Itch.io Raises Over $8.17 Million with Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality
Itch.io, an online independent gaming marketplace, raised over $8 million past their $5 million goal with their Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality.
If you’re unfamiliar with Itch.io, it is a platform where creators and developers can feel comfortable applying and improving their skills without industry attachments.
Their website describes the business as a place that “gives creators the tools to make smart choices about how they distribute their content. Creators have access to detailed analytics and about how people discover, download, or play what they’ve created. Our creator dashboard gives easy access to data about what uploads resonate the most or what links drive the most attention.”
The company recently created a bundle deal where over 1391 creators submitted 740 projects for paid consumption, the largest bundle the website has ever created. Buyers have to donate a minimum of $5 in order to get the full bundle. All proceeds will go to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and Community Bail Fund, split halfway between both organizations.
Followers of itch.io praised the company for curating a massive bundle deal, both for fans to enjoy and to increase awareness of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Huge thanks and congratulations to Itch, the 1300+ creators for donating all their content and the 800k people who put their money in. I doubt a bundle for the opposite would even make a percentage of what was pulled off here
— Ken Mahon (@DetectiveKen) June 16, 2020
Thanks so much for organizing this! So happy we could be a small part in raising so much money for racial justice along side so many other developers / artists / writers etc…
— Miguel Sternberg (@spookysquid) June 16, 2020
Some people thought it was incredible how itch.io added in an extra 37 items, joking that it must’ve been because their beginning amount of 1704 ‘wasn’t enough’.
And you put another 37 items in because 1704 just weren’t quite enough?
You are incredible. You and all the generous people donating their games and stories and tools and music and art to this awesome cause— Antonia (@Tonia_Luisa) June 16, 2020
Itch.io thought of this as a way of giving back to not only the gaming community. but to their black supporters and developers as well. Even though the bundle deal is no longer available for purchase, developers can still send in submissions to their forum thread here.
