Humble Games

Humble Games was the video game publishing division of Humble Bundle, the digital storefront and charitable bundle service. Founded in 2019, Humble Games built a catalog of critically acclaimed indie titles before Ziff Davis, the media company that owns Humble Bundle, laid off the entire Humble Games publishing team in July 2024. The label effectively ceased operations as an active publisher at that point, though its existing catalog remains available and several games already in the pipeline were completed under alternative arrangements.

The Humble Bundle Connection

Humble Bundle established its reputation through pay-what-you-want game bundles that donated a portion of proceeds to charity, building a large community of customers who associated the brand with both value and social impact. Humble Games was created to extend that brand into direct publishing, with the pitch to developers that Humble Games’ audience and charitable reputation would give their games a meaningful platform. The label signed a range of indie developers and positioned itself as a publisher that shared Humble Bundle’s values around accessibility and community.

Notable Published Games

Humble Games’ catalog includes several critically acclaimed indie titles. Unpacking, developed by Witch Beam and released in November 2021, was one of the label’s most celebrated releases, a puzzle game about unpacking boxes across different life stages that won multiple awards and sold over a million copies. Signalis, a survival horror game developed by rose-engine and released in October 2022, became a cult favorite and one of the most discussed horror games of that year. Coral Island, a life simulation RPG developed by Stairway Games, released in early access in 2022. Forager, often incorrectly attributed to Humble Games, was actually self-published by its developer.

Closure of the Publishing Division

In July 2024, Ziff Davis laid off the entire Humble Games publishing team. The decision ended Humble Games as an active publisher and left several developers mid-contract without their publishing support. Some games that had been signed to Humble Games were completed and released under new publishing arrangements. The catalog of already-released titles including Unpacking and Signalis remained available on storefronts. The closure was part of broader layoffs at Ziff Davis that affected multiple divisions across the company.