EA launches Humble Bundle (and it all goes to charity)

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Electronic Arts has launched a Humble Bundle. But put down your pitchforks! This is all for charity.

The latest pay-what-you-wish bundle includes six games, including the pretty-new Dead Space 3. Other games in the bundle include Burnout Paradise, Crysis 2, Dead Space, Medal of Honor, and Mirror's Edge. Paying more than the average will unlock two additional games: Battlefield 3 and The Sims 3.

The funds will help various charitable causes, including the Human Rights Campaign, Watsi, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, the American Red Cross, and the American Cancer Society. And while this is a very generous offer by EA, it does also serve as a Trojan Horse of sorts. All of the games offered activate on Origin, with select titles including Steam keys as well.

Nonetheless, it's a pretty wonderful deal. You can check it out here.

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    August 14, 2013 12:30 PM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, EA launches Humble Bundle (and it all goes to charity).

    Electronic Arts has launched a Humble Bundle. But put down your pitchforks! This is all for charity.

    The latest pay-what-you-wish bundle...

    • reply
      August 14, 2013 12:59 PM

      Wait a minute... the first Humble Bundles were DRM-free. I don't remember the DRM details of the Humble THQ Bundle (were they just Steam keys?). But what's the DRM status of these? Between Mirror's Edge, Crysis 2, Burnout Paradise and Dead Space, there's a veritable DRM smorgasbord here (and not just Origin).

      A Humble Bundle with DRM that doesn't have any service in return isn't very humble at all.

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        August 14, 2013 1:04 PM

        It's just Origin chief.

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        August 14, 2013 1:05 PM

        I say simply buy it for the charity and give the games away to friends who want them. I already played most of these anyways so the make excellent presents.

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          August 14, 2013 1:06 PM

          Forgot to add that if you really hate someone you can give them MoH :)

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        August 14, 2013 1:07 PM

        The humbling part is letting the customers pay what they want, DRM has nothing to do with it.

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          August 14, 2013 1:07 PM

          And having it all go to charity is pretty humble too

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          August 14, 2013 1:15 PM

          Choosing how you distribute the funds is also a big part of it, here they are bypassing that option and giving it all to charity instead.

          And since you don't remember, the THQ bundle was all Steam DRM and Windows only. Not really any this being Origin / Steam only.

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          August 14, 2013 2:28 PM

          [deleted]

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            August 14, 2013 4:28 PM

            No, that was the "Indie" part, the humble part is they are offering their games for almost nothing.

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            August 14, 2013 4:47 PM

            If you recall the name of the site and the URL is Humble Bundle. Nothing about that says Indie. Just because the first few bundles they did were the Humble Indie Bundle does not mean every bundle they do has to be indie. Just as long as it is pay what you want and proceeds go to charity in some part.

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              August 14, 2013 6:01 PM

              [deleted]

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                August 14, 2013 7:38 PM

                Because like those indie game developers, Humble Bundle was a small startup. The original HIB didn't even have Steam Keys (they retroactively added them during HIB2).

                Now that they've been around a few years they're a major player in the PC digital distribution space, to the point where now companies like EA want to work with them.

                But the humility in Humble Bundle has always been charity.

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                August 14, 2013 8:08 PM

                AKA, Humble Indie Bundle

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        August 14, 2013 1:14 PM

        You still have to redeem the keys... relax. Its not like they're installing SecuROM rootkits.

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        August 14, 2013 1:15 PM

        yeah the main premise of the humble bundle was definitely all about DRM...

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        August 14, 2013 1:31 PM

        of course if anyone was going to find a way to complain about this, it was going to be you.

        It's $5 for eight AAA games, and all the proceeds go to charity. Holy shit dude, lighten up.

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        August 14, 2013 2:28 PM

        hey nice an archvile DRM post, it's been a while. (1 day 5 hours 18 mins.)

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          August 14, 2013 7:39 PM

          Is he just 100% anti-DRM?

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            August 14, 2013 7:49 PM

            Yes except he uses Steam. He also refuses to sign up for free XBL Silver because Microsoft "may" be hacked and his user information will be stolen. Ironically Valve has been hacked on I believe more than one occasion (servers, forums?) but he still uses Steam.

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        August 14, 2013 2:33 PM

        [deleted]

      • reply
        August 14, 2013 3:28 PM

        OK so since you're either being deliberately obtuse or you were somehow living under a rock when the THQ bundle went down, let's go over this again.

        Yes the original Humble Indie Bundles were DRM free. And most of the ones since then have been DRM free as well.

        Yes every game in this bundle requires either Steam or Origin. But it's not the first one, THQ's bundle was the first one like this. Don't like it? Don't buy it. And get off your high horse. The fact that they're doing this again means that the first one was a success. And in the five hours or so since this went live they've amassed $1.7M for charities so your indignation is misplaced.

        And just to be clear: Yes the original Humble Indie Bundle was named the Humble Indie Bundle because it was a bunch of indie devs potentially ceding all of their income to charity. This Humble Origin Bundle is EA literally ceding all of its income to charity. And even providing keys for a competing platform. Separate ones, no less. The "humble" part has nothing to do with DRM, it's about the charities.

        And even then, "Humble" is just a brand name at this point. The company has spun off as Humble Bundle, Inc. from Wolfire games, the original maintainers. The "Humble Store" is used by a lot of developers to sell their games DRM-free, often with Steam keys ( http://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Humble_Store ). When you buy a game through the Humble Store (usually embedded on the developer's site, like FTL's is) NONE of the income goes to charity and 95% of the income goes to the developer (which is why they'd actually prefer it if you use that because it's better than their 70% take from Steam). The Humble Bundle people are just using the infrastructure they've already built up to sell straight up games for profit. I expect at some point the company will just be named "Humble, Inc." or maybe even launch a Steam-like client called "Humble" (maybe they could acquire Desura and rebrand that)

        You don't get mad at Steam because it has nothing to do with water vapor, why are you getting butthurt that Humble Bundle has a less than perfect relationship with humility?

