Humble Bundle’s lifetime charity contributions has crossed the quarter-billion mark, with over $14 million of it coming from 2023 donations alone—two and a half years after their contentious decision to cap the charitable portion of purchases.
Last year saw the online indie storefront pass the $250 million milestone for its lifetime charitable contributions from the community’s gaming purchases made across the years. According to the company’s Feb. 8 announcement, last year’s contributions helped fund the work of the Global Foodbanking Network, Active Minds, Direct Relief, Special Effect, Girls Who Code, One Tree Planted, and several other charities.
After starting out in 2010 as a source of pay-what-you-want indie game collections, Humble Bundle has grown out of standalone time-limited indie game collection offers (the eponymous “bundles”) with a pay-what-you-want model and an option to support charities as part of your purchase. A dedicated storefront followed in November 2013, then a publishing arm in 2017, which happened in the same year the company was acquired by IGN.
Not even such a universally appreciated endeavor is without controversies, however. In April 2021, the slider option for charity contributions (which used to provide the option to donate your entire purchase to charity) was removed with a goal of capping charitable contributions at 10 percent. It was then re-added in a redesigned form after community outcry, with a 15 to 30 percent threshold nevertheless maintained for the digital store.
Humble’s 2023 Social Impact Report revealed the company was commended with an Engage for Good Gold Halo Award and recognised as one of Fast Company’s Brands That Matter.
