Humble THQ Bundle: Save Money & Save a Publisher

Earlier this week The Humble THQ Bundle was announced and launched. This was somewhat a surprising for two reasons. 1) We usually get months or more to breathe from the last Bundle being sealed; this time it was only a couple weeks. 2) Humble Bundles are typically a batch of independently developed games; after all, it used to be called Humble Indie Bundle. Well, this time they've teamed up with far-from-indie developer /publisher THQ to push six A-list titles, and a seventh (Saints Row: The Third) if you beat the average. (Note: Two of the games in this Bundle are stand-alone sequels to Company of Heroes).

Why?

The troubling trajectory of THQ stock. (Source: Hard Core Gamer)

It's no secret that THQ has been in trouble lately, even on the verge of bankruptcy. As one of the top commenters for the above video on YouTube said, "In this case THQ is the charity." There is a actual charity to select in the payment sliders, but the default is giving most of the proceeds to THQ. This remarkable Bundle has only been running a few days and it is passing the $3 million mark.

I have no animosity towards THQ even though they've published plenty of real commercial clunkers over the years. The game industry is an industry. By the same token I have personally spent hours upon hours with some of the games they've brought to light, their recent partnership with Double Fine is particular noteworthy. I guarantee any gamer who looks over the list of their published works can say the same, for better or worse.

The metros of a post-apocalyptic Moscow is but one of the gaming experiences available. Metro 2033 (2010)

You've got until December 12th to pay what you want for a handful of games, including Darksiders and Metro 2033. You also get the soundtracks for the included games which is worth the price of admission alone, unless you're feeling particularly generous. You will never find a better buy than this and you can directly aid a desperate game company. Yes, it's the games themselves we care about, but somebody has to create them and sell them. For consumers the Humble THQ Bundle is a winning situation no matter how you slice it, I cannot say the same for the company at hand, but this will surely help.