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          August 14, 2013 5:00 PM

          Heh, this is like the publisher of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy selling out. What a farce; I'll just wait for the REAL Humble Indie Bundle with DRM-free releases, instead of this insulting joke that could've just been called an "Origin Sale".

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            August 14, 2013 7:10 PM

            Except if it was an "Origin Sale", things would be $39.99 instead of $59.99 AND THE MONEY WOULDNT GO TO CHARITY!!!!

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              August 14, 2013 7:19 PM

              Again, it's like when Activision hosted Call of Duty XP in 2011 and said that proceeds were going to charity, therefore implicitly proclaiming all critics of the event to be assholes... but they haven't had another one since.

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            August 14, 2013 7:51 PM

            INSULTING

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          August 14, 2013 6:51 PM

          Also, when the Humble THQ Bundle was announced, THQ was in a truly humble position: on November 5, 2012, they had their earnings call where they basically said they have no financial projections due to being short on money, and they weren't taking any questions, and were ending the call after 10 minutes. The Humble Bundle initiative was essentially a desperate act to get some income going to try and keep the lights on for a month or two.

          In EA's case, yes, they had a little bit of a reorg, and John Riccitiello resigned in March when it was evident that he missed the numbers, but they're doing fine. This seems like a gross PR move, where they're giving it to charity to be able to insult anyone who criticizes them. Even with the logic "It all goes to charity! Buying these hurts EA!!", I still wouldn't buy any of these, let alone sign up for Origin, in any other scenario, so why now? Also, it's a way to channel in-app purchases and DLC purchases through Origin, so it's not entirely charitable.

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            August 14, 2013 7:26 PM

            It's more important to stick it to EA then give to charity in your mind? Okay...

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            August 14, 2013 7:54 PM

            [deleted]

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            August 14, 2013 8:00 PM

            You need to get back on your meds.

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            August 14, 2013 8:10 PM

            You don't need to claim any of the keys if you don't want the mud on your hands.

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              August 15, 2013 5:01 AM

              Don't you understand? An EA employee might reap enjoyment out of the feeling of seeing the money go to charity! The humanity!

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            August 14, 2013 8:18 PM

            You could just not buy any in-game DLC and support a good cause?

            You find the dumbest reasons to get upset over stuff.

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            August 15, 2013 4:26 AM

            You are the entitled PC gamer.

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            August 15, 2013 4:33 AM

            Here... you dropped your hinge...

      • reply
        August 15, 2013 4:34 AM

        It all goes to charity, how can you have problem with it?

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      August 14, 2013 1:07 PM

      The more people who buy this the poorer EA gets people.

      *places multiple orders*

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      August 14, 2013 1:16 PM

      Bought'd. Have most of these already and the others don't really interest me except Dead Space 3 and maybe Crysis 2. But I played some of that on PS3 and felt it was pretty meh. Anyways, charity!

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      August 14, 2013 1:52 PM

      Medal of Honor on Steam: Z45GA-YVFFQ-0V2IJ

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      August 14, 2013 2:23 PM

      poor EA, trying so hard to win some ouce of reputation back. Not since the days of the Amiga have you really had any decent rep EA

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        August 14, 2013 2:27 PM

        [deleted]

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        August 14, 2013 2:47 PM

        And it used to be ALL ABOUT EOA, Epyx, and Activision. And Microprose, of course.

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        August 14, 2013 3:36 PM

        I hear they had a Larry Bird vs Michael Jordan game with an image in the game that was just great. I wonder if I can call up their secretary and get a copy of that.

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          August 14, 2013 3:48 PM

          Larry Bird vs Dr. J was MUCH better as a game. Bird vs Jordan had better graphics, but the mocap was fubar.

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        August 14, 2013 3:52 PM

        Man I can't tell you how many hours I sank into 4D Boxing. I loved that game!

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      August 14, 2013 3:43 PM

      which of these games has a steam key? I don't trust origin software

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      August 14, 2013 3:53 PM

      [deleted]

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      August 14, 2013 3:54 PM

      Origin is getting hammered, the product activation site is totally broken right now and has been for a couple hours it seems. Both through web and the application.

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      August 14, 2013 4:12 PM

      This...is super interesting...hm...

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      August 14, 2013 4:17 PM

      I wish EA luck, although the cynic in me is thinking that this is half for public relations purposes and half for a tax dodge.

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        August 14, 2013 4:20 PM

        Even if it is, it's still money going towards charity and people getting cheap games.

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      August 14, 2013 4:19 PM

      Sold! Play games for charity? Sure thing.

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      August 14, 2013 4:29 PM

      Idc if its for community relations or whatnot, this is a great deal and a great cause. Definitely a good thing.

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      August 14, 2013 5:30 PM

      The charity is probably to raise money to try to save all the studios EA is in the process of killing.

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      August 14, 2013 7:12 PM

      As an EA employee, I was really happy (and surprised, it wasn't messaged internally) to see this today. This seems equals parts an earnest charitable project (and I'm glad that we are donating the proceeds to charities other than Child's Play for a change) and part of an ongoing effort to do better by the game enthusiast community.

      • rms legacy 10 years legacy 20 years mercury super mega
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        August 14, 2013 8:14 PM

        I've had no issues with Origin -- or Uplay for that matter -- and the one time I had to contact them, for an email change, it went smoothly enough. This was an easy purchase decision, and does raise my estimation of EA.

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      August 14, 2013 8:05 PM

      well I guess I finally have BF3, and DS3

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