So, there I was, minding my own business, about to enjoy some hot Humble Bundle Action, when through the process of learning to install my shiny new Android purchases, I was hit in the face with this. The app itself is cool, but what really struck me was when I went to make an account to use it. I figured it would just let me toss my games onto my phone, but no, the awesome people over at Humble Bundle don’t settle for doing things half-way. A friendly screen popped up and asked if all the other game packs and individual games bought by the same email address were for this account too (I discovered they act as a checkout for indie developers even when they’re not bundling during the big sale this past May).
I was sorta floored, though I know I shouldn’t have been.
This is what you can do when you keep good data from the start, and continue to efficiently build on what you have. This is also a bold move into new territory for Humble Bundle. They’ve gone from search-your-email-for-that-link to a single page with ALL OF THE GAMES in one subtle suggestion. And not just games—they’ve had releases with music and movies as well. All still DRM free, all still updated as the developers do their development jive, all still available on many multiple platforms.
And they’re all on there.
Of course, they’re not the only ones we’ve seen pop up since current giant Valve really started focusing on turning their own release platform, Steam, into the powerhouse it is today. Desura lept onto the field a while back, and Good Old Games has been touting themselves as direct competition to Steam. With their support of charities like the EFF and Child’s Play, pay-what-you-want platform, smartphone/tablet platform support and those cute little pictures (not to mention the Steam and Desura keys, soundtrack releases in mp3 and FLAC, and the very slick web site and Android app user interfaces), I think they have a pretty strong niche foundation that will serve their future endeavors well.
So keep up the being awesome, Humble Bundle! We love what you do, and we love how well you do it!
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