Game key reseller G2A moves to legitimise its business

[Jtbrig7390]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...e-its-business

G2A has moved to legitimise its business by adding security measures designed to verify those who sell game keys on the platform.


G2A has been roundly criticised for providing a platform for fraudsters to sell game keys bought with stolen credit cards.

Earlier this week, G2A announced plans to give developers royalties on third-party auctions following a high-profile row with Punch Club publisher TinyBuild.

Now, it has continued its bid to repair its reputation by adding front-end verification steps as part of a new process for new sellers to sell products on the marketplace.

These steps include social media profile account verification, phone number verification and a restriction on the number of products (up to 10) you're able to sell without providing further proof of identification.

More steps are coming for new sellers, G2A said, including credit card, PayPal and address, via bank statement, verification.

G2A says it sees more than one million transactions per month, which suggests it's the biggest website of its kind.

Its recent reform is in part a move to follow the MSO Anti Money Laundering Guideline, which itself is seen as a bid to shed G2A's reputation as a home for fraud.

In June, Microsoft supplied G2A with over 550 game codes it believed were bought on a third-party site with stolen credit cards. G2A said it was able to identify the keys and remove them from auction. There's an ongoing case against the seller.

The announcement comes after a high-profile row with Punch Club publisher TinyBuild, which claimed G2A sold nearly half a million dollars' worth of its games - and it didn't receive a penny in return.

G2A, which acts as a retailer and an online marketplace for video game key selling, sort of like an eBay for PC games, is perhaps the most well-known website of its kind, and even sponsors streamers and game events.

G2A is popular because it offers an easy way for people to sell off keys for games they don't want, and in the process customers get a cheap price.

But it has faced tough questions from some in the game industry over its business practices. TinyBuild described G2A's business model as "fundamentally flawed" and said it "facilitates a black market economy".

[Orange Joe]

If they can move away from the grey market. Good.


I still won't buy from them though. Not going to take a chance myself.

[Jtbrig7390]

If they can move away from the grey market. Good.


I still won't buy from them though. Not going to take a chance myself.

Agreed, the damage is done I won't buy from G2A but this is good for those who do and developers alike.

Saying something will happen and doing it is two different things tho.

[Heathy]

I've bought keys from there, simply on the principle that its (usually) cheaper, not had a fake key yet.

mostly though its handy for grabbing games at sale price when you miss a sale. as an example the guys I occasionally play ARK/ARMA with said they picked up another EA game, miscreated. (why do i keep getting suckered into buying these damn EA games i don't know) but anyway, the sale ends on monday, earliest i could pick it up would be wednesday.. this is where g2a comes in by wednesday it'll most likely still retain the sale price it has now.

they are sneaky fucks though, they add a sale charge right at the end, which usually isn't much (maybe an extra £1) but its another charge on top of the shield and VAT which you don't actually see until right at the last page before you click the final buy button. so where a game might be listed at £10 after VAT shield and sale charge its more like £14-15.

[Nutri]

Bought about 45-50 games from G2A over the years. None ever got revoked. Most of them triple A titles too.
Imagine 50 games costing 49 euro's average retail value. Saved me 1250 euro's. I like G2A.

I'd even dare say that if I had to buy all the lets say 50 games I have at full retail price, I wouldn't have bought 45 of them at all. So... They still got something out of me.

[Puri]

What a pity, this will probably make the prices for keys raise there.

[DeadmanWalking]

The company is just too shady for my tastes, I don't buy and I won't buy from them. I don't think they are criminals, I just think they are too amatuerish to not trip over laws that they havent been paying attention to.

[Tech614]

This move does nothing. Social media account and phone verification? That's a joke for the guys stealing keys. Only selling 10 of the same game per account without further verification? Again a joke, as a bot can make accounts faster then they can steal the keys in the first place.

G2A is not changing, they're only trying to make it look like they are. Sadly this PR stunt actually looks like it's working on most of this thread.

Imagine trying to show your twitter handle and a phone number to a pawn shop or gamestop while trying to sell a game LMAO. They require your ID# for a reason as it's the ONLY legit form of identification. Anything short of government issued IDs or Passports being required for identification is an absolute joke.

[Edge-]

Short of an complete overhaul of their business model from the bottom up and relocating to a Western country, there's nothing they could do that would legitimize their business in the eyes of developers/publishers. And even then, the fact that they built it on the sale/facilitating the sale of illegally obtained keys is going to kill pretty much any official publisher/developer support/interest.

Another completely pointless PR move, like their "generous" 10% revenue share they offered a few weeks back, that does absolutely nothing to address the core issue but they can say was an "olive branch".

[Remilia]

Maybe a verified bank account and verify at the start, not after 10.

[Eleccybubb]

Bought loads of keys from them. Only 1 was invalid and it soon got replaced with a valid one. No real complaints about them.

[Vespian]

Bought loads of keys from them. Only 1 was invalid and it soon got replaced with a valid one. No real complaints about them.

The complaints made by, among others, an unusually rabid ~Edge focus on the supposed and unproven illegality of the keys. They are real, supposedly they are illegal. One of Edge's returning arguments is the base of its operations.

The fact that about 99% of the global businesses use parts from that exact same region that easily make up 85% of a product, like Apple and its ehh...underpaid cheap labour facilities, is completely ignored. For ..objectivity sake of course.

Well, while the hypocrite masses buy T-Shirts made through child-labour and throw their fists at something symbolic to pretend they care, I just see a business that's legal until it's not.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

The complaints made by, among others, an unusually rabid ~Edge focus on the supposed and unproven illegality of the keys. They are real, supposedly they are illegal. One of Edge's returning arguments is the base of its operations.

