Following the Supreme Court's controversial decision to overturn Roe v Wade, many video game companies could not be silent. Some, such as the Destiny 2 developer Bungie, sought to criticize the decision on social media, alongside plenty of other developers and publishers. Bethesda Game Studios, Sony Santa Monica, Insomniac Games, Xbox, and more expressed their unhappiness with the decision. Even outside the US, some companies like Guerrilla Games and Ubisoft have made statements in favor of reproductive rights.
Now, indie games platform Itch.io is looking to support abortion rights with a huge bundle of games. Announced on July 4, the Itch.io "Indie Bundle for Abortion Funds" includes over 750 works, including games, books, comics, and soundtracks. The bundle is priced with a minimum donation of $10, containing over $3000 of value. This isn't the first time Itch.io has created a bundle to support a cause. In 2020, it offered over 700 indie games to support racial equality and justice.
More recently, Itch.io created an indie game bundle to raise money for Ukraine following the Russian invasion. In just ten days, the indie games platform raised more than $6 million for charity, and after just one day of its new bundle for abortion funds, Itch.io has seen some similarly impressive figures. While it hasn't topped the $6 million figure by any means, $60,000 had been raised to grant people easier access to abortions in less than 24 hours.
The total amount of dollars raised is counting as the bundle continues. At the time of writing, Itch.io's total amount of money raised sits at over $130,000. With a goal of $200,000 and eight days left on the bundle, it seems that Itch.io is likely to reach its target. Itch.io has often been outspoken in its views. When an Apple lawyer commented that Itch.io was littered with "unspeakable games," the indie games platform renamed its "sensitive content" section to "unspeakable games."
It seems that the outspoken nature of Itch.io has led to the indie platform growing in popularity, and this is especially clear to see where its bundles are concerned. Apart from the $6 million raised for Ukraine, Itch.io's bundle in support of racial justice and equality raised a total of around $7 million. With a huge amount of indie games available to download from Itch.io as well, it is likely that the platform will see continued success outside these massive bundles.