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[winjer]

https://gg.deals/gaming-news/humble-bundle-is-swapping-your-unredeemed-steam-keys-for-epic-versions-without-any-notice/

The issue has been growing for months, and the latest Reddit thread brought a fresh wave of outrage with more than two thousand upvotes and hundreds of comments in a single day. Users reported that titles from both old Humble Bundles and Humble Choice months had their unredeemed Steam keys replaced with Epic versions. What makes the situation particularly frustrating is that Humble provides no notification that a Steam key might expire, run out or later be substituted for a different launcher.

Steam versions are generally preferred by PC gamers and often hold higher long-term value. Epic activations are not considered an equal replacement and do not reflect what the user originally purchased. Yet Humble performs these swaps silently. Even worse, some games that still appear as part of your Humble library no longer offer any Steam key at all because the available key pool has been exhausted.

This is not just an isolated customer complaint. A GitHub project created by user AlexanderTheGrey, called Humble Bundle Key Redemption Issues Tracker, already lists six confirmed cases of Steam keys being replaced with Epic activations. Over one hundred additional games from Humble Choice bundles now display exhausted Steam keys, leaving buyers unable to redeem what they paid for.

What users should do to avoid losing their keys

The most important step is simple. If you have any unredeemed keys in your Humble Bundle library, redeem them immediately or copy them to a secure local file. This applies to all past bundles and every Humble Choice month. Waiting risks losing access to the Steam versions entirely or receiving an unwanted Epic activation instead.

Going forward, GG.deals strongly encourages users to redeem all Humble keys as soon as they purchase a bundle. At this point, immediate redemption is the only reliable way to ensure you receive the Steam version you paid for.

A really scummy move by IGN to cheat users of Humble Bundle like this.

 

[Ceallach]

It's really shitty but I also don't get why you wouldn't redeem it immediately

 

[ReBurn]

I always redeem my keys right away and give the ones I don't want to someone else. I don't understand buying them and not redeeming them. No way I'm using Humble Bundle as a key vault.

 

[SScorpio]

It's really shitty but I also don't get why you wouldn't redeem it immediately

Then you have to track it manually. It's a checkbox in your library that will filter down to anything not redeemed.

Mainly it's just getting a duplicate from a bundle, and nobody wants it right away.

 

[Tobimacoss]

Do Epic keys cost them less to buy in bulk?

 

[Sentenza]

I'll break their legs.

 

[Sentenza]

I always redeem my keys right away and give the ones I don't want to someone else. I don't understand buying them and not redeeming them. No way I'm using Humble Bundle as a key vault.

Aside for a bunch of keys for games that simply didn't interest me in the slightest (and looked bad enough that I didn't want them in my library, not even as filler) I had a ton of keys that were simply doubles of games I already owned, so I kept there waiting for someone to gift them to.

 

[Holammer]

How weird, wonder if Epic is pushing Humble to offer EGS Keys instead, so they don't scoop up the good stuff and give it away for free.

 

[Punished Miku]

Brilliant move by Epic. Now people can't claim they will never buy off the Epic Store. In reality they already have

 

[StereoVsn]

Aside for a bunch of keys for games that simply didn't interest me in the slightest (and looked bad enough that I didn't want them in my library, not even as filler) I had a ton of keys that were simply doubles of games I already owned, so I kept there waiting for someone to gift them to.

Yeah, I do the same. I suppose I have to now go through the key list which is a giant pain in the rear.

 

[CrimsonTide]

That is GROSS

Def gonna have to check and make sure everything is redeemed from years and years ago, I think they are.

Some interested me 0 and intentionally did not redeem and still wont

 

[BennyBlanco]

This sounds illegal. Pay for one product, receive another arbitrarily.

 

[Skifi28]

Brilliant move by Epic. Now people can't claim they will never buy off the Epic Store. In reality they already have

Schrodinger's key, you don't know which store it's for until you try and activate it.

