Humble Bundle has announced changes are coming in February for Humble Choice, so let’s go over what they’re going to be doing.
First up, they’re moving back towards how it started with Humble Monthly. There’s only going to be one single tier at $11.99 / £8.99 / €9.99 - with regional pricing and more regions supported, except if you’re on the Classic plan you continue to be billed in USD. The amount of games will fluctuate, and hopefully mean they will be better and you will get access to all of them.
Humble said: “Our focus is to bring you maximum bang for your buck through an expertly curated mix of awesome games. The exact number of games might vary each month, but no matter what our scouts choose, our mission is to always bring you a ton of value that’s well worth the price of admission. And as always, you can skip a month whenever you want or cancel anytime.”
Next up, they’ve decided you need another launcher with the Humble app, which will only be supported on Windows. This will be required for the new, additional, Humble Games Collection. This will contain a “growing” list of curated games. On top of that the Humble Trove is being renamed to the Humble Vault, which they say will remain “DRM-free” but it will also require the Humble app.
If you pause (now called Skip) or cancel, you lose access to the Humble Games Collection and the Vault.
Humble Store discounts are also changing. It’s no longer a set 10% or 20%. Instead, it’s based on how long you keep going.
- 1-2 months: 10%
- 3-5 months: 15%
- 6-11 months: 17%
- 12+ months: 20%
It’s clearly Humble Bundle grasping at straws to try and make their business work, as clearly a lot of people were pausing (skipping) months. Reducing the store discount, and taking away parts of it if you do that, they’re of course hoping more people keep it up.
Having more in an app does make some sense, even if I groan at yet another app, as it will remind people more often about what they offer. For Linux users though, having it as Windows-only will likely mean no more Linux builds for the Trove / Vault for example, so a step backwards there, but we’re still a small market they don’t exactly need to care much about.
Once the app is out, we’ll take a look and see if it can be made to run with Wine or set as a launcher in Steam to run with Proton.
The changes come into effect on February 1. Humble have said these changes do not affect the rest of the store or bundles they will do.
What do you think about the changes?
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Vasya Sovari Jan 12, 2022
Going back to a 'One price for everything' model is fine as the tiered version felt deeply cynical, but no way in Heaven or Hell am I installing yet another launcher.
I may still buy individual games or DLCs on deep sale, and some of the book bundles are still decent, but monthly games have been DOA for a very long time and this just seals it
Last edited by Vasya Sovari on 12 January 2022 at 1:34 pm UTC
thoughtfulhippo Jan 12, 2022
Quoting: pleasereadthemanualFrom the sounds of it, the only way to get games from the Humble Games Collection is through the launcher, and no statement has been made on whether they will be DRM-Free
Quoting: nullzeroHumble Games Collection (presumely non drm-free)
Games in the Humble Games Collection will not be DRM-free. The point of requiring the launcher is so that they can revoke access if you skip/cancel your plan.
From the announcement:
QuoteNote that you’ll lose access to these games if you skip a month or cancel your membership
pleasereadthemanual Jan 12, 2022
Quoting: thoughtfulhippoWhile this may be likely to be true (and I speculate it is), this is how Humble Trove works now. Once you pause your Humble Monthly membership, you don't get access to the Humble Trove to download the games anymore.Quoting: pleasereadthemanualFrom the sounds of it, the only way to get games from the Humble Games Collection is through the launcher, and no statement has been made on whether they will be DRM-FreeQuoting: nullzeroHumble Games Collection (presumely non drm-free)
Games in the Humble Games Collection will not be DRM-free. The point of requiring the launcher is so that they can revoke access if you skip/cancel your plan.
From the announcement:
QuoteNote that you’ll lose access to these games if you skip a month or cancel your membership
thoughtfulhippo Jan 12, 2022
Quoting: pleasereadthemanualOnce you pause your Humble Monthly membership, you don't get access to the Humble Trove to download the games anymore.
True, but if you've already downloaded them you can still play them. With the Collection this will not be possible.
