I've used (and stood up for) G2A in the past. But now I've seen them explained like this, they won't be getting any more of my business. I feel it's important to spread the word about how much harm they cause - have a read.
https://www.fortressofdoors.com/g2a-piracy-and-the-four-currencies/
I've used (and stood up for) G2A in the past. But now I've seen them explained like this, they won't be getting any more of my business. I feel it's important to spread the word about how much harm they cause - have a read.
Yah, I read that Tiny Build article last week.
http://tinybuild.com/g2a-sold-450k-worth-of-our-game-keys
It's a pretty shitty deal and the responses from G2A were underwhelming.
The article makes sense, as to why G2A is worse than piracy.
But, I think that gamers still need legit grey sellers to buy games from. The world is apparently globalised, so why do we still pay different prices? Either revert to isolationism, or develop a global currency - otherwise I will use a grey seller.
The issue is how do you police the difference between a legit grey seller and a fraudulent one?
The article makes sense, as to why G2A is worse than piracy.
But, I think that gamers still need legit grey sellers to buy games from. The world is apparently globalised, so why do we still pay different prices? Either revert to isolationism, or develop a global currency - otherwise I will use a grey seller.
The issue is how do you police the difference between a legit grey seller and a fraudulent one?
The video suggests keys purchased with stolen credit cards can be traded in any of the grey sellers, it's just a matter of how well the particular seller polices it. I have no idea which sellers do actively police the keys though.
The video suggests keys purchased with stolen credit cards can be traded in any of the grey sellers, it's just a matter of how well the particular seller polices it. I have no idea which sellers do actively police the keys though.
It all comes down to the source of the keys. Sellers that source their keys themselves sound like they're generally ok - this looks to include cdkeys. It's when the site provides a marketplace for anyone to sell keys, that it's a problem. I agree with ummester in that regional pricing sucks (I'm Australian, so I'm well aware). But in the case of G2A, they harm the industry and provide no benefits to developers.
It all comes down to the source of the keys. Sellers that source their keys themselves sound like they're generally ok - this looks to include cdkeys. It's when the site provides a marketplace for anyone to sell keys, that it's a problem. I agree with ummester in that regional pricing sucks (I'm Australian, so I'm well aware). But in the case of G2A, they harm the industry and provide no benefits to developers.
I just read a counter article here:
https://lockesjourney.wordpress.com/2016/03/17/the-hard-truth-about-g2a-kinguin-and-grey-market-keys/
TLDR - this article suggests around 5% of keys are from stolen credit card transactions - so 95% are ok, we just hear the stories about the bad ones.
Meh, I made a small transaction on G2A and it failed - steam said it was stolen. But I did buy the G2A shield, got my money back, had to wait 2 weeks and then got 3 keys for something like $5 US. And they all worked. So I guess, in my experience, I can attest that 75% of the keys on G2A are not stolen :)
TLDR - this article suggests around 5% of keys are from stolen credit card transactions - so 95% are ok, we just hear the stories about the bad ones.
Meh, I made a small transaction on G2A and it failed - steam said it was stolen. But I did buy the G2A shield, got my money back, had to wait 2 weeks and then got 3 keys for something like $5 US. And they all worked. So I guess, in my experience, I can attest that 75% of the keys on G2A are not stolen :)
[quote="chtiblue"]Is CD-Keys ok?[/quote]
yes cd-keys.com and cdkeys.com are OK too
I own 853 steam games
29 uplay games
40 games in my Origin Account
and I have been purchased from discount sites for years very few games I purchase at full retail and never had a problem.
The only two problems I had were with Green Man Gaming with two preorders they were able to supply the keys and my money was refunded.
Just remember Devs said second hand games (Xbox 360 and PS3) were hurting the sales.
That article doesn't really provide much hard evidence, and there are multiple devs claiming (with proof) that G2A is screwing them over.
The fact that you made 4 transactions and one was stolen doesn't mean the rest definitely weren't - it simply means they weren't cancelled. Maybe they were legit, maybe the developer decided not to cancel the key to avoid pissed off customers. Either way, a 25% rate of theft (using a very small sample size) is still unacceptable.
Consider using more reputable sellers. You can still avoid regional pricing, just don't screw over the devs to do so.
That article doesn't really provide much hard evidence, and there are multiple devs claiming (with proof) that G2A is screwing them over.
The fact that you made 4 transactions and one was stolen doesn't mean the rest definitely weren't - it simply means they weren't cancelled. Maybe they were legit, maybe the developer decided not to cancel the key to avoid pissed off customers. Either way, a 25% rate of theft (using a very small sample size) is still unacceptable.
Consider using more reputable sellers. You can still avoid regional pricing, just don't screw over the devs to do so.
I buy keys rather frequently from those sites, mostly I check allkeyshop.com and compare prices. I'm yet to find a key that doesn't work with those sites, and none of my keys have been revoked that i know of. I can understand developers trying to scare people away from key resellers since they make a lot less money that dway, so i'm not sure they're completely objective on the matter. The last article mentioned by @unmester is really interesting from a non-dev point of view.
