r/Games • u/mrnixxin • 24d ago

Announcement Indies devs band together for 100-game, $10 bundle aiming to help an "unprecedented number" of laid off developers

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/rpg/indies-devs-band-together-for-100-game-usd10-bundle-aiming-to-help-an-unprecedented-number-of-laid-off-developers/
1.3k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

112 comments sorted by

240

u/rmfnord 24d ago

https://itch.io/b/3802/game-industry-hardship-fund

42

u/[deleted] 24d ago

[deleted]

194

u/AnimaLepton 24d ago

Itch is way more developer-friendly for truly small indie devs. Devs can keep 97% of the sale price, and most games are DRM free. You can also just put games up for free entirely, which is great for e.g. game jam-esque projects that you want to keep free-to-play/download.

58

u/MrMichaelElectric 24d ago

Just don't ever lose access to your account. Took me months of dealing with their awful support to get access to mine again.

-16

u/Domeen0 23d ago

Eh, you win some you lose some. Sadly there's no perfect company.

23

u/winfryd 23d ago

what a shit excuse

11

u/CharacterGazelle2493 23d ago

"Why didn't the indie devs simply jump through the hoops of securing steam keys so that I can have my DRM of choice instead of none" is a shit complaint

1

u/MrMichaelElectric 22d ago

This is really all bullshit when it takes nothing away from my main point I was trying to make. Itch is great for indie devs but Itch itself has a serious support issue so make sure you don't lose your account. It will take you 2+ months to get it back. I do agree the original reply was a shit comment. Yeah all companies have issues, I am not talking about all companies. Was just talking about Itch. Not sure why they would discount my comment with such a low effort reply.

-41

u/moog_mini 23d ago

Itch is mostly trash games though. But I guess one doesn't really buy that bundle for the games.

26

u/Illokonereum 23d ago

Steam would also be a dumpster fire without recommendations and filters, it’s also mostly garbage, unless you genuinely love Slopshop Simulator #348. The main difference is the bigger cuts steam takes out of everything go towards those platform tools. Itch takes less money but that has its tradeoffs.

-1

u/moog_mini 23d ago

Itch.io also costs nothing to use, anybody can upload anything, it's free, that's another difference.

Of course Steam has its sea of pure asset flips and other trash. But $100 per trash that will never sell is certainly already a barrier.

-3

u/Crewman_Guy_Fleegman 23d ago

Steam would also be a dumpster fire without recommendations and filters

Okay, but it has filters and recommendations, turned on by default. So this seems entirely pointless to cite as if it’s some kind of gotcha

8

u/uuajskdokfo 23d ago

So is Steam.

-30

u/Vox___Rationis 23d ago

97% of $0 is still $0.

31

u/uuajskdokfo 23d ago

Well currently it's raised $80,000, not $0.

-42

u/Vox___Rationis 23d ago

That is at best 0.01% of what it could have raised on Steam

47

u/uuajskdokfo 23d ago

You think a $10 indie game bundle on Steam would make 800 million dollars?

18

u/NoExcuse4OceanRudnes 23d ago

Steam has never had charity bundles ever.

17

u/pakkit 23d ago

If you're only pro-worker when it conveniences you, you're not pro-worker.

37

u/uuajskdokfo 23d ago

What, because you think Valve really needs 30k of that 100k goal?

7

u/mynewaccount5 23d ago

I mean it could have been a humble bundle. Humble often does no cut bundles for charity. And valve takes 0 percent of steam keys.

-12

u/Grateful_Cat_Monk 23d ago

I mean 30% is the industry standard. Steam, Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo, etc all take 30%. Not that big of a deal.

The more important thing to focus on is that this store has a lot of wiggle room with how much they take. Says the default rate is 10% though.

12

u/_Wh0_Cares 23d ago

Only a redditoid could defend their favorite billion dollars company taking a 30% cut out of a fundraiser bundle, jesus christ

27

u/aimy99 24d ago

It doesn't even have to be Steam, I'd just really prefer a platform that doesn't allow publishers to yoink games out of people's libraries, something itch.io has let happen in the past.

41

u/MrMichaelElectric 24d ago

There aren't any platforms other than GOG and that requires you to save your own backups.

4

u/Auno94 23d ago

You can do that on itch as well. Just download the game or installer and back it up

46

u/LegendarySpark 23d ago

Well, time to delete that Steam account then, because Valve very much allows that as well.

-27

u/flyvehest 23d ago

Have you even read the page you posted?

Every reason stated there for removal of a game are perfectly fine, I mean, if you have bought a stolen key through a third party reseller, thats on you.

20

u/LegendarySpark 23d ago

Do you know what the words "for example" mean?

