Do we have victims of "keys no longer available" case from Humble Bundle here? (not stock)

I saw the thread as well and immediately started going through my backlog to check and backup things.

I've been a Humble Bundle customer since 2014 so it's deeply worrying to see that ToCs can be changed so suddenly without any notice.. Is it even legal to have this happen retroactively to purchases made way before the new ToCs came into being?

i.e. for those who haven't seen the thread, here is the link: https://www.reddit.com/r/humblebundles/comments/1ioau0t/humble_expiring_keys_instead_of_replenishing/

I'm really worried given there's been so many keys out of stock lately and really soon as well, and I've been waiting on quite a few keys (for example, the Humble Heroines: Action, Adventure, & Intrigue +Encore bundle which has 6/7 out of stock since literally the same month that it went on sale).

Curious about others who have been impacted by this sudden change and how widespread the impact is. It really makes me weary about making future purchases at Humble. In the past Humble has been fairly consistent with restocking and replenishing keys, and generally always been my go-to for bundles, so seeing this had really saddened me as a long term loyal customer of Humble Bundle.

What the hell :o Didn't see that, all of my key on the site were purchased way more than 3 years ago, it's pretty horrifying to think they can just disappear like that. First the ban for using link too much no that, they really want to kill the trade system... which is a bit nonsensical ??? I don't get it really

No idea but to add my point to this is it Legal for Humble to sell games they don't even have anymore stock for? I mean I was lucky to get the recent charity Fanatical bundle but at least they only sold what they had and not sell 100k bundles and have half the games missing

I mean Humble bundles have been been bad with bundles recently anyway - I mean mostly either nothing or re-bundles from old (which isn't always bad but doesn't fill us with hope on new deals with new partners or games) and look at how poor choices was for February

One thing I don't get is why these companies and maybe it is to do sometimes with law and other times the dev/publishers ask for region locks but choices for February is so ugly with them it would be hard to trade the games you don't want (which for me is all of them - so I don't even bother buying anymore)

What is weird is the games which have the time locks for when it must be used by? I mean one of them is My Little Universe (use by 3 March 2026) - I mean why it isn't like it was selling very well 5 times bundled already and has less than 1k official store reviews and been out over 1.5 years already - don't pretend anyone will buy it when the keys no longer work (chance are they'll just bundle it again anyway)

Oh wow seen a "Nested Lands Playtest" has been add that is totally value now Humble a playtest which you can just ask to be included anyway for the store page - and most likely will die because no one who buys bundles for $10 for about 8/9 games will send £££ on it after (which is their plan I bet)

I hope we see better from Humble soon but I don't think we will - bundle days will soon be in the past sadly

From the TOS, last updated December 2024:

In some cases due to various reasons, a key may not be available to replenish and in such cases, Humble Bundle may offer the same game on a different platform (“Alternate Keys”) if this is a possibility. In cases where Alternate Keys are not available to replenish, Humble Bundle is not obligated to provide them. Keys, including Alternate Keys, for all games, whether bought in a Bundle, Humble Choice subscription, or individually, must be redeemed within 3 years from the purchase date. Humble Bundle shall not be obligated to provide any keys, including Alternate Keys, to games that are unredeemed within aforementioned timeframe and thus become expired.

Totally and completely against EU laws. If you sell something that is not available, and you don't restock within three years, you can not say "Whoopsie, too bad, thank you for your money, have a nice day".
They are setting themselves up for a lawsuit.

To clarify: If you let a key sit unredeemed for over three years, you take part of the blame. This situation is not clear cut.
But if you buy a bundle, can't redeem a key because they are already out of stock, Humble doesn't provide a new key within three years and then says, they won't, because the key is expired, then yes, this is fraud and they will be sued under EU law.

So sad that companies are allowed to sell these items fraudulently. Well knowing that they do not have items they promise. They should be prosecuted for this.

I understand problems if publishers invalidate keys, and then it should be up to them to sue them in court get money back and return it to customers...

Its been some time since I see actions around Humble really shady. Selling bundles while games aren't available and they don't even care to refresh them, now even revoking them after time?
Some time ago I asked Humble about region restriction for a giveaway of Hogwarts legacy. It was bought in store near release, basicaly just with sale from using choice. Rude support worker started threat me with ban if I pay like 50€ for new release section of store to giveaway it...

It feels to me like that site is kinda scamming customers in name of charity.

What the hell are they thinking???

I reckon there will be so many lawsuits and complaints left and right that they will quickly backpedal. If not, we need to organize something and fight against this blatant disrespect and, essentially, fraud.

Hi

Yes. I experienced "ran out of keys" as well as the "exceed service time" when I went to activate my keys. The ones lying there are the games genres I don't play so would normally gift to someone else. Still, it is annoying to say the least. I am really considering just cancelling my Humble Choice which has been running from 2018. Bundles nowadays are total rubbish in my opinion with very little that piques my interest.

I have keys from way way way back, but basically none new. Mine are unrevealed, because that was how I tracked what I had used. So far, none of these (like the Turkiye-Syria earthquake bundle or older, Indie 19, etc) have been disappeared.

