The meeting was an indie lovers dream. At the table sat Evil Empire’s Bérenger Dupré, Mega Crit’s Casey Yano, and a chance to get top the bottom of a mystery that had plagued me for weeks.
What is the Triple-I Initiative?
It was the first question I posed, but, having been in meetings all morning with people asking that same question, Dupré smiled and offered to give the “five-minute pitch.” I was only too happy to take him up on the offer.
The brand manager — whose team was behind one of my favorite DLCs of last year, Dead Cells: Return To Castlevania — got quickly to the point. The Triple-I Initiative is a collaboration of the top names in the indie space, with everyone working together to put on one, big, indie-filled showcase. The inaugural event is set to take place April 10 at 10am PT.
The showcase is billed as a “no fluff” event. Just games, announcements, and news. Though Dupré did let me in on an early idea that the epic narrator from Darkest Dungeon, Wayne June, could help transition from trailer to trailer. While that didn’t end up working, the team at Red Hook Studios will definitely have a part in the show.
The idea for the show came from Evil Empire, explained Casey Yano — Slay the Spire’s designer. And, at first, it only seemed like an idea. Dupré had mentioned it to a few of his better-known indie fellows, but it wasn’t until multiple well-known studios started throwing in with the plan that it seemed it might actually be happening.
Most striking to me during this conversation is just how much the plane is being built as it’s being flown. Triple-I really does seem to embody the indie spirit of leaping into a cool idea with your friends and making something great out of it. But a lot is riding on this first showcase.
“It’s such an experiment,” said Dupré. He isn’t sure if the audience will show up for this kind of showcase. But he wants to put on this event to shine a light on indie gaming. “Bigger showcases are great,” he says, “but the crowd is mostly there for the Triple-A games.” When an indie does make an appearance at events like Summer Game Fest or Gamescom, the chat fills up with vocal disinterest.
Dupré hopes the upcoming presentation will draw in the kind of viewers for whom indies are the highlight, not an afterthought. But dedicated fan base isn’t the only necessary ingredient to make the Triple-I show a viable, yearly event. The collaboration will also need to attract a big enough audience. With high-profile creators like Red Hook, Poncle, Meta Crit, Thunder Lotus, and Evil Empire all on board, I have every hope we’ll have a new annual indie event to add to the gaming calendar.
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