Bobby Kotick insults every indie game dev in the world (Except Bungie)

[Sengir]

Proton, I think the kind of independent you're talking about is what's usually referred to as "3rd party"
Usually when someone says indie they mean what Sengir or Woppet are saying

"3rd Party" is when you're a game dev that isn't from the company that released the system you're developing for.

Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft are 1st party.

Activision, Ubisoft and EA are 3rd party.

To expand on this, developers that are employed directly part of the 1st Party are often refered to as '2nd Party', although this may be something of a misnomer. Camelot (Mario Tennis, Golden Sun) would be 2nd Party developers.

yeah, i think there might be some confusion on "types" of companies


Console Manufacturers: Companies that make the platforms, examples include Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony, Apple, and Google.
1st Party: Same as Console Manufacturers, 1st Party companies are generally publishers with some also developing.
2nd Party: 2nd Party companies are 1st Party-owned developers for the most part. Examples include Rare and HAL Laboratories.
3rd Party: 3rd Party companies are not aligned with any of the other parties. Examples include Activision, Square Enix, and now Sega.

Publisher: A company that markets and sells games while sometimes paying developer studios to make them. Examples include Activision, EA, Konami, Nintendo, etc.
Developer: A company that is payed to make games for publishers but not owned by them.
Studio: A company that is payed to make games for a specific publisher that owns the studio.
Indie Developer: A company that makes games without a publisher (Meaning they cannot distribute through regular methods. They generally use digtal distribution such as Steam, Facebook, or iTunes)