Posted September 24, 2024 by Queer Games Bundle
Here's some information and takeaways from this year's Queer Games Bundle.
First, I want to apologize to those who missed our emergency email to join the bundle. We didn't have a choice at the time, due to external constraints out of our control and we reserve executive decision on any moderation concerns that come up. In case you're not aware, every year, people try to join the bundle who aren't eligible for many reasons, unfortunately including some who try to defraud the others. We don't get into this publicly, because it is not in the best interest of the bundle to do so. We take the high road and do our best for the bundle and for those who have submitted something honest and good that is eligible to benefit from the bundle.
This past year was slightly different than before. I designed a tier system so we could continue to accept smaller projects, demos, and repeat bundle submissions while still funding people's new work. The goal of the bundle is to fund people who want to continue to make art and help them afford to. As years pass, we adapt and make decisions about new things all the time. All we need from participants is to be honest about the scope of their work and understanding that different artists have different needs. Payment tiers are a way to continue to pay the most people we can, not to pay any specific person less. As needed, we may use a tiered system in the future.
Our plan for tiers was made months in advance, but we had problems when our itch.io contact was called away and we didn't have a backup contact. (Please don't post about or complain about itch.io because of this -- we rely on and exist because of them, and they help us immensely and do extra unpaid work for us.) That's when Taylor and I decided to build a bundle manually, and we had to get that done as soon as possible. This was obviously a last resort we had to take in the essence of time, and hope not to have to do this again.
Going forward, I hope participants will understand that the small amount of admin work required from them, like filling out the form and checking their email, is worth taking the time. No one who works on managing the bundle is paid for it. Some, like Taylor, are participants and earn the same split of revenue as everyone else. This work also takes up almost all our waking hours during the moderation and sale periods. It's just not possible for us to follow individual submissions and chase people for corrections. It falls on you to supply all the correct information and publish your work as needed. We can answer questions you ask us, but we can't flag and follow up on our own for everyone.
The Queer Games Bundle began as a radical way to fund queer artists, and that's still what it is. I love your work, and am proud to be able to help assemble and sell this bundle. I hope that sharing more info about that will help people understand our decisions a bit more, and I do really apologize that we had to make emergency decisions this year that left some people out.
And finally, related to that, I'd like to invite participants to volunteer for next year's bundle team if you want. Right now, that's just an idea, because our work doesn't ramp up for about 4-5 months. But if you have time and energy to help us verify people, play games, and moderate, I'd really love to have you.
I can't promise to answer all the questions someone might post in the replies here, but will if I can -- please ask whatever you want, just keep it civil and constructive. I'll remove off topic or abusive posts if they happen.
Thank you again for your wonderful work and for helping us boost the bundle as widely as we can. The strength of our combined network is a huge reason why the bundle works, and we couldn't do that without everyone's help.
Caroline Delbert
Queer Games Bundle