Wait, What? - The Humble THQ Bundle [Updated]
Update: I got in touch with the Humble Bundle folks to find out more about how this out-of-nowhere partnership came about. See what they had to say after the break.
Original: I was incredibly tempted to begin this post with a joke about how the charity slider on this Humble Bundle is redundant, because THQ is already basically a charity. That would be mean, though, so I opted to-- oops, I already did it. Hm. Shame backspace was never invented. Anyway, the latest bundle of densely packaged humility puts the spotlight on a decidedly non-indie THQ, but oh well. Indie's a pretty terrible word when it's used to write off great games because they weren't coded by a half-person team in a garage-bedroom constantly beset by subarctic winds and ravenous wolverines. So, right then, let's take a look inside.
As with pretty much everything Humble Bundle touches, this one's basically gold. For the low (or astronomically high) price of whatever you want, you'll get Darksiders, Metro 2033, Red Faction: Armageddon, Company of Heroes, Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts, and Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor. Oh, and if you beat the average, they'll toss in Saints Row: The Third as well. To put that all in perspective, the average (as of writing) is just a hair over $5.
Unlike previous Humble Bundles, however, this one's Windows and Steam-only, so it's not entirely DRM-free like previous offerings. Granted, it doesn't claim to be, but still.
It does put the Humble Bundle in a bit of an odd position, though. Even when promoting non-game products, it's always taped a "No Mega-Publishers Allowed" sign to its treehouse. Granted, THQ's seen better days, and - given its boldness with interesting games - it's a cause worthy of support. But the Humble Bundle's clearly expanded its borders - not to mention picked up restrictions like DRM - so I can't say I'm entirely sure where it draws the line anymore.
But I guess I don't have to, because a rep from Humble Bundle told me. Neat!
"When THQ expressed interest in our pay what you want plus charity model and willingness to let us bundle so many top tier titles, we couldn't believe it at first," the rep explained to RPS. "But trying to turn up our noses at this epic chance to make gamers happy and help worthy causes like Child's Play and the American Red Cross could only have been defined as arrogance. We had to try and we were extremely curious to see what would happen."
"So far, it's been pretty well received: we're on record pace both in total sales and number of purchases. It looks like we've passed the two million dollar mark in just 16 hours. We are hopeful that this excitement is growing our community in a way that can only help our future promotions, and rest assured that indie bundles will continue to be an important part of our business."
"Part" of Humble Bundle's business, eh? Sounds like we can expect more non-indie bundles going forward. So there you go.