The popular store front Humble Bundle has been publishing games on platforms like Steam since 2017. Now, it seems that the entire staff of the publisher is being laid off.
Note: This article was created in a breaking manner and has been supplemented multiple times.
Most of you probably know Humble Bundle for its affordable game bundles that allow you to fill up your Steam library while supporting charitable causes. Since 2017, Humble Bundle has also been active as a publisher.
Under the “Humble Games” label, mostly indie games were released. However, it seems that this will come to an end for now, as the publisher announced on X on July 23, 2024, that they are restructuring – apparently without any staff.
The Pokémon MMO TemTem is one of the most well-known games from Humble Games.
Humble Games is not closing but laying off all employees
The statement mentions that during these challenging times, they made the “difficult but necessary decision” to restructure the company. However, it does not elaborate on what exactly this restructuring entails.
They emphasize that the decision will not impact Humble Bundle. Additionally, they aim to ensure stability and support for developers and ongoing projects.
In a statement to Aftermath, a spokesperson explained that contrary to initial reports, they are not closing but merely restructuring. What exactly this means is evident from the posts of former employees on LinkedIn.
Former employees hold parent company accountable
Chris Radley, who left Humble Games in 2022, states that the entire staff has been laid off. Instead, the operations have been handed over to an external consulting firm. He urges people not to believe the alleged AI narrative from Ziff Davis, the parent company of Humble Games, and blames a “failure of leadership” for the layoffs.
A former employee, who wishes to remain anonymous to avoid jeopardizing a potential severance agreement, confirmed to Aftermath that no one at Humble Games “survived” the layoffs.
Ex-employees apparently see the responsibility lying with Ziff Davis. The media company lacked an understanding of publishing and game development. The business models were simply incompatible:
Ziff is very good at owning many media properties and increasing advertising revenue, and Humble Games’ publishing just didn’t fit their business model. They needed the money. And they needed it immediately. They wanted to see an instant spike in revenue after investing money into a company, and unfortunately, that just doesn’t work with games.
Former employee via Aftermath
Without the employees, Humble Games will likely only exist by name, which the former staff regrets. It was truly a unique publisher with great people.
The games published by Humble Games include indie favorites such as Signalis, A Hat in Time, Unpacking, and the Pokémon-like MMO TemTem, whose development was halted in 2024. A spin-off is supposed to be released later this year, but there is a problem: Same name, same genre: TemTem accidentally clashes with League of Legends, taking it in stride
