The past few years have been rough for the video game industry, with news about lay-offs and studio closures providing a constantly bleak backdrop to the steady stream of game releases and updates. While platforms like PC have continued to gain traction, plenty of talented developers have found themselves without jobs, sometimes right after shipping majorly successful titles.
There's no way to make any of this right, at least without change on a more corporate level, but it's still possible to extend a bit of a helping hand to those affected. In this case, the project also comes with plenty of free games, so making a small donation is a win-win.
The new "Game industry hardship fund" bundle from itch.io bundles 127 PC games for $10, with proceeds going toward "a hardship fund for those experiencing layoffs." Hosted by Demonschool developer Necrosoft Games, the bundle will distribute its funds through United Videogame Workers, a union benefiting developers in North America. The bundle cites the "massive layoffs at Ubisoft, Microsoft, and many others," noting that unemployed or under-employed developers can use the money raised for things like "food, healthcare, and rent."
Considering the size of the bundle, there's...