 

[Alexios]

It does sound illegal. Hope it kills their sales moving forward if they favor Epic keys. Maybe a new deal in place and we can expect a streak of Steam sucks articles from IGN and subsidiaries just like PC Gamer's before they switched back (presumably when the money flow for the bullshit stopped).

Saw someone quote some terms about being unable to replenish keys and shit on occasion so they have to offer them for a different platform but that makes zero sense, they should have or acquire a key when you buy it whether you redeem it right away or not, what even is that shitty excuse?

 

[BeardSpike]

It does sound illegal. Hope it kills their sales moving forward if they favor Epic keys. Maybe a new deal in place and we can expect a streak of Steam sucks articles from IGN and subsidiaries just like PC Gamer's before they switched back (presumably when the money flow for the bullshit stopped).

Saw someone quote some terms about being unable to replenish keys and shit on occasion so they have to offer them for a different platform but that makes zero sense, they should have or acquire a key when you buy it whether you redeem it right away or not, what even is that shitty excuse?

I once ordered Persona 3 Reload key from them, I think I waited like a month for them to replenish the keys.

Said never again.

I'm mostly buying through Fanatical, GamersGate, Gamesplanet and never had a problem there. Depends which is cheaper on gg.deals

And even if humble is a bit cheaper, I stay away it's not worth trouble at all, it's small differences mostly within $1 range.

 

[jshackles]

Went through my list of unredeemed keys, 8 pages worth lol

Found 8 Steam keys for games I didn't have on Steam that I hadn't redeemed for some reason. Cool.
Found 2 keys that were previously Steam keys that are now Epic keys. Gross.
Have tons of 3DS games unredeemed, wonder if they still work.

I should set up a big giveaway free for all on GAF for the rest of them.

 

[Alexios]

I just saw in those terms the say they're not even obligated to provide key alternatives on the occasion they deem them unavailable for any platform, what the hell? Send/store the key when I buy the game, whether I redeem it or not the key should be available at any time and if say the whole dd platform I bought it for has gone down fine, maybe that's not your problem and you don't even have to offer an alternative other than to show good will and customer support since I acknowledged the platform(s) I bought it for but to try and acquire the key some arbitrary later date sounds like bs.

 

[Hawk The Slayer]

Unhumble Bundle

 

[seb85]

Why would someone buy a game key and not redeem it immediately?!

 

[mèx]

Thanks for the heads up. I still have quite a few keys unredeemed, I found around 30. I'm going to post them here or in that other thread, it's mostly old stuff though.

Luckily all keys seem to be Steam keys in my case, even of purchases from more than a decade ago. They could not provide keys anymore for a couple of games, they don't have them in stock anymore.

Why would someone buy a game key and not redeem it immediately?!

If you have a duplicated game, it's easy to keep track of it if you don't redeem it.

 

[Alexios]

Why would someone buy a game key and not redeem it immediately?!

Buy when something you already bought is on sale and give it away as a gift/contest/whatever whenever an occasion comes up. I guess you can redeem it and keep the key somewhere other than your humble account? But there was no reason to believe this was a necessary precaution previously.

 

[ReyBrujo]

Aside for a bunch of keys for games that simply didn't interest me in the slightest (and looked bad enough that I didn't want them in my library, not even as filler) I had a ton of keys that were simply doubles of games I already owned, so I kept there waiting for someone to gift them to.

Time to throw them all into the Official GAF giveaway thread!

 

[jshackles]

Another thing that's mega shitty about this move is that Epic keys on Humble can only be redeemed to your connected account. They aren't "keys" exactly, if you go to redeem them they just have a link to redeem that automatically does it in the backend.

This means you cannot gift these keys to someone else.

 

[SScorpio]

I once ordered Persona 3 Reload key from them, I think I waited like a month for them to replenish the keys.

Said never again.

