Interview: TOVG details the highs and lows of beloved IndieLand event

Running a large event like IndieLand for several years in a row has both its ups and downs. We spoke to the TOVG team about what they felt were the highs and lows of running their annual indie showcase.

That One Video Game’s indie showcase IndieLand has come a long way since its inception back in 2018. Since that time, the team has learned a great deal about the purpose IndieLand serves, how to run the event itself, and how to evolve the formula each passing year.

IndieLand has not been without its hiccups, however, but the payoff appears to be more than worth it for those producing the show. Fortunately, we were able to speak with Jirard “The Completionist” Khalil and Michael Barryte of TOVG to discover how they’ve navigated the ups and downs of IndieLand over the years.

IndieLand as an annual celebration

Since the initial launch back in 2018, IndieLand has seen both micro and macro changes, with the team iterating on what they found worked and what didn’t.

“The biggest shift that we made back in 2020 was making sure that every game that we spotlight has a developer present, either virtually or in person,” Michael explained. “So we’re never showcasing a game unless we’re able to talk to the developer directly about the process of game development, which I think adds a lot to the experience overall.”

Another major pattern found by the TOVG team was the community that only continued to grow around the event. When the ticketed iteration of IndieLand 2022 rolled around, that community was brought together in a physical manner.

“All these developers were just hanging out and supporting one another, both during and after their time on, on and off the couch.”

This became even more true when relationships formed between devs transpired beyond the event itself, creating a “burgeoning support system”.

“Jirard and I went to GDC and PAX East earlier this year and devs who had met at IndieLand were talking like ‘Oh yeah, we’ve been hanging out and we now do all these things together,’” Michael happily recounted.

Production-wise, Jirard spoke about how it was easier to get more talent and guests as time went on, as their numbers for the event slowly improved and the team had a more concrete idea of IndieLand’s position in the community.

“We’ve had some fantastic celebrities stop by and be part of the show to some degree. We’ve had people like Jamie Lee Curtis, we’ve had Sisqó, we had several hosts last year, and AEW superstar Adam Cole was one of our hosts.”

Despite the show’s growth, Jirard wasn’t entirely fixated on the amount of money raised. Instead, his measure of success comes from seeing people from all walks of life banding together to celebrate a cause.

“It’s not about the number of money that we raised, you know, we could raise 10 bucks and I’d be delighted… it’s about the cause, but it’s also about giving the spotlight to developers who are struggling to get publishing funding.”

Difficulties of hosting a large-scale indie-focused event

It wasn’t all flowers and rainbows when it came to IndieLand, however, with the team at TOVG putting in immense effort just to get the show off the ground. From the creative director’s side, Michael explained how awful he felt saying no to various passionate devs along the way.

“Every year, what inevitably happens is I say the schedule is locked, we’re good, and then Jirard or somebody else is like, ‘Oh my gosh, have you seen this game?’ And then I ‘go, yeah, we have to showcase it.’

“And so then we’re reconfiguring and sometimes it is just too late and it stinks to be the guy who’s saying ‘I think your game is incredible, but not right now’”.

On the flip side, gaining sponsorship and potential partners for a charity event was a pain point for the entire team in previous years. This became even more frustrating when the team has to re-explain themselves each year over.

“It’s been very frustrating and difficult to continue to build our Rolodex of sponsors and potential partners to work with. Even developers and publishers who we desire to bring to the show, every year we share with them our stats and we share with them what we do, and what we’re looking to do. We have to re-explain ourselves every single time.”

Jirard coined this routine as a re-education process, speaking about how they need to constantly remind sponsors who they are, what the event is about, and explain to them how it’s all for a good cause.

Without sponsorship, IndieLand costs Jirard a decent chunk of change from his own pocket, meaning its budget could be reliant on how well The Completionist does in his own right that calendar year.

“It is truly a labor of love out of our own pockets. The amount of brands and companies that just are like ‘We don’t get it,’ but then turn around and sponsor someone else, is a bit frustrating, just because you know, all we’re asking is for a little respect, a little time,” Jirard lamented.

Gratification of seeing IndieLand come together

Even with the trials and tribulations of organizing IndieLand, both Michael and Jirard take away their own favorite experiences from the event, making it well worth it in the end.

For Michael, it’s being able to store up huge surprising moments for Jirard and the audience who then get to experience it on the show.

As creative director, Michael plays through the games to notify Jirard of which titles he should become familiar with, however, there are times when he’ll specifically withhold the game in order to save it for Jirard and the audience.

“There are some games that I say Jirard, ‘You’re not allowed to play these games’ because there’s like a moment where something might happen and I don’t want that moment to be robbed from Jirard and the audience.”

“Those are moments that I always enjoy, I don’t wanna say like manufacturing them. But knowing that there will be these great moments that the audience and the talent are going to get to have together. And that then kind of supercharges developers a little bit because they get to see these in real-time reactions to things that they’ve spent so much time on.”

For Jirard, seeing the show help the developers who attended, be it in form of attention on social media of wishlists on Steam, that’s his main enjoyment of the event.

“I think the thing that I love most about the show is seeing the amount of developers who reach out to us after who go, ‘I pay $10,000 to be hosted at a digital event through my PR company and I got two wishlists. You did your event and I at the very least got 500-2,000 wishlists.”

A certain sense of pride comes about for Jirard when he’s able to see these indie games that were originally featured begin to flourish.

“And to have that year after year, grow and grow, and see indie games that we featured years ago get Game of the Year awards accolades. To really form relationships with these developers and see their projects kind of come through, it’s almost like raising a kid and seeing it go off to school and go to college and graduate, right? You have this sense of pride.”

It’s the fact that the team was able to give these developers the confidence and support they needed is what Jirard truly takes pleasure in when producing IndieLand from year to year.

“Those relationships that we established with those developers and the support we provided them, gave them the confidence and the support they needed. And that’s the stuff that I love more than anything. Just because it’s not a transactional thing. Their hard work earned the success, they didn’t get to it because of us.”

We interviewed the TOVG crew over a three-part series. You can catch up on Part 1 & Part 3 here.

IndieLand will return on October 20 – 22 2023 and can be viewed on The Completionist Twitch channel.