4 ms·

Any idea what's the reason? I haven't been following Humble, but a long time ago they were a champion of non-windows gaming. Sad to see them leaving the battlef

by yreg 5y ago

Any idea what's the reason? I haven't been following Humble, but a long time ago they were a champion of non-windows gaming. Sad to see them leaving the battlefield. Is it because they don't want to maintain a cross-platform launcher app?

xzjis 5y ago
Sounds like they don't want to maintain a cross-platform launcher app and they want to impose this launcher app and discontinue downloads from their website.
sdflhasjd 5y ago
I think because they had a bit of a niche with more non-windows users, but have since tried to go after more money (i.e mainstream) that their Mac and Linux users are just a tiny portion not worth supporting now
daniel-thompson 5y ago
Humble was bought by IGN in 2017. Some MBA guy there thinks they can net more by "streamlining" the service to just the dominant platform.
- irrational 5y ago
  I assume the numbers back up the idea. If the Mac/linux users are bringing in $100,000 a year, but it costs $200,000 a year to maintain the cross platform launcher, it makes sense on paper to dump them.
  - yreg 5y ago
    What is their current launcher's stack? I know we are hating on Electron on this forum, but I'd expect them to have a cross-platform node app that's relatively cheap to maintain. Rebuilding it as a native Windows app (especially by a team experienced in web frontends) sounds more expensive on first thought.
  - toyg 5y ago
    The error there is the launcher. Not supporting a power-user platform will cost them more, in the long run, than whatever they hope to gain from a ugly and unloved single-platform launcher. But seeing that through Excel is hard.
  - isleyaardvark 5y ago
    Ironically, IIRC Mac and Linux users donated much more on average. (Yes, I realize the math may still not work out.)
  - mostlysimilar 5y ago
    I think the above poster's point is that "some MBA guy" can make a decision that looks good based on numbers but is still a bad decision.
    - daniel-thompson 5y ago
      Right. Humble wasn't originally about maximizing profit, it was about getting games from creators to people without any bullshit, and giving money to charity.
    - irrational 5y ago
      Yes, exactly.
andruby 5y ago
See sibling comment about IGN buying out Humble. That seems like a clash of company cultures that could precipitate a change of core values.
ModernMech 5y ago
Someone got a hold of a spreadsheet. The numbers probably show that if they drop support for these platforms, the service will be more profitable. What they never account for is that these things are like a Jenga tower; you can’t take out one piece without toppling the whole thing. This happens every time a good thing is sold to money-focused people. Immediately their question is “how do we make this even more profitable?” and the answer is usually “cut all the features that attracted people to it in the first place.” Then they are left scratching their heads when it comes crashing down.
schnevets 5y ago
Total shot in the dark, but with the good press around Unpacking and Unsighted, I can see Humble shifting its attention towards game publishing over the marketplace. If they can release their own software faster by exclusively supporting Windows, they may no longer see value in their previous "cross-platform" commitments.

by yreg 5y ago

xzjis 5y ago

Sounds like they don't want to maintain a cross-platform launcher app and they want to impose this launcher app and discontinue downloads from their website.

sdflhasjd 5y ago

I think because they had a bit of a niche with more non-windows users, but have since tried to go after more money (i.e mainstream) that their Mac and Linux users are just a tiny portion not worth supporting now

daniel-thompson 5y ago

Humble was bought by IGN in 2017. Some MBA guy there thinks they can net more by "streamlining" the service to just the dominant platform.

irrational 5y ago
I assume the numbers back up the idea. If the Mac/linux users are bringing in $100,000 a year, but it costs $200,000 a year to maintain the cross platform launcher, it makes sense on paper to dump them.
- yreg 5y ago
  What is their current launcher's stack? I know we are hating on Electron on this forum, but I'd expect them to have a cross-platform node app that's relatively cheap to maintain. Rebuilding it as a native Windows app (especially by a team experienced in web frontends) sounds more expensive on first thought.
- toyg 5y ago
  The error there is the launcher. Not supporting a power-user platform will cost them more, in the long run, than whatever they hope to gain from a ugly and unloved single-platform launcher. But seeing that through Excel is hard.
- isleyaardvark 5y ago
  Ironically, IIRC Mac and Linux users donated much more on average. (Yes, I realize the math may still not work out.)
- mostlysimilar 5y ago
  I think the above poster's point is that "some MBA guy" can make a decision that looks good based on numbers but is still a bad decision.
  - daniel-thompson 5y ago
    Right. Humble wasn't originally about maximizing profit, it was about getting games from creators to people without any bullshit, and giving money to charity.
  - irrational 5y ago
    Yes, exactly.

andruby 5y ago

See sibling comment about IGN buying out Humble. That seems like a clash of company cultures that could precipitate a change of core values.

ModernMech 5y ago

Someone got a hold of a spreadsheet. The numbers probably show that if they drop support for these platforms, the service will be more profitable. What they never account for is that these things are like a Jenga tower; you can’t take out one piece without toppling the whole thing. This happens every time a good thing is sold to money-focused people. Immediately their question is “how do we make this even more profitable?” and the answer is usually “cut all the features that attracted people to it in the first place.” Then they are left scratching their heads when it comes crashing down.

schnevets 5y ago

Total shot in the dark, but with the good press around Unpacking and Unsighted, I can see Humble shifting its attention towards game publishing over the marketplace. If they can release their own software faster by exclusively supporting Windows, they may no longer see value in their previous "cross-platform" commitments.