Kill Screen’s Jamin Warren compares the usage of the term “indie” in gaming versus other forms of media. Overall he finds the concept dated and little more than a marketing term at this point. I can’t agree 100 percent; it’s clear that “indie” suffers from overexposure. But there’s a world of difference between the development size of a game like Skyrim compared to a title like Rogue Legacy. The latter, with its tiny budget and development team and independence from big structure, feels absolutely fair to distinguish as “indie”.
A game that falls in the middle – something like Titanfall – by an team of under 100 employees working independently but through a mega-publisher like EA? That’s debatable. But it doesn’t mean the term loses validation entirely.