GAME developers left out of work after some of Australia's biggest studios closed their doors have poured into the growing independent scene.
The unrelentingly high Australian dollar spelt the end of many developers over recent years including Team Bondi, which made the critically acclaimed L.A. Noire, THQ Australia, Pandemic Studios and more recently SEGA Studios Australia.
Sydney-based Leigh Harris - who started Flat Earth Games with his brother Rohan after leaving Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar Games - said the big developers in Australia had all but vanished, prompting some talented folk to seek work overseas.
But others had embraced the freedoms - and the financial challenges - of independent development.
"Australia has been re-shaping its game development teams for the past four or five years now, away from the big AAA studios and those that were owned by overseas companies, and into indie, so now we have a fairly strong indie scene," Harris told AAP.
"There are a lot of cool start-ups, incubators and things like that that are pushing things along."
Harris said one of the saddest losses was the closure of KMM Interactive, which comprised the remnants of the L.A. Noire team, but a couple of mini studios were formed out of the wreckage.
"So there's, I suppose, a silver lining.
"We managed to get one of their designers and one of the programmers to help us out for a couple of weeks."
Flat Earth's small team can't yet afford to work on games full time, but that's the plan.
The small firm has spent the past two years developing an app-based resource management game called TownCraft in their spare time, so no-one has been paid a wage, but they plan to share the profits.
The Harris brothers agreed it was liberating working on a small project, without needing to jump through hoops to get signed-up by a video game publisher.
And they knew they were on the right track when all who beta-tested their game - which was inspired by city-building hits Caesar, Pharaoh and Settlers - became instantly addicted.
"That's when I knew we were doing OK ... I was playing and almost missed my train."
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