As a personal policy I have cooldown periods for all family subscriptions. Including Netlix, Tidal and such. I'm the nightmare of the publishers I guess. I made an exception for gol though. :P
Last edited by Mal on 12 January 2022 at 3:42 pm UTC
But those that are looking for other legit bundle sites, I recommend taking a look at Fanatical and Indiegala. My thoughts on these sites:
| Humble | Fanatical | IndieGala
======================+============+=============+==========
Indies assortment | GREAT | GOOD | GOOD
AA/AAA assortment | GREAT | GREAT | OKAY
Store Prices | GOOD* | GOOD** | GOOD
Bundle Games Quality | GOOD | GOOD | MEH
Bundle Prices | GOOD | GOOD**** | GREAT
Windows Client | YES | NO PLANS | YES
Mac Client | NO | NO PLANS | SOON
Linux Client | NO | NO PLANS | SOON
Key Trading Platform | NO | NO | YES
Key Giveaway Platform | NO | NO | YES
Key Gifting Allowed | LIMITED*** | YES | YES
Surprise Mechanics | NO | YES | NO
Special Discounts | FOR SUBS | REPEAT BUYS | NO
=============================================================
* Store prices are good, but only if you have the subscribers discount
** Overall good prices, coupons for next purchase are given with larger purchases
*** Humble can ban accounts that gift keys (tip: claim the keys, do not send gift links)
**** Really depends on the individual bundle, Summary:
Fanatical is very similar to Humble when it comes to the assortment of games they have on offer. The standard Fanatical prices are often without coupons better than what Humble has on offer. Also they do not have "unwritten" rules about what you can do with the keys. Fanatical bundles are usually good but slightly less affordable than Humble, however desirable games often show up in Fanatical bundles before they get to Humble.
IndieGala bundles are typically cheap indie "shovelware" games. A lot of anime/hentai games appear to be popular there. But they do occasionally have some bundles with legit good point and click adventure games and such. The store itself has a worse assortment of games than Humble and Fanatical, but they do have some random sales on AA/AAA games that are really good. From a platform/technical perspective IndieGala I like the most, they have a bunch of features and have also announced to be working on a Linux client.,
Quoting: ixnariHm, yes, I see. Windows only again. The GOG approach, as it were. Because if we learned anything, it's that the best way to attract new customers is to piss off your existing ones.
That's basic marketing indeed !
Quoting: nullzeroQuoting: 3zekielHmm one thing that confuses me, they say you will still be billed in dollar if you are on humble classic... But if there is only one tier, then what is the point of classic ? And why still in dollar ?~
Honestly, in the last year, the only times I did not skip was because I forgot to. I kept my subscription for classic "Just in case", and because I thought I might grab the discount one month if there was a decent game I did not already have. And it never happened.
So, I guess I can just cancel now.
acording to the FAQ, the classics will still have the 20% discount.
The new account will start with 10% and increasing per subsequent renewal...
Ummm I thought this was for everyone who already had an account (not everyone who currently pays is classic). Might have misunderstood.
Well anyway, I did cancel. I don't really see things going in the right direction. I guess the advantage of no more classic plan is that I can resub if I ever see a streak of decent games.
QuoteWe want to give you a heads up that starting February 1, Mac and Linux versions of the DRM-free games currently in the Humble Trove will no longer be available.
As a Humble Choice member, you can still download them to keep for your personal collection until January 31. Windows PC versions of many of these games will still be available to download in the upcoming Humble app, alongside the brand-new Humble Games Collection.
brokeassben Jan 12, 2022
Quoting: TuxeeJust got this mailYeah, just got that as well. I was supposed to have three months of Humble Choice for $6, but the cost had shot up to $19.99 so I promptly cancelled and I think that's it for me. Humble Bundle was so great 10 years back. Sooo disappointing to see its slow descent into mediocrity.
QuoteWe want to give you a heads up that starting February 1, Mac and Linux versions of the DRM-free games currently in the Humble Trove will no longer be available.
As a Humble Choice member, you can still download them to keep for your personal collection until January 31. Windows PC versions of many of these games will still be available to download in the upcoming Humble app, alongside the brand-new Humble Games Collection.
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