Humble Bundle, the PC game and software retailer that's well-known for giving some of it's proceeds to charity, will now be joining IGN's parent company, according to a press release today. Humble Bundle claims that the acquisition won't be affecting what Humble Bundle currently does, and will only assist them by providing more funding for the company. Humble will now be a part of Ziff Davis, a larger corporation that currently owns other properties like PC Magazine, IGN, Speedtest, and more.

John and I started Humble Bundle from our childhood homes. When our parents found out that our “big idea” was basically the honor system of pay-what-you-want plus charity, they braced themselves for the possibility that we might never move out. Seven years later, thanks to the generosity of over 10 million customers, we’ve now raised $106 million for charity. We are incredibly proud of this figure, of our team, and the Humble community which got us here.

But as far as we’ve come, we know we are just getting started. Even bigger things lie ahead, and we think IGN is the perfect partner to help us get there.

Source

 

[ItsKaitlyn03]

Humble Bundle sucks now because of IGN, thanks.

 

[nIxx]

Even thought i'm a bit worried too i think people (like almost always ) are overreacting now.
Don't be so pessimistic and let's just wait and see what happens.

You do realize there is a slider right? You can even pick what charity you want.

Yep some people seem not to know what they are talking about but can still complain.
You can even give everything to charity.

 

[Kioku]

You do realize there is a slider right? You can even pick what charity you want.

Its the same guy that flew off the handle because I sarcastically brought up gray markets. Hm.

 

[codezer0]

... Oh, great.

It is precisely the kind of lunacy that is permitted at IGN that I've made a conscious effort to ban them off my social media accounts and block them accordingly, despite whatever stupid algorithm continually shoving their presence upon me.

To say they are the poster child of the corruption that has destroyed credibility in games journalism is not far off at all. And now it seems they want to destroy a perfectly functioning business along with them.

 

[NicknameGoesHere]

7.8 out of 10, too much water.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

They are the cheapest retailer if they're selling a game you want. They sell older, high-quality games that people might want to actually play. Every now and then for a single dollar, too.
But what are some others retailers with the same business model?

I find their "Humble Store" prices to be rather high. It's their bundle prices that are low.

There are a few others like Indie Gala and Indie Royale (if they are still doing bundles) and there's also Bundle Stars but that seems more focused on quantity rather than quality.

 

[Xabring]

Isn't that the company Nintendo did something with? Like 'Humble Nindie Bundle' or something? On the eShop.

Yes, yes they did. It was a long time ago though.
it was a unexpected gift for both 3DS and Wii U Games...Wonder when they do that again...

 

[aykay55]

Yes, yes they did. It was a long time ago though.
it was a unexpected gift for both 3DS and Wii U Games...Wonder when they do that again...

Oh. Guess I'm not crazy!

 

[shadow1w2]

I'm not too worried.
While IGN might have a bad record with reviews I think they run themselves as a company rather well.
Humble claims they'll be hands off and just helping with funding. Likely taking in some profits for themselves so its kind of a fair trade.
They might have some influence but I think they'll be okay, if anything it might bring the prices of the shop down more.
Worst comes to worse there's always bundle stars, indie gala and groupees still about,
Plus heck if you already have a lot of purchases from humble this may help them stay around longer and protect those purchases.
We've seen Desura, ShinyLoot, Indiegamestand and many others go under over the years so whatever keeps them a float shouldn't be too bad as long as it doesn't change them.
Plus with eyes on them so much I'm sure it'll keep things in check, however we need to be vigilant and let them know ASAP if they do something too far from their original vision.
Overall I think it won't change much, lets worry more after the IGN bundle, if there is one heh.

 

[chaoskagami]

RIP. Humble died around when they introduced the monthly garbage gimmick.

If you want to do charity, you're now better off just donating directly. The profits are now skewed.

If you want DRM-free games, you should just use GOG. Humble is now pushing super hard on Steam - and you get DRM-free OR Steam now, not both. They don't even have many of the modern DRM-free releases (example: Trails of Cold Steel)

Nowadays, Humble is but a shell of it's former self. I find it rather sad.