The fact that about 99% of the global businesses use parts from that exact same region that easily make up 85% of a product, like Apple and its ehh...underpaid cheap labour facilities, is completely ignored. For ..objectivity sake of course.

Well, while the hypocrite masses buy T-Shirts made through child-labour and throw their fists at something symbolic to pretend they care, I just see a business that's legal until it's not.

This comparison is so dumb, it's not worth arguing about.

[Vespian]

This comparison is so dumb, it's not worth arguing about.

I have no doubt that it flew right past you.

[barackopala]

This would be as legitimate as clinton going for presidency despite a possible trial... wait...
This would be as ethical as gaming journalism reporting about games... wait...
This would be as ethical as a CSGO betting company where youtubers are the owners and dont disclose it despite selling the product to underages... wait...

You can try to clean the smug out of G2A all you want but G2A still smug, also fuck their G2A shield bullshit, the worst type of malware to your bank account, fuck those guys.

[ComputerNerd]

Cheap can come at a cost.
In that case it was the inherent risk due to the way G2A did business, how it sourced it's keys.
Nice to see them putting in more effort though, but I am not sure I would readily go to them unless desperate.

[Edge-]

The complaints made by, among others, an unusually rabid ~Edge focus on the supposed and unproven illegality of the keys.

It's been proven that the site sells/facilitates the sale of illegally purchased keys, either through credit card fraud or through purchasing keys in one region for illegal resale in another. Ubisoft went after keys for a while, Tinybuild wrote their recent article on it. That's ignoring all the keys from Humble Bundle etc. that are illegally resold through there (Humble Bundle keys are for personal use or gifting only, not resale).

Again, not all keys they sell/facilitate the sale of are illegal. Nobody has said that. But the site largely grew by supporting this grey market. Not to mention things it's sold like leveled accounts and ELO boosts in League of Legends, neither of which is permitted by Riot and led to Riot banning them as a sponsor for teams in competitive League of Legends. Or withholding preorder bonuses for individual sale at a later date without making customers aware of this beforehand (Overwatch).

They are real, supposedly they are illegal. One of Edge's returning arguments is the base of its operations.

Yep, they're real keys. And some are illegal, with G2A doing nothing to prevent it as they profit off of those sales. And where they're based out of is important, it affords them plenty of legal protections as they're not subject to far stricter Western laws regarding this type of behavior.

The fact that about 99% of the global businesses use parts from that exact same region that easily make up 85% of a product, like Apple and its ehh...underpaid cheap labour facilities, is completely ignored. For ..objectivity sake of course.

No, it's not. But Apple is not headquartered in China, they're in the US. The founders are from Poland, and could have easily headquartered their company there like CD Projekt have done with their development studio and Good Old Games. But they specifically didn't because by being headquartered in China they can skirt many of the laws that would give publishers easy access to legally challenge their business model and ensure greater protections. It's not hard.

Well, while the hypocrite masses buy T-Shirts made through child-labour and throw their fists at something symbolic to pretend they care, I just see a business that's legal until it's not.

Hooray for unrelated arguments?

[klogaroth]

Some publishers had a problem with the re-sale of physical versions of their games before digital keys even existed.
Those ones are never going to like G2A whatever they do.

As long as the stuff on the site is legit though, G2A should be allowed to continue. If they keep selling stolen keys and other such dodgy shit that has gone on in the past then they want shutting down.

[Vespian]

It's been proven that the site sells/facilitates the sale of illegally purchased keys, either through credit card fraud or through purchasing keys in one region for illegal resale in another. Ubisoft went after keys for a while, Tinybuild wrote their recent article on it. That's ignoring all the keys from Humble Bundle etc. that are illegally resold through there (Humble Bundle keys are for personal use or gifting only, not resale).

You know, I still haven't seen any examples of European or International laws that state that the resale of keys obtained through Humble Bundle is illegal. In contrary to what you might suspect, agreements you sign with a corporation made by that corporation are subject to national law of the respective country. In other words, unless the law of that country specifically agrees or disagrees with the explicit specific case, there is no actual legal basis to pursue.

As a Swedish friend of mine convinced me of, so take it with a grain of salt, It's perfectly legal to have a sexual relationship with a 15y/o as an adult in Sweden, while that legal boundary lies at 18 in the Netherlands. Both European countries. In the Netherlands it's paedophilia. In Sweden it's legal. What you are addressing is the moral believe that illegality is global. It is not.

No, it's not. But Apple is not headquartered in China, they're in the US. The founders are from Poland, and could have easily headquartered their company there like CD Projekt have done with their development studio and Good Old Games. But they specifically didn't because by being headquartered in China they can skirt many of the laws that would give publishers easy access to legally challenge their business model and ensure greater protections. It's not hard.

The reason why the likes of Apple have bases in Western countries, is not because they want to do the right thing, it's because they want you to think they care about doing the right thing.

Hooray for unrelated arguments?

Unrelated? It's related to everything you said. Everything we touch contains elements made in China. China does not care about law, China does not care about IP, China does not care about safety, health or security, unless it's their own.

We profit from that every single day, through shell companies in the West. As soon as one company, based on the internet and thus not requiring any HQ anywhere else, simply explains what it does, it's war.

[Edge-]

You know, I still haven't seen any examples of European or International laws that state that the resale of keys obtained through Humble Bundle is illegal.

http://onlinegameslaw.com/german-cou...ges-copyright/

That's specifically dealing with European/German law regarding reselling keys from different regions.

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/a...ps-profit.aspx

Some context on/information about the resale of Humble Bundle keys and it being illegal.