Humble Monthly Levels Up, Becomes Humble Choice

I’ve been subscribed to the Humble Monthly plan since February 2017. I went and checked. A friend had been subscribed even longer than that, so I was a bit more aware of what was coming in the packs than I might otherwise have been. So when I experienced having bought Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen (fantastic game, btw) a couple of months before it turned up in the December 2016 bundle… And again with the Vermintide DLC that turned up in the January 2017 bundle, I’d at last had enough and subscribed.

Over that time the formula hasn’t really changed too significantly. There is an early reveal of one or more titles to act as the hook for the coming month, which you gain access to the moment you pay. Then around the 5th of each month it’s a mini-Christmas time with 5-7ish additional titles being blasted your way.

The perceived quality or value of each bundle is admittedly all over the place, especially for those with an already large library of games. There have absolutely been months where I’ve already owned everything of interest already.

But at the other end of the spectrum there have been truly spectacular months. The headliners for November for example are already amazing. It almost doesn’t matter what else there is — this is a fantastic bundle for me personally.

And heck, even in the months I personally didn’t get much out of it — there is almost always something to gift to a friend, and that brings a certain joy of its own.

But- things are a changin’!

Humble Choice (and the ‘Classic’ Plan)

Full credit to Krikket for me even being aware of this — I had the email, but likely would have passed right on by without really looking if not for her post. And it’s kind of a big deal!

Biggest change is that the hidden ‘mystery’ element will be removed. You’ll see a range of games from which to personalise a choice each month. We therefore exchange the Christmas effect for more certainty that you’ll like everything you get. In my view? A good trade.

What I don’t know yet is how many games each month will be available to choose from. At least 10, I suppose, since that is how many the Classic tier plan will have access to.

Existing subscribers before the switch to Humble Choice occurs (almost certainly in December, given the 2019 timeline and November headliners already being announced) will be entitled to the Classic plan for so long as they remain a subscriber.

If you cancel as opposed to just pausing the service, (not something I was aware you could even do before Krikket’s post) then you will not be able to get back to the Classic plan. Nor will this plan be sold to customers beyond the switch over.

And that is where the controversy kicks in…

Because of course some people are angry.

If you approach the Humble Monthly subscription like me — in considering it more or less a permanent fixture, like Netflix or your Internet service — then this is essentially only upside, and a good thing.

But if you were someone who previously preferred to just jump in and out when the headliners caught your eye, this is a fairly significant change for the worse.

You’re being asked to commit to retain the benefit of the grandfathered ‘Classic’ plan over the longer term. Cancelling will drop you out into the inferior (and costlier) plans for life. But as noted, you can pause your subscription without losing your benefits.

Still — I can see why those who liked to dip in and out are annoyed. It’s certainly far less convenient to do that under this new model.

Where you personally land on it is going to depend largely on how you view the subscription. But if the ‘mystery’ element has held you back from subscribing in the past, and with choice you might be interested — jump in now.

The bottom of the Humble Choice Classic page notes that this change is coming in 2019. With the November headliners already announced under the current model my suspicion is that as soon as this bundle finalises in 12 days (from when this publishes) we’ll see a conversion to the new model. And if you haven’t subscribed by then, the Classic option will be gone. (Which, let’s be clear — is entirely playing into the hands of this move. But hey… The value is at least there to back it up. ;))

If you would like to subscribe, the normal link is here.

But if you’re so inclined, there is also my referral link. If you use that one instead of the normal link, $12 NZD is added to my Humble store wallet.