Itch has launched the Bundle for Ukraine, a massive collection of nearly a thousand games designed to raise funds for two humanitarian organisations aiding civilians in the war-torn country. Donations start from $10 and, in exchange, you'll get a dizzying amount of games: 991, to be exact. Honestly, more than you'll probably ever be able to play.
Some highlights in the bundle include the brilliant retro-styled JRPG CrossCode, bleak roguelike Gonner, and the cheerful musical adventure game Wandersong. But you'll also get heavy hitters like Celeste, Towerfall Ascension, Superhot, Baba Is You and A Short Hike, to name barely a fraction of what's on offer.
The bundle was initiated by Necrosoft Games last week, the studio responsible for Gunhouse, Oh Deer! and the forthcoming Hyper Gunsport. Since then, over 700 creators have joined the initiative, which will split all income between International Medical Corps—a medical assistance organisation—and Voices of Children, a Ukraine-based organization that "helps children cope with the horrors of war, PTSD, readjusting to school, and getting back to being kids".
The minimum donation is $10, which is awfully cheap for such a massive set of games: you'd normally pay more for Superhot alone, for instance. That said, according to the bundle page, "we highly urge you to pay above the minimum if you can afford to do so," which some people have certainly done: the highest donation at the time of writing is $500.
As I write this—a matter of hours after its launch—the bundle has raised over $45,000 towards its $1 million goal. At this rate, it'll probably exceed that goal before the bundle finishes up in 10 days, and could very well reach similar heights as last year's Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality, which made $8.2 million.
Since its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, numerous games companies have pulled out of Russia, with most major publishers including Take-Two, Ubisoft, Activision, Electronic Arts and Epic Games suspending new sales.