I'm mostly buying through Fanatical, GamersGate, Gamesplanet and never had a problem there. Depends which is cheaper on gg.deals

And even if humble is a bit cheaper, I stay away it's not worth trouble at all, it's small differences mostly within $1 range.

Be sure to also use GreenManGaming. Once you unlock VIP which is a one time unlock that never goes away, you get an extra discount. The only time Humble touches their prices are if you have the 20% off Choice discount that you need to keep an active Choice account to get.

 

[mèx]

Here are my spare keys. It's mostly old stuff, get them if you like something.

 

[LarsQMorient]

Some people in the Reddit thread say it's in the TOS.

 

[jshackles]

Here are my spare keys if anyone wants one

 

[Knightime_X]

Why would you NOT redeem immediately anyway?
For all we know, Keys could have been from stole money via malware and resold on Loaded or some other site more considered as suspicious.
Possible, this is one method to help combat against that.

I also get it that some would like to use keys as rewards and give them out.

 

[simpatico]

Any company with a preponderance of knuckle hair and nail polish in close proximity is going to half to operate in ethically grey areas to keep the lights on. It's part of the product.

 

[BeardSpike]

Be sure to also use GreenManGaming. Once you unlock VIP which is a one time unlock that never goes away, you get an extra discount. The only time Humble touches their prices are if you have the 20% off Choice discount that you need to keep an active Choice account to get.

I use that one also. Forgot about it.

Basically I use all the official shops on gg.deals except Humble.

And I have cancelled Choice sub a long time ago after some sheningans.

 

[kiphalfton]

If you have any unredeemed keys in your Humble Bundle library, redeem them immediately or copy them to a secure local file.

Started doing this a couple years back, when customer support were acting like knobs.

Humble just keeps getting worse and worse. At this point they may as well just stop doing their humble choice bundles, as they suck 95% of the time.

 

[Generic]

The game is the same in both platforms.

 

[MrCunningham]

Why would someone buy a game key and not redeem it immediately?!

Some people end up having doubles of games when purchasing various bundles? I know I have some uredeemed keys because I bought various bundled where I already had one or two games in my Steam library. Some people tend to re-sell them.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Too many things up for chance with pc gaming, again that's the issue with personal computer gaming and they think it's an advantage, too many platforms IMO.

 

[jshackles]

The game is the same in both platforms.

Not always true. Some games are published on Epic Games Store and don't get updates as often (or ever) from developers, where they're generally kept up to date on Steam primarily. Lots of games have big version discrepancies between the two platforms, always in favor of the Steam versions being more up to date.

 

[SScorpio]

The game is the same in both platforms.

Depending on the game you can also miss out on features like Steam Workshop, Remote Play Together, and having it work via Family Share (Epic has no Family settings).

Steam isn't just a store, it's a huge platform with many value added features that no one else offers which is why people prefer using it.

 

[StereoVsn]

Depending on the game you can also miss out on features like Steam Workshop, Remote Play Together, and having it work via Family Share (Epic has no Family settings).

Steam isn't just a store, it's a huge platform with many value added features that no one else offers which is why people prefer using it.

Or if you want to play on Steam Deck / Lenovo or another Linux device, Steam is easier.

And of course as pointed out above, you seemingly don't even get Epic "keys" but rather can redeem to connected account.

 

[LQX]

Humble has been doing some horrible shit the last few years. Selling shit that cant be redeemed, and offer no replacement, putting expirations on keys bought years ago and completely wiping order pages. I'm surprised they have not been sued yet. I have lost so many keys I paid for.

 

[poodaddy]

The game is the same in both platforms.

 

[Pejo]

What's the fastest way to redeem all of your keys? This pisses me right off, as a subscriber of Humble Bundle since near the beginning of it. I nearly raged out when Shenmue 3 pulled similar shit, ain't no way I'm being forced to Epic after the sale.

Looks like the quickest way is "Keys & Entitlements" and then select "Hide redeemed keys" checkbox. Is that how you guys are doing it?