Yesterday, indie digital storefront Itch.io rolled out the Bundle for Ukraine, a collection of nearly 1,000 games for a minimum purchase price of just $10, with all funds raised going to charities supporting the people of Ukraine. Based on the initial uptake rate, we predicted that the bundle would probably exceed its goal of $1 million raised before it expired in 10 days. And, well, we were right. Very right.
The bundle goal was originally $100,000, according to Brandon Sheffield of Necrosoft Games, which is hosting the Bundle for Ukraine, but got bumped to $1 million after it surpassed that mark in just an hour. The $1 million goal took 14 hours to accomplish, Sheffield said on Twitter, and so now it's been upped to $2 million. That one looks likely to happen, too: It's still less than 24 hours after the bundle went live and the total raised now stands at more than $1.62 million.
A few other fun numbers—all taken at the time of writing, obviously:
- Total purchases: 110,579
- Average purchase price: $14.63
- Top purchase price: $1,694.20 (Outstanding work, whoever you are.)
It's been said before but it bears mentioning again: This bundle is noteworthy not just for the sheer number of games it contains, but also the fact that it's got some really good individual titles at a ridiculously good price. The great likelihood is that most of us will never touch the vast majority of the games in this package, but with stuff like Skatebird, Backbone, Cloud Gardens, Superhot, A Short Hike, Baba is You, Night Call, Celeste, Minit, Jotun, A Mortician's Tale, Quadrilateral Cowboy, Rusty Lake Hotel, Super Win the Game, Summer in Mara, Evangeline, and Back to Bed in the mix, you're bound to find at least a few things you want to play.
Funds raised by the Bundle for Ukraine on Itch.io will be split evenly between two charities: The International Medical Corps, which provides medical assistance in the region with minimal fundraising overhead—80% of donations go directly to medical aid—and Voices of Children, a Ukrainian organization that helps children cope with the horrors of war. The bundle will be available for purchase until March 17.
