Murky world of PC game key reselling exposed by indie developer

[unholytestament]

Its the charge back part you are forgetting.

Which also happens to be a part you can't prove.

[Jtbrig7390]

but they do, the games are bought in cheaper regions and then sold through g2a, are you saying devs dont make anything by selling in cheaper regions either?

Prove the keys are bought that way......

Can't didn't think so. But we have many reports of G2A selling keys that are stolen or ment as only to be review code. Once again G2A does NOT do background checks on sellers or the keys they sell.

- - - Updated - - -

Which also happens to be a part you can't prove.

Did you not read the OP? This isn't the only time it has happen ether.

[Remilia]

are you saying the dev loses money when he buys on g2a rather than not buying at all?

Technically yes, if the person was going to buy it at some point regardless, then a transaction to a g2a is less likely to see revenue from g2a than they are from an authorized sale.

There was a whole Ubisoft/EA thing that happened where credit card fraud keys were bought and sold throughout g2a and kinguin and Ubisoft banned all the keys. Issue with that though is due to public backlash they reinstated the already activated ones. They lost a decent amount revenue just due to that. Now if you can't tell that there's an issue there, then I don't know what to tell you really.

[unholytestament]

Prove the keys are bought that way......

You don't have to prove it but other people do?

Ha. Not surprised.

[Ratyrel]

Buying from G2A is equal to pirating a game. As a matter of fact its worse because there was a sell of a game then a charge back happen. At lease with pirating you can't prove the pirate was going to buy the game in the first place.

Devs make ZERO from G2A.

If all keys on G2A were effectively stolen, there wouldn't just be a single blog post by a relatively minor developer about it.

[unholytestament]

Did you not read the OP? This isn't the only time it has happen ether.

I see no proof in the article you posted.

[Jtbrig7390]

Technically yes, if the person was going to buy it at some point regardless, then a transaction to a g2a is less likely to see revenue from g2a than they are from an authorized sale.

There was a whole Ubisoft/EA thing that happened where credit card fraud keys were bought and sold throughout g2a and kinguin and Ubisoft banned all the keys. Issue with that though is due to public backlash they reinstated the already activated ones. They lost a decent amount revenue just due to that. Now if you can't tell that there's an issue there, then I don't know what to tell you really.

With sites like G2A devs are fucked no matter what they do.

Disable keys and they lose fans and future money, don't disable keys and they lose money now and may not be able to make anymore games. How anyone can sit there and shit on EA,Ubisoft,Activision and yet support G2A in the same breath is beyond me.

- - - Updated - - -

I see no proof in the article you posted.

Then you didn't read the article.

In tinyBuild's case, it attempted to sell its games from its own online shop, but it was crippled by chargebacks associated with fraudulent credit card purchases.

"I'd start seeing thousands of transactions, and our payment provider would shut us down within days," Nichiporchik said. "Moments later you'd see G2A being populated by cheap keys of games we had just sold on our shop."

Not the only devs this has happen to ether.

[Zogarth]

You don't have to prove it but other people do?

Ha. Not surprised.

So, a seller does not need to know if his sold goods are legal or not... or at least try to limit the sales of stolen goods.

[gegalfo]

Prove the keys are bought that way......

Can't didn't think so. But we have many reports of G2A selling keys that are stolen or ment as only to be review code. Once again G2A does NOT do background checks on sellers or the keys they sell.

- - - Updated - - -



Did you not read the OP? This isn't the only time it has happen ether.

well i can obviously only claim it in the same manner you can claim that all the keys are stolen, it is however far more likely that tehy are indeed bought in cheaper regions as if all the keys sell are indeed stolen we would hear a lot more about keys being deactivated

[Jtbrig7390]

If all keys on G2A were effectively stolen, there wouldn't just be a single blog post by a relatively minor developer about it.

Ummm there is more then just a single blog post.

This story was posted last year.
http://www.polygon.com/2015/2/9/8006...ket-game-codes

[l33t]

Did you not read the OP? This isn't the only time it has happen ether.

I've read the OP very carefully, nothing even remotely close to proof there, just some wild claims from some developer whose games I've never even heard of.

[Hyve]

Pretty much, they will need to slow down putting out so many great games if they expect me to buy them all at full price.

Or perhaps, pay the price and support the developer?

[Bathory]

wew, the apathy is astounding around here

[unholytestament]

Then you didn't read the article.

I'd really like to know how they somehow knew they were the same keys. Generally a key cannot be identified until you see the code, and if you can see the code before you buy it...

Because if they didn't know this that would mean they were just guessing.

[Zogarth]

well i can obviously only claim it in the same manner you can claim that all the keys are stolen, it is however far more likely that tehy are indeed bought in cheaper regions as if all the keys sell are indeed stolen we would hear a lot more about keys being deactivated

Problem is that a lot of developers don't deactivate the keys. Remember the Ubisoft thing where they had a shitload of stolen keys, and they deactivated the keys that had been resold? Who did everyone get pissed at and cursed at? The resellers? No, of course it was Ubisoft. There is often no gain in deactivating these keys, but a lot of loss and bad press.

[Jtbrig7390]

well i can obviously only claim it in the same manner you can claim that all the keys are stolen, it is however far more likely that tehy are indeed bought in cheaper regions as if all the keys sell are indeed stolen we would hear a lot more about keys being deactivated

And that is still devs losing money on sells. Once again they are not going to deactivate them due to the blacklash that will fallow. Doesn't really matter if its 10% or 100% of the keys on G2A being stolen. Its the fact they allow it to happen and handwave it.

G2A takes all profits and no responsibility, They also charge you for protection. If you buy a key from them and it gets deactivated you better have bought the protection or you are 100% fucked.

[unholytestament]

So, a seller does not need to know if his sold goods are legal or not... or at least try to limit the sales of stolen goods.

There was no mention of sellers or goods in that post.

[Jtbrig7390]

I'd really like to know how they somehow knew they were the same keys. Generally a key cannot be identified until you see the code, and if you can see the code before you buy it...

Because if they didn't know this that would mean they were just guessing.

Did you ignore the part where there site was the only site selling the keys originally. So how did they get from A to B?

[caervek]

One indie developer claims a popular PC key-reselling website sold nearly half a million dollars' worth of its games - and didn't receive a penny in return.

And? When I got UT2004 I sold my copy of UT2003 to a used games shop who sold it on.

Epic Megagames only made one sale.

[Jtbrig7390]

And? When I got UT2004 I sold my copy of UT2003 to a used games shop who sold it on.

Epic Megagames only made one sale.

That used game was sold new at one point and they made money on that sell. In this case the keys was sold then a charge back happen.

Do you not know what a charge back is?