EA’s Indie Bundle is Real and Here With Controversy

By on May 3, 2012

EA releasing an indie bundle called the EA Indie Bundle is something that not only confuses me, but it’s also confused many people out there, including those that call themselves indie or not.  In fact, Notch tweeted (yes, anything that guy says will pop up on some site) some harsh words about this EA bundle: “EA releases an ‘indie bundle’? That’s not how that works, EA. Stop attempting to ruin everything, you bunch of cynical bastards.” He continued to go on saying that he doesn’t feel that Mojang isn’t indie anymore and pointing out what groups or people were indie.  In the end though, Notch did state that he wasn’t questioning the games, just EA.

The whole question involving this bundle is obviously the “indie” part in the title.  EA by and far isn’t indie whatsoever, it’s one of the biggest publishers out there and was also voted as the worst company in America. By putting their name next to indie, this has given an impression that they are just using that to sell more by trying to be “hip” and “cool” as that’s what indie is seen as.  That sure reminds me of music when certain groups say they are still low key, indie, and all about the music.

Now, those individual games in the bundle, however, are indie or at least are debatable on if they are indie or not: the whole being published by someone else versus self publishing issue. In fact, at least one of those games (Shank) has been in a previous indie bundle without angry messages about it being “indie” or not.  So, as by some criteria, these games are considered indie, in a similar bundle without the EA logo and name, we wouldn’t be having such anger, right?

As the whole kerfuffle involves EA having indie anywhere near their name, this means, that if the title of this bundle was changed to “EA Partners Bundle” or something more soothing without indie, people would be alright with it.

I can scratch all of that though as it doesn’t bother me personally too much: they’re good games published via EA’s partner program and those games are considered by some to be indie so, in a way, they are EA’s indie games.  It may not be soothing to the pallet, but it is what it is.

What makes my head hurt is that EA’s EA Indie Bundle is only available on Steam.  Why does this make my head hurt?  EA has its own digital distribution service called Origin, yet it’s not on it.  Could this mean EA Indie had a falling out with EA?  I mean, why else would EA do this on a platform they’ve had a falling out with?

However confusing this whole issue is, the bundle is actually a good deal.  You get Warp, Shank, Shank 2, Gatling Gears, DeathSpank, and DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue all for the low, low price of $20.98.  Quite a deal considering that, at full price, all of those games would come to a grand total of $70.  Best you hurry too, as this bundle ends on May 9th on Steam.

About David Scarpitta

I am a critical guy, and love to review and give my professional opinion on just about anything. Though have a love for tech/gaming and music alongside the cinema. You can catch me consulting and developing the net any day of the week.