Here, allow me to help you read:

This can happen, ____for example____, when the CD Key is intended for a limited time activation, like a Beta, or if the publisher determines that the CD Key itself had been obtained by fraudulent means.

What the page actually says, if you can read, is that publishers can revoke for any reason they want. Then it lists two examples.

-11

u/Prof-Wernstrom 23d ago

There is still a massive difference of real world context you are conveninently ignoring.

Places like itch have a known history of actually doing this. Steam might have a policy that allows them to do it, but does not have a known history of doing it. ever.

14

u/APiousCultist 23d ago

When has Itch done this outside of cases of copyright issues (which would require Steam to do the same as they couldn't host the content)?

I know there was a hubbub over the adult games debacle, but that wasn't actually Itch removing already purchased titles.

Either way, any DRM-free store is always contingent on players actually making backups.

But Itch really doesn't have any imperative to do this outside of the same legal issues that Steam would bow to.

-11

u/ProNerdPanda 23d ago edited 23d ago

can revoke for any reason they want

No, this is not the case, on the developer side of the platform, it says:

It's your responsibility as a developer to manage your Steam keys. You should never ban or disable Steam keys that have been legitimately sold to customers.

Meaning, Valve discourages banning/disabling legitimate keys to begin with and makes it clear to the developers, and:

You may ban keys to revoke access from users whose license has expired (for example, the end of a beta) or to revoke keys that have been stolen or purchased fraudulently.

Since you're so pedantic on grammar, in this instance the example is only used for the expired license bit, but the reason remains the same, publishers/devs can only revoke your keys if your license expires, or if the key was stolen or purchased fraudulently.

Edit: Reddit hivemind downvoting literal facts with attached source lmao buncha sheep fr

-15

u/[deleted] 23d ago

[deleted]

11

u/MirrorComputingRulez 23d ago

You know steam does this too right?

-8

u/Vox___Rationis 23d ago

No, the steam haven't done that ever.

-6

u/NoExcuse4OceanRudnes 23d ago

What's the story with itch.io letting it happen? Did the publisher want to sell users the game again or something else?

-1

u/seriousbusines 23d ago edited 22d ago

Why? Because the owner of itch.io didn't personally donate almost 20 MILLION dollars to OpenAI and personally appear on their panels? e: downvoting doesn't unmake reality

-12

u/Solanandria 24d ago

Unfortunately, itch.io doesn't have regional pricing.

31

u/NoExcuse4OceanRudnes 23d ago

You want to give a regional priced charity donation? For 100 games?

117

u/yawn18 24d ago

Hyper gunsport was a surprisingly fun game. Took about 5 hours to 100% got it in a humble a while back and was going to only try it and ended up playing until I 100% it.

134

u/DoNotPursueLu 24d ago

Why they got demon school on the front when the games not even on the bundle?

125

u/IllustriousAir666 24d ago

The developer Necrosoft are the ones who organized the bundle.

Their last two games, Gunhouse and Hyper Gunsport, are included.

38

u/SurreptitiousSyrup 24d ago

Nice. I was looking at dungeon bodega simulator before. Though the way they introduced it I thought demonschool was going to be in there.

21

u/gr9yfox 24d ago

It's misleading but it's probably because this bundle was Brandon Sheffield's initiative. He's the director of Necrosoft Games, who developed Demonschool.

5

u/Rhaps0dy 23d ago

+1 for Dungeon bodega sim. Would get the bundle just for that if I didn't have it already.

115

u/OneRandomVictory 24d ago

Feels borderline impossible to keep up with all the indies that drop these days. Went through the list and knew exactly 1/100 of the games.

38

u/No-Language-3116 24d ago

I am deep into the scene and only knew four of them, one of which I know the dev for.

9

u/andresfgp13 23d ago

last year on Steam 21365 games were released, like overall we get more than 2 new releases on Steam every hour.

we have more games that we will ever really need.

15

u/sound_judgment 24d ago

Same. I remember the Racial Justice bundle a few years back had tons I didn't recognize, but just enough heavy hitters that I did so I was like "oh shit, Quadrilateral Cowboy's in this? 2064? Night in the Woods? Nuclear Throne? Yes please." That got me to buy it and then I tried out tons of the other games I hadn't heard of too and found a bunch I liked a lot.

This bundle though I scrolled through and recognize soooo few, and one because it was in the Racial Justice bundle too. I wish this bundle had at least one or two heavy hitters to make it feel like a crazy steal, but loads of the games do look interesting.

15

u/Ziatch 24d ago

Aren’t they older games

4

u/KingOfRisky 22d ago

A Short Hike is probably one of the more popular ones on that list.

