the game awards nominating dave the fucking diver for best independent game really goes to show that most gamers assume "indie" means distinct artstyle and quirk. the same thing happened with Hi-Fi Rush. i enjoyed both but christ, the term's lost all meaning these days.
the definition is beyond nebulous but i always saw it as self-published. Dredge was published by Team17. Cocoon by Annapurna. congrats Sea Of Stars, you win by actually meeting the criteria lmao.
bring back the "small/medium studio" classification
bring back just "A" game publishers (as opposed to AAA (Anti-Aircraft Artillery (not the American Automobile Association)))
Hi-Fi rush deserves to be recognized as the ideal Mid-Budget title that it was. There needs to be room for games that need A Budget but isn't attempting to push the envelope in content or graphics.
Actually if TGA wanted to be cool and influence the industry in a positive way they'd have a Mid-Budget game category. Something to get people to remember "oh yeah that was a really solid Actual Game, not just a skinner box." Might get people to see a pattern.