The Return of Pixel Art in Indie Games

The independent video game industry has evolved significantly over the past few decades and is now experiencing substantial growth today. However, it remains a genre with limited financial and material resources. This lack of resources seems to be one of the reasons for the resurgence of pixel art in recent years. Notable examples include Cave Story (2004), Super Meat Boy (2010) or, more recently, The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood (2023).

The 2000s saw the revival of pixel art graphics, both for their practicality and as a tribute to the early days of video games. By adopting the codes of the very first video games ever created (8-bit music, pixel art, etc.), a sense of nostalgia is evoked. This nostalgia, genuine for those who grew up before the 90s and artificial for younger generations, creates a pleasant and positive visual and auditory atmosphere in the game before the player even starts a new game.

Undertale (2015) and Stardew Valley (2016) are two games developed by indie studios that stand out for the reasons mentioned above. Even without playing them, you can feel the nostalgic vibe of retro gaming and old Nintendo games, which has made them pillars of indie games and modern pixel art.

However, even though it's easier to produce, recent indie studios don't limit themselves to the simplistic pixel art of the past. Unpacking (2021) and Coffee Talk (2020) are perfect examples: both games have managed to modernize Pixel Art, making it more detailed and realistic. This is not the case for Hotline Miami (2012), which, despite its dynamic animations, retains the maximum codes of retro games with saturated and simplistic graphics.

Today, there is a new type of pixel art: Hi-Bit. This style takes retro pixel art codes and adds modern techniques such as high resolution, realistic lighting effects, more colours, and so on. The studios behind Celeste (2018) and Dead Cells (2018), for example, have embraced Hi-Bit.

In 2025, while it is not the only style of graphics used, pixel art dominates the indie video game market and has become the hallmark of the industry. For many, it has also become a genre in its own right, just like platformers or cyberpunk-themed games. On Itch.io or Steam, for example, it even has its own category that has remained popular over the years.

In short, pixel art now holds an important part in the video game industry: first in the very early days of the field with the first Mario and Tetris, and more recently with its revival and the nostalgia it brings. In 2024, for example, a game with Pixel Art graphics (Balatro) won the title of Best Indie Game of the Year at the Game Awards and was nominated for Game of the Year (GOTY) a few months later.

Article written by Lou LANOË-DANEL

Medium: https://medium.com/@lou_lotus