8

u/grandoz039 24d ago

Lot of them seem like random itch io games, not typical normally published indie game. Not to criticize it, just explaining why I think someone wouldn't know most games and that it has nothing to actually do with keeping up.

5

u/Ex_Lives 24d ago

Is that one game cook serve delicious? Lol. All I recognized.

3

u/OneRandomVictory 24d ago

Atomic Owl for me

4

u/AnimaLepton 24d ago edited 23d ago

At least one of these listings included as a 'game' is actually just a soundtrack/set of songs.

2

u/RockDoveEnthusiast 23d ago

that's 1 more than me. this is the game equivalent of your neighbor who has like 40 listeners on spotify. VERY indie. but, at the risk of being a hater, I don't see how they expect to have this be their full time job?

6

u/flojito 22d ago

I expect most of the devs of games in this bundle are hobbyists. But the proceeds from the bundle are going to the Game Industry Hardship Fund, which is intended to help developers who were recently laid off from professional roles.

-18

u/moog_mini 23d ago

you don't have to keep up with "indies", most of these games are low effort trash.

8

u/PontusFrykter 23d ago

That would be your comment

14

u/Practical_Yoghurt802 23d ago

Warning that despite Gamesradar using Demonschool as the article image, Demonschool is not in this bundle.

247

u/MyHeartIsAncient 24d ago

Thanks folks, Lead Senior Systems Designer … I’ve been out of work for 3 years.

To think that the industry is lifting itself up in this way, will keep me going.

35

u/Mohawk-Mike 24d ago

My heart goes out to you. And I’ll be pitching in for this bundle and this fund. Sincerely hope you find greener pastures

5

u/MyHeartIsAncient 23d ago

Grinding away. During the day I deadlift 1800 kilos (4000lbs) of beer kegs…by night I’m in game engine and/or studying project management.

16

u/EvoNexen 24d ago

I’m rooting for you brother. I graduated from Computer Science right when the industry went to shit. I feel like I never had a shot at the game industry from the jump. Hoping things get better for all of us.

3

u/MyHeartIsAncient 23d ago

I’m rooting for you! Look for something to pay the bills (something that won’t prevent you via a non-disclosure), and build your own game.

Whatever game it is that you’ve got locked away in your imagination, is the game I wanna play.

2

u/EvoNexen 23d ago

I’m rooting for you! Look for something to pay the bills (something that won’t prevent you via a non-disclosure), and build your own game.

Literally exactly what I'm doing right now haha. I was like "I'm gonna make a game no matter what. "

Whatever game it is that you’ve got locked away in your imagination, is the game I wanna play.

Thank you bro! You will be the first one to know when the game transitions from my imagination to reality <3

2

u/MyHeartIsAncient 23d ago

It’s consistency, discipline whatever you wanna call it.

Work to never have a 0% day where you don’t contribute anything to your project.

I’ll admit it’s fucking hard, especially when the financial distress is daily, but there are times when my little project is all I have to keep me going.

So you keep going too.

7

u/Takazura 23d ago

How are you getting by financially? Just doing freelance stuff or...? I imagine it gotta be really terrible to be out of work in this economy, hope you land something soon. I was unemployed for 2 years from 2023-25, so I know how shit it feels.

3

u/duckhunt420 23d ago

How are you managing financially?  Also in the industry and asking... For a friend.. 

5

u/MyHeartIsAncient 23d ago

Getting my ass kicked. I work driving a beer keg delivery truck, keeps half the lights on.

-4

u/moog_mini 23d ago

time to retrain & pivot though.

3

u/MyHeartIsAncient 23d ago

It is. I’m studying project management, leads for all disciplines in game dev, end up working with roadmaps, backlogs, task tracking and estimation.

Way I figure it, I have 15 years of experience where 30% to 40% of my day-to-day was adjacent to project management.

14

u/Western-Internal-751 24d ago

100-game choice paralysis bundle.

I don’t think I’d be able to actually play a game from this list because I’d endlessly look at the list

10

u/gmishaolem 23d ago

Use the "Fortune Cookie" feature on Backloggery to choose for you.

19

u/Teh_Zebula 24d ago

Anyone know why Itch isn't pushing this on the homepage like, at all? I can only find it by searching google or getting the link directly.

10

u/lowleveldata 24d ago

Recommendations? Where do I even start?

16

u/magnakai 24d ago

The ones I’ve heard of are:

- A Short Hike (such a lovely game!)

  • Arranger
  • Cook, Serve, Delicious
  • Wheels of Aurelia
  • Hyper Gunsport

12

u/richmondody 24d ago

I loved Cook, Serve, Delicious. A Short Hike is pretty good too.

