PSA: Publishers Removing Unused Keys from Steam after 12 Months

ozbs25 on 14/11/2023 - 00:42
Last edited 14/11/2023 - 09:40

After some posts about HumbleBundle adding expiry dates to keys after the fact it looks like it's not just restricted to Humble. Fanatical made a timely update to their help page a few days ago:

The game keys you purchase from fanatical.com should be redeemed within 12 months but the warranty for the keys is 30 days. Technically speaking as long as the publisher doesn't remove the game from the platform through which they are redeemed they should be redeemable for longer but publishers have been know to removed unused keys from Steam after 12 months.

source

Edit: Humble have sent out their first announcement/warning this morning:

A friendly heads-up that game keys for DEATHLOOP, which was part of your October 2022 Humble Choice monthly mix of games, are expiring January 2, 2024.

If you haven’t already done so, reveal your key today so you don’t miss out on your game. If you already revealed your key, you can disregard this notification.

Gaming

Related Stores

Steam
Steam

Comments

    • CrispyChrispy on 14/11/2023 - 03:30
      +5

      a PSA.

      • jv on 14/11/2023 - 10:35
        -2

        Production Safety Analysis?

        • AdosHouse on 14/11/2023 - 11:26

          Purchase Safety Analysis?

          • jv on 14/11/2023 - 11:42

            @AdosHouse:

            Purchase Safety Analysis?

            Not yet.

            any good deals?

  • CascadeHush on 14/11/2023 - 08:24
    +1

    Good to know

    I guess the writing is on the wall for those of us who buy bundles planning to trade some of the keys. I have keys going back as far as 2018 from Humble and Fanatical. So far I've not had any issue with revoked keys, but occasionally had trouble getting a key from a gift link.

    A couple of years ago Humble started to ban accounts for trading links. Links were preferred because they were essentially re-tradable, whereas keys you either activate or you don't. But nobody trades links anymore. Makes my life easier, I don't re-trade keys.

    Humble are offering a black Friday deal on a year of Humble Bundle. It's been over a year since I cancelled my long running monthly subscription (I was grandfathered into the old plan) and I was considering signing up again but if they are cancelling keys it's probably not worth it. I've been trying hard to get rid of my old keys but it's been slow going.

    You can check out my tradables list here https://barter.vg/u/3764/t/

  • CodeXD on 14/11/2023 - 11:50

    Humble have sent out their first announcement/warning this morning

    Props to humble bundle for sending this out. A lot of other companies will just do a generic "our T&Cs have changed" email with no tl;dr or summary of what is going on.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join