Indie Publisher Humble Games Is Reportedly Shutting Down; 36 Employees Laid Off [Update]

It’s a sad day for the indie side of things, as Humble Games is reportedly being shuttered.

Indie publisher Humble Games is restructuring after 36 of its employees were laid off. It had a good run, having published 20 titles since 2019 including titles like Forager and TemTem.

Well friends, me and the entirety of Humble Games was laid off this morning

If you need senior/lead QA at your game studio HI HELLO I DON'T HAVE A JOB ANYMOOOORE! pic.twitter.com/giAPAiTDsx

— ?Emil-EEK!? (@Emilee3D) July 23, 2024

Whether the business is shutting down remains to be seen, but “restructuring operations” means deviating from games publishing.

At the very least, Humble Bundle will not be affected; official statement from Humble Games below:

“In these challenging economic times for indie game publishing, Humble Games has made the difficult but necessary decision to restructure our operations. This decision was not made lightly; it involved much deliberation and careful thought, with the goal of ensuring the stability and support of our developers and ongoing projects.

Additionally, the restructuring of operations at Humble Games will have no impact on operations at Humble Bundle. We are acutely aware of the profound impact this decision has on our team members at Humble Games and deeply empathize with everyone affected.

Our team’s contributions have been world-class and invaluable, supporting the launch of our games since we started publishing in 2017. We are committed to navigating this transition with as much empathy and understanding as possible. Supporting our development partners and assisting former team members remains our top priority. We are committed to making this transition as smooth as possible for everyone involved.

Thank you for your support and compassion during this challenging period. It is deeply appreciated.”

In these challenging economic times for indie game publishing, Humble Games has made the difficult but necessary decision to restructure our operations. This decision was not made lightly; it involved much deliberation and careful thought, with the goal of ensuring the stability…

— Humble Games (@PlayHumbleGames) July 23, 2024

[Update: 24/7/2024 at 2pm] Turns out the “restructuring” is a lie, according to an Aftermath report. All pending publishing projects will be completed by a third party company called Powell Group.

Humble Games is the publishing division of Humble Bundle. The latter is owned by Ziff Davis since 2017 via the IGN Entertainment subsidiary, so essentially whatever games Humble Games publishes will get surefire IGN coverage and spotlighting; that’s just how the business works if your news rag and a games publisher is under the same umbrella. Even with the major exposure, the fact that the company had to go through a restructuring is puzzling indeed.

Still, the layoffs from the restructuring is disheartening news. We do hope the 36 employees can get back on their feet in this uncertain industry. Meanwhile, developers who had their games published by Humble Games offer their heartfelt condolences.

It sucks that even devs that published games with Humble are learning this right now, with no prior warning.

I'm afraid of what this will mean not only for the future of our game, UNSIGHTED, but all games they've published

Who's gonna keep the store pages up? We don't know yet. https://t.co/GZK7mAL5iV

— Tiani Pixel | Follow me on BSky! (@TianiPixel) July 23, 2024

https://www.twitter.com/summerfallgames/status/1815968739575357815

We are devastated to hear today about the apparent closure of our publishing partner, Humble Games.
We were lucky to work with really wonderful people who were laid off in November and today and hope they can all land on their feet and find amazing new jobs elsewhere quickly. pic.twitter.com/dqwopqmdHA

— Yuri Stern | SIGNALIS (@LastStarfarer) July 23, 2024