Humble Bundle has just announced the Humble Partners program that will allow streamers to promote bundles by offering some streamers the chance to receive some revenue.
The program is currently in beta, and will allow certain streamers to promote a special link that will cause them to be embedded into a Humble Bundle. And in normal Humble Bundle fashion, users will be able to choose what amount of their proceeds will go to which cause.
“We are running this program for a limited time with just a few partners to iron out all of the kinks” said Humble Bundle in a press release. “If everything goes well, we hope to roll this out on a larger scale soon.”
Because streamers will be hawking someone else’s product, transparency will be key. “Nothing is hidden. If you are supporting a partner, you’ll see it plainly at the top of the bundle page, and the URL includes the partner’s name.”
“It’s exciting to see Humble Bundles expand their reach and concepts beyond just games and prizes” said Mychal “Trihex” Jefferson, a popular Twitch streamer and Yoshi’s Island speedrunner. “I think if they kept bundled as ‘product-oriented’ luring, it furthers the strength of bundles,” he added, but “subscriptions (especially to those who wouldn’t consider it otherwise) are way more enticing, to me.”
For Humble Bundle, this sounds like a win-win. “Of course the best thing about Humble partners is that it supports the same great games and charities you’ve grown to love … and now, optionally, your favorite YouTube, Twitch, or online personality.”
While it may make sense for struggling online personalities or those with focused audiences to promote Humble partners, people might be more upset if major, multi-millionaire streamers like PewDiePie started promoting bundles.
It will be interesting to see how the gaming community reacts. Applications are now open to become a Humble Partner.
