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[Draugoth]

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Humble Games layoffs add to industry woes​

Publisher of the Humble Bundle seemingly cut several jobs

• It looks like it’s going to be another dire week for workers in the games industry. Amazon Games laid off roughly 180 people in its second wave of job cuts this year on Monday, and the tech giant is seemingly not the only company that has to break bad news to some of its employees: It appears as if Humble Games had to let go several workers this week as well.

According to a post on LinkedIn by a former staff member at Humble Games, which seems to corroborate an anonymous tip GLHF received earlier, the layoffs at Humble happened on Monday. “It's a sad day at Humble Games for a lot of folks. I personally was just laid off from my Lead Release Manager position,” they wrote. Several current Humble Games employees commented on the post in a supportive manner.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Humble Games have helped publish a ton of high quality indies in the past several years (e.g Slay the Spire, A Hat In Time, Unpacking, Signalis, Temtem, Prodeus, etc.) so this news is kinda shocking tbh. That said, hopefully the affected individuals land on their feet asap.

 

[lh032]

thats not a humble thing to do

 

[Kupfer]

And all because YOU GUYS only pay the lowest minimum amount!

Just think of all those who are behind the project and have to laboriously calculate how much they would have to earn to support themselves and their concept.

Shame on you - next time spend some more money on the bundles!

I won't

 

[Punished Miku]

Humble Games have helped publish a ton of high quality indies in the past several years (e.g Slay the Spire, A Hat In Time, Unpacking, Signalis, Temtem, Prodeus, etc.) so this news is kinda shocking tbh. That said, hopefully the affected individuals land on their feet asap.

Devolver was having a rough year as well, despite being great in the past. Their whole year looked non-existent except for Talos Principle 2. I think a lot of people didn't really notice but we've been super light on indies this year especially compared to 2022 which was just month after month of GOTY level indies the whole year.

Annapurna is far ahead of everyone else for 2023.

 

[Fabieter]

It seems like only (over)paying hardware wont sustain the gaming industry.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Devolver was having a rough year as well, despite being great in the past. Their whole year looked non-existent except for Talos Principle 2. I think a lot of people didn't really notice but we've been super light on indies this year especially compared to 2022 which was just month after month of GOTY level indies the whole year.

Annapurna is far ahead of everyone else for 2023.

Yeah, seems that you're correct here. I've been looking on Steam to see what they've published this year and it appears that only Stray Gods and The Iron Oath have been successful so far (based on the number of reviews they've gotten). The other indie game releases they had in 2023 (Protodroid DeLTA, INFINITE GUITARS and Mineko's Night Market) have done substantially worse than the aforementioned titles. And agreed on Annapurna's output, they're usually more picky with that they publish and as a result have more indie bangers.

 

[Evil Calvin]

I thought the games were cheap....like you know... a cheap 'bundle'. Went to the site this week and all the games were regular price....$40, $50, $60+......didn't see any cheap bundles like Fanatical.

 

[SportsFan581]

They still have the bundles ( https://www.humblebundle.com/games/ ) they just aren't as good as they used to be.

 

[Lokaum D+]

I stoped buying bundles once gamepass became a thing, blame MS

 

[joeygreco1985]

I think I've skipped 12 months of Choice in a row. The selection just isnt there anymore

 

[Topher]

Everything started going downhill when IGN bought them.

 

[kiphalfton]

Everything started going downhill when IGN bought them.

Both regular bundles and monthly bundles sure as hell did.

But I guess it is what it is, and I was able to get a lot of good stuff for cheap.

 

[LavitzSlambert]

Everything started going downhill when IGN bought them.

Needed to start making profits. IGN bought them "at the top" and needed to recoup investment. Free loans are done with, consumer spending slowing, and Humble just doesn't have the mindshare it used to. I don't see this ending well for them, unfortunately, so these layoffs are no surprise to me at all.

 

[mitch1971]

Does that mean I can get several employees as a package for a low price?

 

[Sleepwalker]

Both regular bundles and monthly bundles sure as hell did.

But I guess it is what it is, and I was able to get a lot of good stuff for cheap.

Yup when I got my deck all I could read was how the best way to build s steam library was through bundles. Fast forward over a year and Ive bought exactly 1 thing.

 

[Jigsaah]

I've subscribed to choice since 2018, technically before it was called "Choice". Even bought the video editing bundles at $25. Think the lowest you could donate was $10. Sucks, cuz I think it's an awesome service. Really padded out my Steam library. Hope those guys land on their feet.

 

[Holammer]

Everything started going downhill when IGN bought them.

The exact moment was when Epic started giving out games for free, cutting off the supply of good offerings and leaving Humble with the bottom of the barrel stuff.

 

[Topher]

The exact moment was when Epic started giving out games for free, cutting off the supply of good offerings and leaving Humble with the bottom of the barrel stuff.

Didn't think about that....

 

[Soodanim]

Yup when I got my deck all I could read was how the best way to build s steam library was through bundles. Fast forward over a year and Ive bought exactly 1 thing.

Back in the day I was getting bundles before I'd even built a gaming PC because they were fantastic deals. Now I don't even average one bundle a year. Granted, sometimes that's because I already own what's in the bundles (Capcom, for example, do a fantastic bundle every once in a while) but in general the indie bundle scene isn't what it was by a long shot. Some of the bundle sites don't even exist any more.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I dont do Humble bundles.

But didnt they price their bundles like its up to you? Like you wanted to buy the bundle for 10 cents, you could? Or is that all changed?

 

[Sleepwalker]

I dont do Humble bundles.

But didnt they price their bundles like its up to you? Like you wanted to buy the bundle for 10 cents, you could? Or is that all changed?

Kinda but no, they offer you tiers and you get a part of the content depending on what you pay. So for 10 cents youd probably only get the shittiest game in the bundle.

 

[StereoVsn]

Between GamePass PC, Epic and Amazon Games, devs don’t have as. Much incentive to sell super cheap.

I think Fanatical is the only one left with decent bundles. Although Humble does have decent ones sometimes.

 

[shaddam]

Sad, this month I unpaused my sub because of Prodeus. Last time it happaned was a year ago I think

 

[Victor Omega]

Is layoffs common during the holidays in the gaming industry? Every week there's another

 

[Katajx]

And all because YOU GUYS only pay the lowest minimum amount!

Just think of all those who are behind the project and have to laboriously calculate how much they would have to earn to support themselves and their concept.

Shame on you - next time spend some more money on the bundles!

I won't

One of the better uses for spoiler tags to be sure.

 

[Mercador]

The current Disco / Wildermyth is enticing to say the least.

 

[Wastelander92]

Layoff Bundle sale more like

 

[SmokedMeat]

Nah, they still put out some great bundles. This month’s choice for $12 includes Prodeus which is around $18 on sale by itself.

You’re also getting WWE 2K23 and Hardspace Shipbreaker among other games.

But this is about the publishing end of things, not bundles.

 

[username12]

I stopped buying from them when they increased the prices of their bundles. Before I could toss a few bucks out there as a flier if there was one or two games that looked compelling, but now I struggle to see the value.