Hi itch.io Community,

I'm Spencer from the itch.io team.

We're working on an upcoming game bundle and I wanted to open the opportunity to participate to the broader community. This will be a fixed price itch.io Selects bundle in which 5-8 games are available for a one-time purchase, and all participating developers earn an even share of the revenue. The games and price are TBD, but we're looking to run the bundle for a single week in mid May.

Naturally we won't be able to include every game that is interested, and this time we're only looking for video games (please no TTRPGS, tools, soundtracks etc.).

To be considered please leave a link to your game from the account that controls it in the comments below, and be prepared to check the email associated with your itch.io account if you're selected.

Submissions will remain open until April 25th at 10am PT.

We've extended the submission deadline just a few more days to let more folks submit. 
Please post if you'd like to be considered before Friday April 28th.

The bundle is now up for sale, and we are not accepting new submissions. The only additions are those who had trouble earlier in the process. Thanks for your understanding!


(original message below)
---
Hey all. As you may have heard, we're starting a bundle to help folks affected by the invasion of Ukraine. We're an international team split across Europe and the US, with friends in Ukraine, and teammates directly affected by Putin's regime.

Just as with the Bundle for Palestinian Aid and the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality, what we do as game developers can have a very positive effect on the world. This is one of the greatest things about itch.io - even if your game isn't a best seller, you have the opportunity to help people in need by sheer volume.

Of course, we do also want some higher profile games in here in order to increase the perceived value for the buyer! But I want to encourage anyone to submit, and to feel like they've made a true contribution.

So: right now we're doing a call for submissions to the bundle. I would like to have all submissions in by EOD Friday March 4, 11:59 PM PDT. That's 7:59 GMT Saturday the 5th for easier time zone orientation. The intention is to launch the bundle the following Monday, March 7. 

Here's the important stuff:
- paid games only. There has been too much back and forth about free and paid games in past bundles, and the fact is some folks will be buying this bundle because of the "value" for better or for worse. More free games also increases the vetting process on our end dramatically. So for this bundle, no free games please.
- please submit your game as a link in reply to this posting. a script will pick everything up. Your submission indicates consent to publish the game in the bundle.
- you MUST be signed in to the itch.io dev account that is associated with your game when you submit here, otherwise it won't be counted.
- You don't need to say anything else in your post, but if you do it's fine!! It won't affect the script.

As of now, the charities chosen are:
International Medical Corps. https://internationalmedicalcorps.org/country/ukraine/ 
They provide medical aid and training in the field, and have ongoing operations in Ukraine now. They have very low fundraising overhead (1% of income), with 89% of donations going to medical aid and 10% to administration. Honestly I don't mind them paying their workers.

Voices of Children. https://voices.org.ua/en/who-we-are/
This is a Ukrainian organization that helps children cope with the horrors of war, PTSD, readjusting to school, and things like that. As they are not an international organization I don't have insight into their financials, but they have a really positive message, they've been in foreign news so may have had some vetting there, and I really wanted to help an org that is actually Ukrainian. If anyone has information I should know about them, please reach out.

Funds will be split 50/50 between these two organizations, unless I wind up hearing anything to change my mind.

In our charity selection process the main considerations were:
- do they have experience operating in Ukraine? (If not it's unlikely they could get aid to Ukraine in the midst of this. We've seen a few orgs getting a lot of money that I'm unconvinced have any direct humanitarian aid experience, or ability to get resources into the country.)
- are they an accredited organization?
- do they (as far as we can tell) have low overhead?
- is the support they provide humanitarian-oriented/nonlethal?

We are also wanted to split with a charity that would have a longer lasting effect as the war continues, or ideally ends.

As a side note, if you're wondering why we're involved, we were participants in the Bundle for Palestinian Aid and the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality, and both of those bundles went very well. With some insight into the process and some volunteers behind us, we felt confident we could make this work. We've also had discussions with itch.io, and they have a lot of processes in place that help make this easier. But I'm sure there will be some hiccups, so please bear with us as we sort through it.

FAQ (parts of this FAQ were borrowed/modified from the bundle for palestinian aid!)

How does the money stuff work?
The money goes to itch.io (it does not pass through us or our company), who then gives it directly to the charity organization.

