THE CRUNCH
Indie games are having a breakout year, literally. A Sensor Tower industry analysis, reported via GamesIndustry.biz, counted 76 breakout games between September 2025 and August 2026, up from 55 the year before. A breakout is defined as a game selling at least 500,000 units in its first 30 days, with figures based on estimates since not all publishers release sales numbers.
Indie breakouts jumped from 13 to 33, making up 43% of the total. Non-sequels accounted for 35 of the 76 breakouts, roughly 46%, and 27 of those came from indie studios. Nine of the indie hits were so-called friendslop games, multiplayer titles built around proximity voice chat, such as Meccha Chameleon and RV There Yet?, while 18 were debuts in other genres, including Escape From Duckov and Megabonk.
Triple-A blockbusters barely moved, with 28 breakouts this year against 27 last year. The methodology has limits worth knowing: free-to-play games such as Marvel Rivals are excluded, and Call of Duty is not counted, so some very large releases do not appear in these figures.