Humble Bundle replacing purchase sliders with less generous options

It's going to make me less likely to purchase a bundle. One of the things I really liked about the sliders, was that it allowed me to consistently give double the amount to developers who had a Linux build, as I was never going to be buying the Windows-only games anyway.
If I'm now forced to support developers who won't support my platform, well, there's not much incentive in that.

Also, it's sure to put a stop to me buying bundles where I already own most of the games. What's the point now? Most of the publishers will already have my money.

Humble used to be something quite different, and I stopped being terribly interested in it quite a while ago. Sure I've made the odd purchase, but rarely for games and instead ebooks.

Equally I'm not jumping up & down about it. It once was something I liked, now it's not, and that's really about it. Meh.

I much prefer to use patreon, itch.io, and purchases directly from developers these days.

This.

Admittedly, I still buy most of my games from GOG.com, but occasionally I will make the purchase via Patreon... Haven't really looked into itch.io, but I probably should, because people are always going on about it.

I actually expected something like this to be announced sooner after they were acquired by IGN.

Humble Bundle are owned by IGN? I didn't know this...

I have pretty much given up on Humble. They are mostly selling Steam keys these days more than they are hosting their own DRM free stuff. It seems to me that they have given up on the whole DRM free thing and running a DRM free store. Seems like GOG does a better job at being DRM free than Humble Bundle does these day. I also don't see how this change makes them any different from Amazon. Amazon sells Steam keys and I can pick a charity where a percentage of all my purchases go to a charity of my choice. The Amazon Smile program or whatever they call it. So I don't see the point of Humble Bundle any more. Does Ryan Gordon even work there any more porting stuff to Linux for developers and Humble? I haven't heard anything about that kind of thing in a long time. So I rarely use Humble any more other than to pick up really cheap steam games. I think Humble has really lost their way.

I don't even buy ebooks from Humble because there are so many places these days to get DRM free books. DriveThru RPG has tons of DRM free gaming books and even some free books. Kobo and Baen Books have tons of DRM free ebooks and even free books with no DRM. There is Comixology has free comics and DRM free comics and there is also DriveThru Comics as well with DRM free comics. So for DRM free reading there are lot more options than waiting for Humble Bundle of books to roll around with something I might be interested in.


Last edited by Protektor on 25 Apr 2021 at 3:26 am UTC

The slider change kinda sucks, but who else is doing what they're doing? Don't boycott. What for, anyway? Then we have zero places like them.

That said, my game buying is lower than it was years ago. And their bundles are often weak on native Linux support. So, I find myself also buying more eBooks from Humble lately than games like mirv.

Amazon has offered for a long time the option to use their Smile program so everything you buy from Amazon, a percentage of it goes to the charity of your choice. So Humble Bundle isn't the only one doing this. Also with Amazon Smile it isn't some things, it is everything you buy from Amazon earns a percentage for the charity.

Did it always say "Publisher", didn't it use to say "Developers"? Because those are not the same thing.

I get the impression that Humble has moved beyond dealing with small indie developers and prefers to work with publishers instead. I mean just look at their store a huge percentage of it is Steam game keys not them working indie developers. Seems to me that Humble has lost their way.

As a side-note: Did it always say "Publisher", didn't it use to say "Developers"? Because those are not the same thing.

I vaguely remember the same. In the context, it would be the same though, I guess. Maybe "[X] Give money to the people who allowed us to put the game here because they've got the right to do so whoever they are" was a bit too long. ;)

I don't even buy ebooks from Humble because there are so many places these days to get DRM free books. DriveThru RPG has tons of DRM free gaming books and even some free books. Kobo and Baen Books have tons of DRM free ebooks and even free books with no DRM. There is Comixology has free comics and DRM free comics and there is also DriveThru Comics as well with DRM free comics.

*Cough cough*

Just strip the DRM from your "Kindle" eBooks or ComiXology comics... It's easy enough to do, and takes just seconds.

*Cough cough*

I stopped buying bundles when they got taken over by ign, not so much because of the takeover, but because I wasn't aware of any more core bundles (the ones that always kept all linux versions, drm free, donate to chari-tee). Did they even release any of those in the past year?

Itch.io has been catching my attention since, so indies still get their purchases from me (way too many, tbh ^_^)


Last edited by emphy on 25 Apr 2021 at 8:44 am UTC

The slider change kinda sucks, but who else is doing what they're doing? Don't boycott. What for, anyway? Then we have zero places like them.

That said, my game buying is lower than it was years ago. And their bundles are often weak on native Linux support. So, I find myself also buying more eBooks from Humble lately than games like mirv.

Amazon has offered for a long time the option to use their Smile program so everything you buy from Amazon, a percentage of it goes to the charity of your choice. So Humble Bundle isn't the only one doing this. Also with Amazon Smile it isn't some things, it is everything you buy from Amazon earns a percentage for the charity.

True, however many PC games are not available on Amazon. And I don't like buying eBooks from them either because of the DRM. Aaaand, Amazon Smile only donates 0.5% of eligible purchases. Overall, I don't see this as comparable to Humble.

For me the most important part of the sliders was to be able to reward developers, Linux support and better games deserve more money, the charity and humble part seems fine to me.

But now to buy it, I have to pay non Linux supporter devs, i'm not buying anymore.

Well, if they’re bleeding so much money that they can’t stay in business, they won’t be able to support charities at all.

They already don’t support charities. We do, when we buy games there and set some amount to go to charities.

So people who run fundraisers, advertise charities and provide incentives to donating to non-profits don’t support charities if they don’t also give themselves? That’s an odd argument. By the same token, I guess people who donate hair for cancer patients should just shut up and do it instead of turning it into an event to increase awareness and raise money? Because supposedly those charities would receive exactly the same amount of money in the end without anyone nudging people to donate?

As a side-note: Did it always say "Publisher", didn't it use to say "Developers"? Because those are not the same thing.

Well, originally it was Humble Indie Bundle. Then they started doing other bundles as well, and now Indie bundles have become quite rare in the meantime (if they even still do those). The change therefore makes sense.

That's also the biggest reason why I lost interest in Humble Bundle. The bundles have changed from "really great hand picked Indie pearls" to "just another random selection of 100% replaceable AAA games". So, yeah. I'm a bit sad that the sliders are gone, but personally it won't make much difference for me, as Humble has lost me as a customer a long time ago.

Honestly last full bundle i bought was when the original THQ went under and i got about 14 games for 6 pounds did 50 percent to charity 50 to the administrators of thq but nothing since then as interetested me at all i picked up the odd 1 dollar bundle mainly e books or the free games if i have been interested in them,

Well, what is that bundle int the screenshot? I'd have been interested :D

It's been hit-or-miss these days, especially as my library grows and I find more and more duplicates.

Humble monthly also calms down my buying compulsions :)

I just junked my account. It's been awhile since I used the service and the games that I did have with them no longer get updates. Backed up my games and called it a day. It was fun while it lasted.