How does Humble Bundle make money? Humble Bundle Business model

how does humble bundle make money

Introduction

The Humble Bundle is an online marketplace that sells digital products in bundles and through its shop, principally games. Contributions, subscription fees, payments from its Humble Store, and fees from its publishing business are all ways Humble Bundle makes money. 

Humble Bundle, which was founded in 2010, has been a big hit in the game business. Too far, it has raised nearly $196 million in charitable gifts. The Humble Store can provide you with access to a wide range of games at extremely low prices. The most impressive part is that they earn all of its games professionally, allowing everyone to play them under their name on Steam.

Customers can choose a price from a list of possibilities when purchasing gaming bundles. Each Bundle has a minimum price, which indicates that going lower will result in a loss or a breakeven sale for the business. If the customer chooses a price that is less than the Bundle’s minimal cost, they will miss out on a handful of the Bundle’s perks.

What Methods Does Humble Bundle Use to Get Games? 

The Humble Store can resell used physical games, which are essentially worthless to gaming publishers. While the games have inherent value, they have already been acquired by a customer. Humble Bundle may be able to market these rights at considerably lower prices if popular game makers agree.

The Humble Store contacts game creators and publishers who already have games available on Steam along with popular titles. While Steam has over 9,000 games, not all of them are well-known.

As a result, Humble Bundle signs deal with less well-known game studios. This deal comes with two advantages:

  • Companies that aren’t yet well-known gain exposure among niche gaming audiences. People who buy bundles get these games for free, making them more likely to test them out.
  • The game creators begin generating cash on games that did not catch up since they are packed with popular games, regardless of how tiny the amount is.

What is Humble Bundle’s Business Model? 

Donations or Contributions

  • The donations that buyers make during the checkout process account for the majority of Humble Bundle’s revenue.
  • Customers, as previously said, can choose how much they wish to spend on each Bundle. They may also choose how much of their money goes to charity, game developers, and Humble Bundle itself when they make that purchase.
  • Humble Bundle reveals how much the typical customer has spent to tempt consumers to spend more.
  • It also makes the largest donations (if they wish to) public via its top contributor list. Some businesses have even utilized it to effectively purchase their way into a paid promotion by paying enough to be included on the list.

Subscriptions

  • Humble Bundle launched Humble Monthly, a membership service, in October 2015. Customers would get access to a selection of games for a monthly charge.
  • Humble Monthly had over 400,000 subscribers by April 2019, approximately four years after its start.
  • Humble Bundle changed the name of the subscription program to Humble Choice later that year, in December.
  • Users of Humble Choice continue to pay a flat monthly price of $12. The deal gives customers access to many perks, including store discounts, Trove (Humble’s collection of its games and other classics), and a selection of 12 titles.
  • Despite this, Humble Bundle provides 5% of all subscriptions to a highlighted charity (which changes every month).

Humble Mercantile

  • Customers can buy single games and other digital products through the Humble Store, an internet store.
  • Many of the available titles are drastically discounted (sometimes up to 80 percent). Newly published titles, on the other hand, are available for purchase.
  • The developer receives 75% of the money earned by the store. The remainder is split between Humble Bundle (15%) and a charity (10 percent).

Humble Video Games 

  • Developers can collaborate with Humble Bundle (via its Humble Games division) to publish and promote their games on the site.
  • Humble Bundle gives upfront funding, a dedicated producer and marketing team, and access to over 12 million users to developers.
  • Furthermore, developers retain complete ownership and intellectual property while maintaining complete creative control.
  • Because each collaboration is based on a contract, the agreement structures aren’t available to the public. It’s reasonable to believe that Humble Bundle earns a share of all sales.
  • The future royalty payments are expected to be distributed to the company if Humble Bundle successfully acquires an interest in that business or game.

Revenue, Funding, and Valuation 

According to Crunchbase, Humble Bundle has raised $4.5 million in venture capital fundraising in only one round.

SV Angel, Y Combinator, and Sequoia Capital were among the investors who took part in that investment round, which took place in April 2011.

The firm’s valuation and revenue have never been made public, either before or after the acquisition.

Conclusion 

Uniquely, the Humble Store has monetized an active group of consumers and enthusiasts. So when research began skeptically on Humble Bundle, it was discovered that the company is not pirating games in any way. Instead, they can simply make use of their massive audience, their novel notion of reselling used license keys, and partnerships to offer games at ridiculously low prices.

Frequently Asked Questions 

  1. Is it true that Humble Bundle donates money to charity?

Yes, Humble Bundle donates a portion of the proceeds to charity. The cause determines the charity to which the funds are donated that the consumer decides to support.

  1. Is Humble Bundle a genuine company or a con?

Humble Bundle is a legitimate firm that obtains all of its games through legal means, such as negotiating contracts with game developers. So while their prices may rise skepticism, purchasing from this company is completely risk-free.

  1. How does Humble Bundle manage to sell games for such a low price?

They deal with game companies to resale the licenses of used physical games. They obtain access to the license at a considerably reduced price because it has already been sold.

  1. What is Humble Bundle’s percentage intake?

By default, 60 percent of payments will go to the developers, ten percent to charities, fifteen percent to the Humble Tip, and fifteen percent to the Humble Partner (percentages may vary between bundles). But, of course, customers can alter those percentages anyway they want with the payment sliders, just like they can with any other bundle.

How does Humble Bundle make money? Humble Bundle Business model

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