Demonschool developer Necrosoft Games is hosting an itch.io bundle directing funds to the Communication Workers of America's United Videogame Workers Game Industry Hardship Fund. The bundle pulls together more than 100 games for $10. It kicked off on Thursday and will run for two weeks.
"The game industry has a problem," representatives of the fund wrote on its itch.io page. "Too many people are out of work. Reports say 33% of the industry lost their jobs in the last two years, and the jobs they could fill are disappearing as CEOs try to replace them with AI. It's hard for companies to adjust to the new shape of the game industry, but even harder for the people they should be employing."
Any game developer experiencing hardship, in North America or Canada, can apply for assistance from the fund. There are two applications—one for people requesting under $1,000, and one for people requesting between $1,000 to $5,000. United Videogame Workers said it distributed "upwards of" $25,000 to 30 different applicants.
"Many game workers and fund applicants we have spoken to have lost housing, are on food assistance, or have put off necessary medical treatment as a result of these callous layoffs," the union wrote on BlueSky account. "Your purchase of this bundle helps us help more devs in this time of need. We have to look out for each other."
The hardship fund was officially announced earlier in July, funded originally by union membership dues. All of the funds raised from the bundle—save platform fees—will be distributed to game developers struggling financially.
There are lots of interesting, great games in the bundle, among them Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure, A Short Hike, Lofty Quest, and Wheels of Aurelia. The games span genres and art styles. At the time of writing, the fund has brought in more than $6,000.
The video game industry is in a layoff crisis. Independent layoff trackers have estimated that more than 9,000 people have been laid off in 2026. That brings the total number of layoffs from 2022 to more than 50,000, per ASGC Games Industry Layoffs Tracker's data. This month alone, Double Fine Productions, ZA/UM, Microsoft, Skybound Entertainment, Scopely, and Midgar, among many others, have laid off staff. Microsoft is expected to cut another 1,600 workers.
