The Humble Indie Bundle: Independent Games for Charity

By Megan Farokhmanesh | July 9, 2012 | 10:15pm

Video Games Features

A clock ticks steadily on the homepage of the Humble Indie Bundle. As each second visibly passes, counting down to another promotion’s end, a second number soars. This constant flurry of digits means many different things to many different people, but bears a singular message: success.

By the time the Humble Indie Bundle V came to a close on June 14, it had sold 598,998 bundles, for a total profit of $5,107,548. It’s a stunning sum—almost a fourth of the $17 million that the series of bundles has earned thus far, and not far off from the $5.5 million the program has raised for charity to date. It’s the company’s most successful venture yet.

Since 2010, the Humble Indie Bundle has compiled eclectic mixes of DRM-free independent games at pay-what-you-want prices. Funds are split three ways at the buyer’s discretion between the developers, charity funds and Humble Bundle Inc., which helps the cost of the promotion. With each new bundle, indie developers are given the chance to connect with other talented names and grant their title a second spotlight release. But more importantly, the Humble Indie Bundle’s sliding scale of donations puts every title in its possession through the same test. It’s a method that asks one very important question: What is this worth to you?

Brothers in Bundles
For many indie developers, it’s never been a question that took long to answer; rather, it’s an automatic response that comes with the territory. Since 2010, the Humble Bundle has featured a number of indie developers from around the world, from studios based in the U.S. to Sweden and the Czech Republic. Yet for all their differences, they often share the goal of breathing life into the unique and beautiful worlds they’ve dreamed up.

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Frictional Games is no stranger to the Humble Indie Bundle. Prior to their involvement in the most recent bundle with Amnesia: The Dark Descent, the team was featured in the very first with Penumbra: Overture. Their involvement buoyed the company, helping them stay afloat in a sea laden with developers all fighting to make great games.

“The first time we struggled to keep our company going, so any suggestions on how to earn some extra money was very much welcome,” says Jens Nilsson, co-founder of Frictional Games. When Wolfire, fellow indie developer and creator of the Humble Bundle, contacted Frictional and asked them to participate, the choice was easy. But the benefits for the team went beyond financial means.

“Even more so there are additional great values to be had from participating—the big buzz it gets, the overall ‘happy joy joy’ feel it creates, and of course the whole bonus that it brings in a considerable contribution to two important charities,” says Nilsson.

It was a similar feeling that attracted Capybara, one-third of the collaboration with Superbrothers and musician Jim Guthrie that helped create Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP. Their game is featured in the HIB V.

“The Humble Bundle really takes the spirit of community that exists in the indie game development scene and channels it into an actual distribution platform,” says Nathan Vella, co-founder and president of Capybara Games. “It’s a bunch of games by a bunch of friends all getting released together, arm-in-arm with meaningful charities, as a burst of love toward the community.”

Where the bundle is concerned, community takes on many different faces. Besides reaching out to the gaming community itself with the reappearance of their games, developers forge new connections, and in many cases, strengthen the old ones. For Capybara, the latest bundle was a gathering of many old friends and favorites in the gaming industry.

“All of our fellow bundle-mates are friends, people for whom we have the utmost respect and people who we want to see achieve the highest level of success,” says Vella. “Knowing that the feeling is mutual means closer collaboration on bundle promotion… and perhaps most importantly, a real sense of positivity when knowing that you are playing a role in helping your close friends succeed.”

Camaraderie, as it turns out, is contagious.

“It became clear to us that if there ever was going to be a bundle where we felt that Amnesia would have some best friends in it, this was the one,” says Nilsson.

“A Noble Goal”
Five-point-five million. It’s a catchy number that does more than simply roll off the tongue. It also signifies the amount raised and donated to charity.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation and Child’s Play are the Humble Indie Bundle’s chosen benefactors. According to Richard Esguerra, an organizer and Humble Bundle Advocate, both organizations were an obvious choice.

“The Child’s Play charity is one of the first charities to do completely awesome, beneficial work in the name of gamers specifically,” says Esguerra. “Supporting them was totally an easy choice to make, particularly because we feel that the gaming community is a mindful, generous community and likewise should be treated with respect.”

As for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, they represented a matter close to the bundle’s heart.

“The Electronic Frontier Foundation has been against DRM and has protected Internet users rights worldwide for a long time, so they also seemed like a shoo-in,” says Esguerra. “Our customers come from all over the globe, so having an organization that’s trying to improve things worldwide was important.”