I'm copying them now though, to sprinkle giveaways in various places, just to not worry about it though. Definitely sours my thoughts of buying future bundles from them. Luckily the prices have been high for my interest in what the bundles contain. I had been tempted by a monthly choice here or there though, and the keys always running out without notice (like the way Fanatical notifies) definitely reduces my impulse buy desires.

I wonder if these newer keys were under a Terms of Service where it stated something like "we can change our TOS or ha ha no keys for you, if we want".

Not so humble anymore eh.

so this affects bundles from 2022 and back?

This may or may not be a coincidence, but a HB Steam key from 3 years ago, Black Book that I had revealed and stored locally turned out to be a dupe a few days ago.

The point is, humble have been warning customers for years.
Or, at least, customers on steamgifts have been warning people for years.
If people continue to ignore this then shame on them.
I’m not justifying their practices, just presenting the facts people should already be aware of.

I can take two things from this.
1)Stop stockpiling keys
2)Stop buying keys for games you don't intend to play or whatever in the near future
I guess they really fall under the same umbrella and seeing as I actually do practice what I preach I'm thoroughly unaffected. I rarely buy anything and when I do I use it within 24 hours. I've started doing the same around here, I only enter for things I know I will play. I sit at 400 or more points 99% of the time.
As for keys being exhausted quickly, that's frustrating to be sure but you are literally paying pennies on the dollar for these games AND a lot of that goes to charity. I think most people seem to forget it's actually about the charities not the games. The games were just added to entice people who would otherwise not donate because they don't get anything from it. So at the end of the day if you see a bundle you like then jump on it and use the keys immediately for the best results. And if you are more worried about the games than the charities then I suggest using various key sites instead. You will likely spend less money as people are, more than likely, buying thousands of bundles at the absolute minimum and reselling the keys to make a few cents. Seems silly but people do dumber stuff to make a buck, people still walk down the road with plastic bags collecting soda cans. Also you will get only the games you want. I've bought over a thousand keys and every single one worked. So pick your poison.
Donate to charity because you have extra cash and it's the moral thing to do. Don't donate to charity for personal gain, that's what politicians and other wealthy people do.

With Humble Bundle always reveal and activate or store ALL keys you buy, or risk losing them forever! A big part of their business model is to only purchase as many keys from developers/publishers as they think will be revealed, NOT how many will be bought! For restocks they allow a certain margin of error (users who tried to reveal but which there weren't enough keys for) before even considering buying more.

This is pretty awful. I've been doing Humble since they were a penny bundles. This is an unfortunate update.

I'm waiting for literal years for Humble to replenish keys for Robo Quest from November 2022 and Fogive me Father. Always getting message like that:
"Keys are temporarily exhausted for this product
As soon as we receive more keys, we will add them to this page and send you an email.".

I guess after seeing this thread i know they change their tune to "Whoopsie. There's no key for ya ever" soon. Meh. How it's legal to sell stuff ya dont have. It's kinda beyond me. Yes.

Still missing a few keys from last year's bundles, but from now on they can just do fuckall and then invalidate everything after 3 years pass :D

Finally time to store my keys in a text file. I like having unrevealed keys so I can be sure I am not gifting or trading used keys. Dealing with the occasional (though increasingly more common) "Keys are temporarily exhausted for this product" message was annoying, but having keys taken away like this is unacceptable.

Can we spell "groupees"?

My gotham knights and my loddenauts key are out of stock. This borders scam... And i remind people saying is just charity and all that theyre still a bussiness profitting from this and getting a % of the money (moreso since the change of owners).

So. I am just thinking. How can we be sure humble won't put in bundles games which they actually never plan restock keys for?
Lets say humble release a bundle for 30€ with Wukong, Cyberpunk 2077, Hogwarts or idk what are some top wanted games now along with common bundle filler. First 5 customers get a new game, rest "sorry, we will restock game later" error. Then just they will ignore it for three years.
Reminder now they have a set min and you can't lower humble share profit to 0.

https://www.altexsoft.com/blog/overbooking-airlines-bumping/

They are purposely overbooking or at least underbuying keys. They have calculated that a certain amount of people buy bundles and never request the key. So if 20% of people never request a key for bundles, they are gambling they can underbuy the keys by 20% and save money.
Or if they are key limited by the publisher, they will overbook the bundles with the same assumption that a certain percent of people will never request the key.

I will not be surprised if the next stage is: Oops, you redeemed this game way to late, now you can't have it. Game revoked.
Not having keys to supply anymore is one thing, but after having it revealed to be removed from your not-so-Humble account is next level douchebaggery (most likely illegal at least in Europe? ). They have the "3 year clause" for "Choice" but nowhere does it say that even if you redeemed it it will be removed from your account, after 3 years.

I am wondering whether games that have been activated after this "It has been over 3 years since purchase" mesage (had you saved it somewere), are in danger of being revoked at a later date.

I have activated MAFIA III Definitive Edition from the Humble Monthly April 2018 and it worked.