 

[The Catboy]

It doesn't seem like a good idea for the same company that reviews games to also be publishing them. That sounds like a bit of a conflict of interest to me.

 

[chaoskagami]

It doesn't seem like a good idea for the same company that reviews games to also be publishing them. That sounds like a bit of a conflict of interest to me.

Yeah, agreed. Then again, IGN isn't exactly known to be reputable/reliable for gaming news.

 

[hobbledehoy899]

It doesn't seem like a good idea for the same company that reviews games to also be publishing them. That sounds like a bit of a conflict of interest to me.

Now is that gratitude?

 

[The Catboy]

Yeah, agreed. Then again, IGN isn't exactly known to be reputable/reliable for gaming news.

That's actually what worries me the most. IGN has always been a rather questionable company in the gaming world. Although they've never had scandals as bad as Gamespot, they still show some rather questionable interests in the gaming scene.
It worries me that they will bring the same kind of marketing to Humble Bundle. At the same time I am unsure what kind of horrible things they could do, I just hope they don't IGN Humble Bundle.

 

[chaoskagami]

That's actually what worries me the most. IGN has always been a rather questionable company in the gaming world. Although they've never had scandals as bad as Gamespot, they still show some rather questionable interests in the gaming scene.
It worries me that they will bring the same kind of marketing to Humble Bundle. At the same time I am unsure what kind of horrible things they could do, I just hope they don't IGN Humble Bundle.

From what I've seen, Humble Bundle has already become very detached from its original purpose.

Originally, it was to do one-time deals in the interest of charity and with the support of developers and publishers. Not to be a publisher themselves. Not to make money.

But instead of being established as a nonprofit and continuing to organize charity, they chose to do the wrong thing. It started with them increasing the default allocation for "Humble Tip Jar." They then introduced more "features" designed to make them instead of game publishers and charities receive money: Humble Store - and Humble Monthly, which is completely uncharitable and a gigantic cash grab.

Humble Store at the beginning had a mandatory 5% to charity, and then a few months after Humble Monthly, they added a 5% "Credit" option that essentially puts 5% as credit towards future purchases, removing ANY charity whatsoever from the store - and they made this the default.

And more recently, you don't get both DRM-free and Steam/DRM if a game is available in both. They force you to choose one and only one upon purchase on the store.

Essentially, they seem to be increasingly focusing on turning a profit for themselves, not for charitable causes. I expect this to continue to worsen as they change hands.

I guess what I'm trying to say is: Humble Bundle no longer stands for what they once did, and I don't see how IGN can make this any worse. If anything, I'd say the current management is hitting the panic button since the platform has already been significantly screwed up.

 

[nIxx]

If you want DRM-free games, you should just use GOG. Humble is now pushing super hard on Steam - and you get DRM-free OR Steam now, not both. They don't even have many of the modern DRM-free releases (example: Trails of Cold Steel)

Dunno what you talking about you seem to be pretty misinformed.
There are very few games where that is the case and you can choose between GOG or Steam then and IF there is a DRM Free Version it's always available.
For example from my Humble Gem Bundle 2 that came out recently

7 out of 8 games as DRM Free version

If you get the HumbleMonthly you even get access to the Humble Trove and all these games are only DRM Free so you can even keep them if you dont want the Monthly Bundle anymore https://www.humblebundle.com/monthly/trove

And in the Store you can still give money to charity too

 

[RattletraPM]

From what I've seen, Humble Bundle has already become very detached from its original purpose.

Originally, it was to do one-time deals in the interest of charity and with the support of developers and publishers. Not to be a publisher themselves. Not to make money.

But instead of being established as a nonprofit and continuing to organize charity, they chose to do the wrong thing. It started with them increasing the default allocation for "Humble Tip Jar." They then introduced more "features" designed to make them instead of game publishers and charities receive money: Humble Store - and Humble Monthly, which is completely uncharitable and a gigantic cash grab.