Can I submit non-commercial/free projects?
Not this time, sorry! As mentioned above, the free aspects of prior bundles caused a lot of consternation, and winds up diluting the perceived "value" of the bundle. There was also a lot of debate about whether free games in a bundle like this wound up becoming self promotion. All of that sucks but we're not out from under capitalism just yet, so we're avoiding it in this bundle. The games can be cheap, just not free.

Can I submit multiple things?
Yes, but please select no more than 4 projects/items, remembering that all must be paid.  You can put them all in one post, or one at a time, either way it'll get picked up by the script!

Can I submit non-games?
Yes, any project page that has a URL on itch.io is good, as long as it's paid content.

Can I submit adult content?
No, sorry! We want this bundle to be media friendly for maximum reach and you know how people get. Just use your discretion.

Can I submit my project after the bundle has started?
No, sorry! The bundle is huge already.

Will Steam (or other external keys) be given with a purchase?
No. It's too difficult to coordinate and can wind up inviting scammers. Only itch.io projects will be considered for this bundle.

I'm worried people might already have my game from another bundle.
That's okay. Obviously we want as much new stuff as possible but there will be new people buying this bundle, and there will be new games in it. So don't be shy.

Aren't you being a little strict with content compared to prior bundles?
We are, based on prior experiences from other bundles. Alanna had to take a month off work to get the Bundle for Palestinian Aid off the ground, so we're learning from that to make this happen faster and more efficiently, while making the most money possible for these charities. We hope you understand!  

Will you be vetting games?
Yes. I have a small group of people who have volunteered to help, and we will be checking whether games have any content that could be considered detrimental to the cause. 

THAT'S IT!

THANK YOU!! May Ukraine remain free!

Note (added June 10) - We are no longer accepting game donations. Thank you so much to everyone who donated their creations! We will be adding them to the bundle as soon as we can moderate and submit them. Congrats on a successful bundle, everyone! 

Hi everyone!

First, I want to thank all of you who have submitted games, told your friends, and spread the word about this fundraiser. What was a small bundle of 22 games has grown into this massive force of good, and that could not have happened without each and every one of you. Thank you!!

All profit from this bundle will be donated to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. The UNRWA has provided food assistance for over one million Palestinians, and continues to do so in the territories with heavy destruction. They also provide emergency mental and physical health protection for those in the region. https://www.unrwa.org/gaza-emergency 

This is a grassroots bundle by a group of indie game devs who want to help Palestinians. By existing, it proves that as a collective, we are a formidable force of good, more than willing to volunteer our talents and creations to help others. That said, all too often when the game industry has good intentions to help in the global space, we can sometimes speak over those we are helping. Indie games are unique in that they can tell stories not seen in AAA or other games. We pour our life experiences into our games and share a piece of ourselves with the world. Palestinian game developers are no different in this aspect, but have the added challenges of limited access to basic services, like clean water, electricity, medical care, and food security. They live under Israeli authority that discriminates and subjugates Palestinians to the point of persecution and apartheid, simply for being Palestinian. Furthermore, they develop games without all the resources that come with being in a western hub for game development. 

For these reasons, we thought this was a fantastic opportunity to feature a game made by Palestinian game developer Rasheed Abueideh called Liyla and the Shadows of War, which tells a story of a little girl who lives in Gaza during the war in 2014. The bundle will be pay-what-you-want for Liyla and the Shadows of War with a minimum price of $5, and you will get over 700 additional games and counting for free. All creators on itch.io are encouraged to participate by donating a game to the bundle. (EDIT: As it is taking a bit of time to moderate the games, we will update this thread when the bundle goes live. We are aiming for early next week. -edited May 27th) The bundle will run through Friday, June 11th. Reminder: All proceeds will go to UNRWA. 

We already have over 700 game developers who have donated games to the bundle. Together, we can raise funds for UNRWA for food and medical assistance for Palestinians AND highlight a member of our indie game community who is directly affected by the cause we are rallying behind. 

In order to join the bundle just reply to this thread with the URLs to the projects you’d like to submit. Please reply while signed into the itchio account that owns the project’s page, otherwise we won’t be able to verify that you have opted into the bundle. By posting your link in this thread, you approve your game to be put into the bundle and offered at the minimum price during the dates shown above.

Note: Please Read Before Submitting Your Game. We’re working with a lot of creators and we need your help to stay organized. Please read everything carefully before submitting or we might not be able to include you. This includes things like submitting too many games or posting your URL in the wrong place.

