The Queer Games Bundle is back for our third year of supporting Queer Artists on Itch.io

When:

The bundle is open to entries from March 3rd to April 23rd.

The bundle will launch on June 1st and run until July 3rd.

How to join:

Entries are now closed.

https://itch.io/jam/qgb23/topic/2793622/queer-games-bundle-2023-entries-are-now-...

Sometime between April 23rd and April 24th we will send out an email with instructions on the final steps to join the bundle.

Submit your project to the jam. (Optional.) 

All projects must be submitted through the Google Form above for bundle consideration, but adding your project(s) to the itch.io jam helps increase visibility and let more creators know about the bundle.

Who can join?:

Anyone who identifies as Queer in some way and is over 18.

We are trying to be inclusive but you can submit anything as long as it is something people can enjoy, this could be a game, music, zines, music, books, or anything else such as a tool or art assets. 

You must have the legal rights to distribute your project in order to submit it to the bundle. To put it simply, don’t do anything that violates copyright laws.

What we do?

We have one goal: support queer artists by selling a bundle during pride month. All funds will be distributed equally between participants.

Here are our financial results:

Year 1: 

Participants: 195

Funds raised: 145,407.80 USD

Funds distributed per itch account (excluding participants who opted out of receiving funds): About 750 USD

Year 2:

Participants: 413 

Funds raised: 216,395.24 USD

Funds distributed per itch account (excluding participants who opted out of receiving funds): About 600 USD

How are funds distributed?

Funds are distributed equally between all participants who opt-in to receiving funding from the bundle. 

If you have any questions please email us at queergamesbundle@gmail.com or make a post on the game jam community page.

FAQ 

Can I submit adult content to the bundle?

Yes.

Why did you add verification this year?

As the bundle has grown each year, so has the number of bad actors. In order to protect legitimate participants, we are increasing our moderation process.

Last year, several bad actors took advantage of how open the bundle was. Detecting their behavior was time consuming and is not sustainable for our small team.

In order to make fraudulent behavior more difficult, we are now requiring additional verification for submissions.

We do not need and will never ask for any legal identity documents.

I would like to participate in the bundle and not receive funds.

You can opt out of receiving funds on the google form.

I have a project on itch.io from several years ago. Can I still enter it?

While we accept older games into the bundle, please consider opting out of receiving funds so artists who are actively making new works can receive more support.

The bundle is meant to help support as many ACTIVE queer game developers as possible. It is for the good of the bundle for submissions to continue to be fresh.

This is important! Please use good judgment.

“I have a large team, why should we get the same amount of funding as a solo developer?”

Funds are distributed per itch.io account, due to both itch.io's bundle infrastructure and out of fairness to participants of smaller teams.

In the past, we have had large queer companies join the bundle. If we distributed funds on a basis of pure employee numbers it would disproportionately benefit the largest groups.

It is your responsibility as the manager of a large group to ensure that funds are equally distributed within your organization. The bundle is run by a small team and we cannot and should not be expected to do the duties of a human resources department.

I am an artist with multiple itch.io accounts. Can I enter multiple games under more than one account?

Please only opt into receiving funds from one itch.io account. Due to itch.io's bundle infrastructure, funds will be evenly distributed between every account participating in the bundle. As with large groups, it would be unfair to give a larger portion of funds to participants with multiple accounts.

WE WILL BAN ANYONE WE FIND DOUBLE DIPPING ACCOUNTS.

If you have multiple accounts email us at queergamesbundle@gmail.com before submitting.

I am an artist under the age of 18. Can I participate?

The Queer Games Bundle 2023 will contain projects with adult themes. Unfortunately, all participants must be over the age of 18 this year.

I have made a game on itch.io with appropriated assets from published video games (for example, Nintendo sprites). Is it okay to enter?

If your game borrows copyrighted assets (sprites, art, characters, music), please enter another project into the bundle. We still want you to participate! But we also must protect the bundle from any possible legal issues.

I’m not a queer person but I would like to support the Queer Games Bundle.

Please share the game jam with any queer devs or artists you think might be interested in it! Buy and share the bundle when it is live on itch.io in June! This is a completely grassroots and word-of-mouth project - we appreciate your support!