The team at Humble Bundle is mixing up their business model again, most notably with the debut of a new standalone games launcher meant to serve as a home for games acquired in the Humble Choice subscription service.
Said launcher isn’t meant to be a competitor to platforms like Steam or GOG, but will rather be home to Humble’s Games Collection and Vault services.
It’s the latest in a number of business shifts for the company, which fell into hot water last year over proposed changes to the company’s charity donation slider system. It reversed the original proposed changes, but then tweaked its system last July to require a minimum cut for Humble when users interact with the donation sliders.
(You might say they were…humbled…by the negative feedback).
The standalone software launcher comes with changes to the Humble Choice service as well. The subscription service will now clock in at $11.99 per month, and allow users to access every single game available in Humble Choice.
Choice members will also gain access to the new Humble Games Collection, a library of games accessible via the new Humble app. There will also be a collection of 50 DRM-free indie games available to play as well, under a collection of games called “The Humble Vault.”
Humble’s tweaks to its subscription service might be a preview of more things to come in 2021. With Xbox Game Pass continuing to be a key part of Microsoft’s console strategy this generation, and rumors of PlayStation lining up a similar service it’s notable that companies are looking to hone subscription services for PC games too.