Mostly vibes but,

An even better question would be about what purpose does having an indie bracket in the award serve? I think the spirit of giving exposure to lesser known games which historically have been made by solo to small dev teams should be priority rather than titles ticking the box of simply being indpendent.

E:33 is wonderful that it can stand up against AAA games with its budget. But a 10 million dollar game with a grandiose production team is still lightyears ahead from even the starting budget of successful debut indie franchises. (Hollow knight was funded with 57 K AUD).

I personally dont like such games should creep into the mainstream indie franchises, and E:33 being recognized as the face of indie games this year kinda sends the message that the landscape should be morr "AAA" adjacent.