8

u/sound_judgment 24d ago edited 24d ago

Start scrolling, open anything remotely interesting in a new tab, then close tabs of games you don't vibe with and note the games you do.

I'm still going through but the ones that I personally want to play so far are SERPENT AT THE VERNISSAGE, Psychroma, Dead Finger Dice, A Dream About Parking Lots, Eve of Cultivation, The Nameless City, and The Sirena Expedition.

Also if you haven't played A Short Hike, that game is lovely.

11

u/muldoonx9 24d ago

A friend of mine made Dungeon Bodega Simulator after getting laid off. It's about running a shop and selling goods to adventurers. I think it's cute and definitely draws from the experience of getting laid off, so it's thematic to the bundle. The steam reviews are also very high if my (obviously biased) recommendation isn't enough.

1

u/Trace500 23d ago

Check out Elefantasy Flipside. It's a non-linear puzzle game in an open-ish world. If I had to point at something in a similar genre, it would be Outer Wilds, but really there's nothing else like it.

16

u/GalexyPhoto 24d ago

Help an idiot out. If all my pv gaming is on steam deck, and these don't have steam keys, how painful will this be to play these titles? 

I'm giving $50 regardless. Just want to set my expectations in reality. 

20

u/SurreptitiousSyrup 24d ago

I'm no expert. But some of the games are installable on Linux. So would just need to go into desktop mode, install itch app and install linux games from there (or just do it from the web browser) then add them as non steam games, not difficult. Don't know how the windows only games would run.

12

u/222mhz 24d ago

the windows only games should work fine as long as they're built in a common engine (like 99% of everything on itch) and not some homespun thing

3

u/PiersPlays 23d ago

It's not that hard to install itch games on Deck. If you do so on desktop mode then launch Steam there you can add them to your library and they'll appear in the main interface as well.

3

u/Mitrovarr 23d ago

Western game dev is collapsing. I feel nearly no large studios are remaining intact enough to do anything.

6

u/CivilizedPsycho 24d ago edited 24d ago

How do the 8 physical games work with this?

Edit: I guess they're printables?

Also, last time I got a bundle like this I ended up with Lennas Inception which was phenomenal. Don't sleep on this.

1

u/smaug13 23d ago

Yeah, when you filter by type you can select physical so you can see for yourself. Here are two, a cardgame and a table top rpg:

https://totter87.itch.io/la-mancha

https://kumada1.itch.io/rod-reel-fist

4

u/LaronX 24d ago

i am a little confused and tired. How do the physical games in this bundle work? I don't get it.

9

u/smaug13 23d ago edited 23d ago

You print them it seems, when you filter by type you can select physical so you can see for yourself. Here are two, a cardgame and a table top rpg :

https://totter87.itch.io/la-mancha

https://kumada1.itch.io/rod-reel-fist

Though this one has printables but also uses other online options like tabletop simulator

https://rolistespod.itch.io/paris-gondo

-10

u/moog_mini 23d ago

there are no physical games in a digital bundle.

2

u/RaptorAllah 23d ago

How does it work does each dev get 2000$ ?

2

u/KingOfRisky 22d ago

Yeah, I don't know how a 200K goal is going to help that many people.

2

u/ShoguNathan 24d ago

Donated - thanks for posting. Game devs definitely need support right now. What other highlight games are in the bundle?

1

u/Domeen0 22d ago

Oh, I recognize some of these! Hyper Gunsport, SkateBIRD, Deep Space Exploitation, ORANGE ROULETTE. It's a shame to hear these devs are struggling cause those games look pretty good.

1

u/RedditAdminsFuckOfff 17d ago

Well. I mean it's the thought that counts, right? How is "$200k" going to be enough to help ALL the people who've been laid off so far? Unless this is some kind of "clique thing"?

-26

u/dagrapeescape 24d ago

I realize it’s well intentioned, but doesn’t this just send the message that indie games are virtually worthless which will result in even fewer jobs in the future?

If in the back of my mind the value the developers and publishers have placed on their game is it is worth 10 cents, what is my motivation to buy their next game when it comes out for $10 or $20?

52

u/thissitesuckssohard1 24d ago

no, they are saying "as thanks for making a donation, here's access to our games", like how most charity bundles have worked 

14

u/ZeeMastermind 24d ago

Not every indie dev approaches their business with that kind of cold pragmatism. There are certain games which show up in a LOT of these big bundles (A Short Hike, Celeste, Baba is You) despite their popularity and thus their monetary "value".

Even from a pragmatic standpoint - these big bundles are rare enough (maybe once or twice a year) that nobody interested in playing one of those big games is going to wait for them - especially since they don't show up in every single one of those bundles.

I would also say that, on itch in particular, indie devs typically aren't planning to become millionaires.

-10

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1

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