UPDATE: The German indie bundle has been taken down for the time being. There is no word as to whether or not it will return.

The latest indie bundle to hit the internet has brought along its fair share of controversy since we reported on it yesterday.

I’ve been digging through the comments, reaching out to developers, and trying to figure out exactly what is going on along with continued research by indiegames.com and a telling new interview over at the PC Gamer blog.

Since yesterday, Ludosity Interactive (Bob Came in Pieces) has pulled out of the deal entirely saying, “It has come to our attention that the man behind the site has had a troublesome background, which we at Ludosity didn’t know about. Ludosity is officially not supporting this site any more since all the trouble that it has caused, not just for us, but for you, the gamers that we love and create games for.” The charity Child’s Play has also asked to be removed from the deal’s page.

Michael Rose over at indiegames.com contacted the German Children’s Cancer Foundation who said, “We were rather astonished to see our logo on this website. We weren’t informed about that.”

Then, the interview at the PC Gamer Blog with Jochen Kolbe the organizer of the bundle says:

“Are you receiving a percentage of the money going to developers?

This are Agreements between me and Developers. I can[t] talk about this. Sorry. But i am not a Developer. I am Shop Owner, so its normal that i want earn Money. Server costs Money, Developer, too. They dont live from nothing. Me too.”

And then the comments on the indiegames.com posting sway back and forth from developers supporting the bundle, to stepping away from it, to trolling and all kinds of mudslinging in between.

The bottom line is this, it appears as though if you donate to the bundle, you will receive the games in one form or another. Be it from resending the link through the German site or from the kind hearted developers themselves. But the flipside is that the charities listed don’t appear to be officially involved, and from Jochen’s own words it appears as though the site is taking a cut out of any money pledged towards the developers.

To editorialize from my end, a sale that should come from a generous spot in one’s heart shouldn’t tread into such a gray area. My guess is that some of the money will get to the developers, some will get donated to charity, and some will go to Mr. Kolbe, but frankly the general public should not have to wonder or worry if that is the case.

The simplest route with the most clarity is to buy the games directly from the developers and make a donation to the charities directly anyway. Indie Bundles aren’t a freak occurrence, more will head our way and we here at DIYgamer will keep you posted.