Now, that headline might be pretty inflammatory, but it actually kind of makes sense. IGN and Humble Bundle have been on a downward slide for a while. What started as a great win-win way to get good games and support people in need is no longer about that. When IGN Entertainment, the umbrella company behind one of the biggest gaming websites in the world, bought Humble Bundle in 2017. we all saw change on the horizon. I don’t think anyone expected this level of scumbaggery.
It turns out that the company has decided to effectively stop caring about charity, and will now focus on a for-profit scheme. The old cap on charitable splits in a transaction of 100% has been neutered down to the old default of 15%. The new default split is 5%. Literally just stealing money out of the pockets of charities, real nice move. I hope ruining the reputation of both Humble Bundle and IGN is worth that payday.
The company will also lock the amounts being spent on each bundle, as well as the splits. Gone are those sliders that would allow you to tell Humble Bundle just how much money to give to each party. A $25 bundle sends a maximum of $20 to the publisher and $3.75 to charity. This example is shown right on the announcement page for these changes.
In their own words, “the amazing and passionate Humble community has helped raise $195m for charity.” It would seem that those charitable contributions are too juicy a payday for whatever investors and executives rammed this change through. As if anyone needed another reason to hate C-level scumbags.
Do a little thought experiment. The next time you’re in a fast food place, look for the charity tip jar on the counter. See that spare change? Imagine what it would be like if you saw someone walk up and steal those pennies. How angry would that make you? This is the best example of what IGN is doing to Humble Bundle I can think of. And by doing this, they’re shooting themselves in the foot in more ways than one.
By destroying the reputation of Humble Bundle, that means many more people won’t bother buying the bundles at all. Would you give another payday to multi-millionaire publishers who routinely fire people and are a big source of crunch culture? This change will undoubtedly result in much smaller paydays over time. I guess if the executives wanted a less obvious way to destroy and sell the company, this is one way to do it.