We will be using a script to automatically pull in projects by URL. Please make sure you are signed into the correct creator account and only include working links to public projects that you control in your post to ensure that your project gets picked up. (Please just post the URL. Do not include any extra words or explanations.)

Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. You are incredible and I appreciate all the support this has received. 

Alanna Linayre

NOTE (added June 8th): We are cutting off submissions 12:01am US Eastern Thursday, June 10th. Meaning, Wednesday June 9th is the last day we are accepting submissions. Anything submitted after this time stamp will not be included. Anything submitted before this time stamp will be added in bunches, after clearing moderation. If you purchased the bundle, you will have all added submissions, regardless of when you purchased the bundle. 

FAQ

Can I submit non-commercial projects?

Yes, but please avoid submitting empty, broken, or partial pages. We want developers to be proud of the projects they’re putting forward to support the cause.

Can I submit multiple things?

For free submissions, please only select one item to contribute. If you’re contributing paid submissions, please select no more than 4 items. If you have something both paid and free to contribute, we ask that you only submit the paid work (unless the free project is more appropriate).

Can I submit non-games?

Yes, any project page that has a URL on itch.io is good.

Can I submit adult content?

No. We want the bundle to be accessible to as many people as possible, so we ask that you do not submit adult content.

Can I submit my project after the bundle has started?

Yes. It’s okay if you come in late, we’ll credit anyone who has already purchased the bundle with access to your project. But we highly encourage you to submit as soon as possible so we can launch the bundle with as many projects as possible.

NOTE (added June 8th): We are cutting off submissions 12:01am US Eastern Thursday, June 10th. Meaning, Wednesday June 9th is the last day we are accepting submissions. Anything submitted after this time stamp will not be included. Anything submitted before this time stamp will be added in waves, after clearing moderation. If you purchased the bundle, you have access to all added submissions, regardless of when you purchased the bundle. 

Will Steam (or other external keys) be given with a purchase?

No. In the past, running a Pay-what-you-want bundle with Steam keys involved gets a lot of bitter people who just want to pay the bare minimum to try to claim all the Steam keys. That’s not in the spirit of the bundle. 

What if I already filled out the Google Form on Twitter?

You will need to submit your game again through this thread even if you filled out the Form from Twitter.

Note about free games: We won’t be adding free games anymore to the purchasable part of the bundle, but we will still be collecting them to showcase in a special collection of supporters. More information here: https://twitter.com/moonscript/status/1269715947599704064

Hello everyone,

We live in a time of racial injustice, inequality, and police brutality against black people. I hope that everyone takes a stand in any way that they can. We’re inviting creators all across our platform to join us in supporting organizations that are working directly with those affected.

We’re hosting a bundle where anyone can join with all proceeds split between:

• NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
• Community Bail Fund

The bundle will be Pay-what-you-want with a minimum price of $5. All creators on itch.io are encouraged to participate. We’ll be waiving itch.io’s cut to ensure we contribute the most we can. The bundle will start Friday, June 5th and run through June 15th.

In order to join the bundle just reply to this thread with the URLs to the projects you’d like to submit. Please reply using the account that owns the project’s page otherwise we won’t be able to verify that you have opted in to the bundle. By posting your link in this thread you approve your game to be put into the bundle and offered at the minimum price during the dates shown above.

We will be using a script to automatically pull in projects by URL. Please only include working links to public projects that you control in your post to ensure that your project gets picked up!!. Avoid any instructions or questions in your post asking us which one because we may not see it. Thanks

Can I submit non-games?

Sure, any project page on itch.io is good.

Can I submit adult content?

No. We want the bundle to be accessible to as many people as possible, so we ask that you do not submit adult content.

Can I submit my project after the bundle has started?

Yes. It’s okay if you come in late, we’ll credit anyone who has already purchased the bundle with access to your project. But we highly encourage you to submit as soon as possible so we can launch the bundle with as many projects as possible.

Will Steam (or other external keys) be given with a purchase?

No. In our experience, running a Pay-what-you-want bundle with Steam keys involved gets a lot of bitter people who just want to pay the bare minimum to try to claim all the Steam keys. That’s not in the spirit of the bundle. After the bundle is over, we may work with developers to grant keys to buyers if they have them available, but we will make no guarantees right now.

Thanks

P.S. Looking for a ways to help but don’t have a project to donate, try here: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/

#blacklivesmatter