Buy the bundle here: https://itch.io/b/902/indie-bundle-for-palestinian-aid
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.