Humble Store at the beginning had a mandatory 5% to charity, and then a few months after Humble Monthly, they added a 5% "Credit" option that essentially puts 5% as credit towards future purchases, removing ANY charity whatsoever from the store - and they made this the default.

And more recently, you don't get both DRM-free and Steam/DRM if a game is available in both. They force you to choose one and only one upon purchase on the store.

Essentially, they seem to be increasingly focusing on turning a profit for themselves, not for charitable causes. I expect this to continue to worsen as they change hands.

I guess what I'm trying to say is: Humble Bundle no longer stands for what they once did, and I don't see how IGN can make this any worse. If anything, I'd say the current management is hitting the panic button since the platform has already been significantly screwed up.

I didn't purchase Humble Bundles for a while so I didn't know most of this - and it sucks. IGN or not, I don't know if I'll buy stuff from them anymore.

 

[nIxx]

I didn't purchase Humble Bundles for a while so I didn't know most of this - and it sucks. IGN or not, I don't know if I'll buy stuff from them anymore.

Because he/she is exaggerate the situation See Above

If people want to complain maybe they should get there facts right before posting stuff like that

 

[chaoskagami]

Dunno what you talking about you seem to be pretty misinformed.
There are very few games where that is the case and you can choose between GOG or Steam then and IF there is a DRM Free Version it's always available.

Okay, statistics. What percentage of games have this restriction on them? I've never run into it with bundles, but the bundles have dropped in quality or are repeats which I already own. You can't claim "very few" unless you have hard numbers.

For example from my Humble Gem Bundle 2 that came out recently
https://imgur.com/a/vKIov
7 out of 8 games as DRM Free version

Is 12.5% supposed to be statistically insignificant? It's not. Also, you can't use one recent bundle as a sample size.

Where are all of the recent XSEED releases in DRM-free form? Bethesda games in DRM-free format? Hint: Not Humble. GOG only. Or at very least, Humble is behind GOG. Very behind. You can't measure based on a sample size of eight games.

If you get the HumbleMonthly you even get access to the Humble Trove and all these games are only DRM Free so you can even keep them if you dont want the Monthly Bundle anymore https://www.humblebundle.com/monthly/trove

Irrelevant. There are 32 games listed there, and many are QUITE old, and have long since been purchased by people. In other words, they are low-risk high-return to give for free to subscribers.

And in the Store you can still give money to charity too
https://imgur.com/o6HgLrk

Yes, you can still donate to charity. My point is: why bother advertising you're charitable as a selling point if it's optional? Amazon does the same damn thing (see: smile.amazon.com) but they don't push it in your face as a selling point because it's not. Humble was about charity. They say they are about charity. Their actions and changes to the site don't.

Because he/she is exaggerate the situation See Above

If people want to complain maybe they should get there facts right before posting stuff like that

If people want to resort to ad hominem (cute, really) before citing sources and statistics for their claims, as well as moving goalposts and using statistics limited to the point of irrelevancy, perhaps they should stop posting stuff like that and claiming it fact.

Never once did I present my opinion/observations as fact in that post.

 

[nIxx]

Where are all of the recent XSEED releases in DRM-free form? Bethesda games in DRM-free format? Hint: Not Humble. GOG only. Or at very least, Humble is behind GOG. Very behind. You can't measure based on a sample size of eight games.

You obviously dont want to listen anyway and made up your mind already. You make a much bigger deal out of it as it actually is.
I have many more bundles games and so on where you get both of course i dont post everything here because it would be way to long.
And did it ever come to your mind that the maybe the Publisher don't always want to offer both version (for whatever reasons) same goes for GOG that doesn't have all new games because Publisher XY doesnt want to release a DRM Free Version.

You throw just stuff in the room and dont back them up yourself and then play the "it was only my opinion/observation" Card ^^
As you can see RattletraPM already did take your "observation" as fact (good job).

By the way all your Xseed games (in Store) where you get DRM Free AND the Steam Version
https://www.humblebundle.com/store/search?sort=bestselling&search=xseed
and funny thing all the new Bethesda titles are not even available on GOG
So again what are you talking about