Every year, sometimes multiple times a year, the same gaming debates are repeated. Are the review scores good or bad; are esports players real athletes? Every difficult game should have an easy mode" And let's not forget the endless yellow paint debate.

The definition of "indie game" is one of the recurring debates, and it was a hot topic at last year's Game Awards when "Dave the Diver" was nominated for "Best Indie Game" alongside games like "Dredge" and "Cocoon" Dave The Diver" certainly has a 2D pixel-art "indie vibe," and while Mintrocket's development team is relatively small, Mintrocket itself is a sub-brand of Nexon, a major Korean game publisher. [At the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco this week, I sat down with Dave the Diver's game director, Jeho Hwang, to get his take on whether Dave the Diver is considered an indie game and what an indie game is in the first place.

"The game is a game that is not an indie game.

"Is 'Dave the Diver' an indie game? I would say no."

"Is it an indie game? Nevertheless, he was pleased that his team's hard work was recognized and nominated. I really appreciate all the media and critics who nominated us for Best Indie Game," he said. It's a great honor for us."

At the same time, Hwang had some reservations about the nomination. He said, "Dave the Diver got nominated, so our favorite, Pizza Tower, didn't get nominated. He wondered if perhaps they were taking a place away from this indie game or indie developer. [I don't want them to think we are invading their territory. I have a lot of respect for them."

While Hwang does not consider his game indie, he understands why others might think so. 'We didn't have the big budget or abundant resources that some people think. We started with five people, and at our peak we had 26." But I know that real indie developers work under much harsher conditions. They have to do a lot of things themselves, whether they are invested or not."

He also recognizes the extreme financial predicament that indie studios face when not backed by a major publisher like Mintrocket. We get paid regularly, every month," he said. We have a lot of internal team [members] who are always there to support us when we need it."

So what does the term "indie game" mean to Huang? According to Hwang, Nexon did not give Mintrocket much direction and had little hand in the development of Dave the Diver, but he still recognizes that his studio is part of a larger He recognizes that his studio is part of a larger enterprise," Hwang said. But he recognizes that his studio is part of a larger undertaking."

"Maybe it's time to rethink the term 'indie. Larian Studios, Dave the Diver, these are all different from this indie category, but there are tons of different types of games out there today." He brought up the case of Dredge, developed by Black Salt Games, which Dave the Diver worked with last year for a free content pack. They are completely indie, a very small team of only four people," he said. But they receive direction and guidance from Team 17, a major publisher. Should they be defined as indie in this case?

Maybe we simply need more words to describe the game, says Hwang." Triple indie?" He suggested, and laughed a little, "Single A." People say triple-A or indie, but there are a lot of games in between."[17