There’s a deep, shared respect between the two organizations. According to Kellie Brownell, one of the bundle’s primary EFF contacts, the EFF has always defended the artistic potential of video games. Where Bundle members such as Esguerra admire the work the EFF does, the EFF is proud to be a part of such a phenomenon.

“We hardly expected that the promotion would break a million dollars,” says Brownell of the first bundle. “For the first few days, many of us in the office watched the counters in a dumbstruck daze—actually, the practice continues to this day. We were thrilled customers chose to give more than a penny for five amazing games and chose to give quite a lot to EFF.”

The top contributors are featured on the Bundle’s homepage. Names vary from bundle to bundle, but certain contributors begin to repeat themselves. Most recently, a friendly competition between Markus “Notch” Persson, owner of Mojang and creator of Minecraft, and a collective known as The Humble Brony bundle has dominated the boards. Their most recent donation battle ended with the Bronies on top, sitting on over 13 thousand dollars, almost a full thousand dollars above Notch. The competition hasn’t been lost on the Bundle’s creators.

“It’s been awesome to see gamers supporting charity so enthusiastically to the tune of 5.5 million so far,” says John Graham, one of the Bundle cofounders. “Things like the leaderboard battle between the Humble Brony team and Notch are also pretty inspiring.”

The Humble Brony Bundle organizer, who goes by the Internet moniker “Cupcakes,” enjoys the back-and-forth nature of each charity round. Thanks to the Humble Bundle, Cupcakes believes that charity is beginning to find a place within the indie community.

“Ever since the Humble Indie Bundle made its debut, it seems charity has had a place of larger prominence in indie gaming,” says Cupcakes. “I don’t know if it’s because people are trying to ride coattails or if this presence has always been there and it took something like HIB to bring it all to light, but either way, I don’t care. It’s nothing but a good thing.”

But his effort to contribute goes beyond the charities, which he credits as the largest part for his involvement. “I can’t go without mentioning that supporting indie game developers is important to me as well,” says Cupcakes.

“These people are legitimate artists, and many of them are starving artists. They’re trying to live the dream—doing what they love to earn enough money to support themselves and a family by creating things for other people to enjoy. It’s a noble goal, and I think we should all support them.”

A New Rodeo
Not all bundles are created equal. Sort of.

Richard Esguerra knows that, just like two kids in the same family, no two deals will ever be alike. Since he joined the company as a Bundle Advocate in September of 2011, he’s helped put together over half of the company’s offerings. But though the process might be similar—reaching out to developers and coordinating to pick the best of what’s next—the result is never the same.

“Every bundle is a new rodeo,” says Esguerra. “We don’t set an expectation.”

The organizers place a great amount of faith in their packages—not the same as expectations, but enough to make each new venture exciting. But each bundle, no matter how different, is based upon the same structure. There are three pillars, all building toward a complete ideal. Support game developers. Do good in the world by supporting charities. And finally, do right by the gamers that purchase and support every new bundle.

Joining a bundle places indie developers in a rubber band-like grip; time may stretch the connection, but it will always snap back to the present. Gaijin Games participated in the Humble Indie Bundle 4 with Bit.Trip Runner. Alex Neuse, founder of Gaijin, believes in the strength of the bundle’s support.

“We were able to reach a wider audience with our game than we may have otherwise…it kind of broadens the fanbase,” says Neuse. “Overall, the Humble Bundle is good for the indie game scene…It gets people buying games in a way they wouldn’t normally…It raises awareness that there are games out there other than the AAA, super-crazy games by big companies. It’s good.”

The benefit for developers is undeniable, even unshakable, but it ultimately depends on something greater. It has the reach, but the success of the bundle is nothing without those that support it: the gamers.

“We want to stay true to what people want to see,” says Esguerra. “As far as the gaming community is concerned, we’ve given them the chance to name their price, and they’re rising to it. They’re recognizing quality.”

But most importantly, they’re answering the question that binds it all together: What is this worth to you?

Gamers can define their terms in monetary value, but their contributions touch on something more. They promise a future in which independent developers can not only survive, but thrive.

Shortly after the launch of the Humble Indie Bundle V, Nathan Vella joined a few friends for dinner at a Japanese restaurant in Santa Monica. Next to his party sat a table of 10. The group, mostly comprised of people in their late teens, was having a conversation that caught the attention of the indie developer.

“[They were] all discussing how amazing the latest Humble Indie Bundle was—arguing over the best game, discussing how they had never heard of a couple of the titles, explaining how they paid the most out of all their friends because ‘the developers deserve it,’” says Vella. “I have no idea if any of them had played an indie game before, but they were super invested in playing them in the future. That has a huge, tangible impact on the Sworcery team, and independent development as a whole.”