From the article:
“Play is an integral part of human evolution and learning,” she says, mentioning that this is a topic she covers in her book. “Gaming, being the most refined form of play in our time, has much to offer. Instead of focusing on what gaming is not, it’s more effective to showcase its true essence. The industry’s effort to create a more diverse range of games, beyond merely violent and intense ones, will help showcase the broad spectrum of gaming as an expression of creativity.”
Yep, the vast majority of the games I buy at this point are coming from indies.
The main issue is large studios want to make a safe game that does everything and appeals to everyone. Meanwhile, indies are making games that are fun-first and targeted at specific audiences, rather than just the mean.
Games like Factorio could be made by a big studio, but it wasn’t, because it don’t have mass appeal. Meanwhile, if you are in it’s target audience, it is a 10/10 game. And it isn’t like the studio had to shovel $200m into a pit to make this 10/10 game.