I think the indie games genre is just a vibe, not if something is really independent or not.
Like nobody is calling Witcher or Cyberpunk an indie game, even though it didn't have an outside publisher. Conversely, most people would probably say Bastion or Journey are indie games, even though Warner and Sony published the games.
Any change to the site = shit. The next time a mod gets removed, people are going to scream again, that this would never have happened with the old owner.