, Consume Me, but, with its commercial debut still looming, they aren’t looking to pitch a follow-up just yet.

“There was a pretty major change around the mid-2010s when indie publishers and funders started rising in prominence,” Thompson explained. “Everything we’ve heard suggests that the same opportunities no longer exist or are incredibly limited… Everything we’ve heard suggests that now is really not a great time to be pitching, so we’re going to focus our energy on the launch and then read the temperature of the room after that.”

Despite there being so many indie darlings out there at the moment, it is clear that success in the gaming industry isn’t as cut-and-dry as sales or profit. Even a great game might not earn a team a future in the industry.

You don't need to beat the game to prepare for the next one—here are all the major new and upcoming games coming our way.