Regardless, I simply can't pay full games at their current prices, even now that Steam barely goes under 50% discounts in AAA games so i have to skip them. I see many people here with SLI 980s etc., i'm sure they can afford games at full price, good for them, but it took me ages to save for my current 970gtx. I can understand they could choose to buy games directly, I simply have to get them in other ways if I want to play them at all.
I buy keys rather frequently from those sites, mostly I check allkeyshop.com and compare prices. I'm yet to find a key that doesn't work with those sites, and none of my keys have been revoked that i know of. I can understand developers trying to scare people away from key resellers since they make a lot less money that dway, so i'm not sure they're completely objective on the matter. The last article mentioned by @unmester is really interesting from a non-dev point of view.
Regardless, I simply can't pay full games at their current prices, even now that Steam barely goes under 50% discounts in AAA games so i have to skip them. I see many people here with SLI 980s etc., i'm sure they can afford games at full price, good for them, but it took me ages to save for my current 970gtx. I can understand they could choose to buy games directly, I simply have to get them in other ways if I want to play them at all.
All hail 3d modders DHR, MasterOtaku, Losti, Necropants, Helifax, bo3b, mike_ar69, Flugan, DarkStarSword, 4everAwake, 3d4dd and so many more helping to keep the 3d dream alive, find their 3d fixes at http://helixmod.blogspot.com/ Also check my site for spanish VR and mobile gaming news: www.gamermovil.com
allkeyshop is a great comparison tool, and key resellers can be perfectly fine companies. There's nothing wrong with hunting for a good deal - I do it too. Just consider paying the extra dollar or three at an ethical reseller, rather than going for the absolute cheapest one available.
allkeyshop is a great comparison tool, and key resellers can be perfectly fine companies. There's nothing wrong with hunting for a good deal - I do it too. Just consider paying the extra dollar or three at an ethical reseller, rather than going for the absolute cheapest one available.
[quote="Pirateguybrush"]That article doesn't really provide much hard evidence, and there are multiple devs claiming (with proof) that G2A is screwing them over.
The fact that you made 4 transactions and one was stolen doesn't mean the rest definitely weren't - it simply means they weren't cancelled. Maybe they were legit, maybe the developer decided not to cancel the key to avoid pissed off customers. Either way, a 25% rate of theft (using a very small sample size) is still unacceptable.
Consider using more reputable sellers. You can still avoid regional pricing, just don't screw over the devs to do so.[/quote]
Yea, I'm happy to agree that G2A is likely the worst of the bunch with regards to stolen material.
But, I think the issue that zig mentions may also be relevant - devs (or more so publishers) don't like anyone getting games cheaper than full price for their region. They want to maximise profit. They don't like the second hand console game trade and they don't like Ozzies, or Poms or anyone they perceive to have enough money paying Russian (or whatever) prices.
Like everything, in my experience, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. What would be really nice is if someone got hard data on what grey sellers actually have the lowest percentage of theft related material.
Pirateguybrush said:That article doesn't really provide much hard evidence, and there are multiple devs claiming (with proof) that G2A is screwing them over.
The fact that you made 4 transactions and one was stolen doesn't mean the rest definitely weren't - it simply means they weren't cancelled. Maybe they were legit, maybe the developer decided not to cancel the key to avoid pissed off customers. Either way, a 25% rate of theft (using a very small sample size) is still unacceptable.
Consider using more reputable sellers. You can still avoid regional pricing, just don't screw over the devs to do so.
Yea, I'm happy to agree that G2A is likely the worst of the bunch with regards to stolen material.
But, I think the issue that zig mentions may also be relevant - devs (or more so publishers) don't like anyone getting games cheaper than full price for their region. They want to maximise profit. They don't like the second hand console game trade and they don't like Ozzies, or Poms or anyone they perceive to have enough money paying Russian (or whatever) prices.
Like everything, in my experience, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. What would be really nice is if someone got hard data on what grey sellers actually have the lowest percentage of theft related material.
That doesn't seem to be the issue at all. The developer openly states that he'd prefer people just pirate his game, over using G2A. It's not that they make less money for stolen copies, but it actually costs them money.
Sure, it's true that there's no way to know if a key is stolen before you buy it - but a significant enough portion clearly are.
Developers wouldn't be advocating piracy over G2A if it was simply a matter of them being paid a bit less.
That doesn't seem to be the issue at all. The developer openly states that he'd prefer people just pirate his game, over using G2A. It's not that they make less money for stolen copies, but it actually costs them money.
Sure, it's true that there's no way to know if a key is stolen before you buy it - but a significant enough portion clearly are.
Developers wouldn't be advocating piracy over G2A if it was simply a matter of them being paid a bit less.
Which devs are complaining ?
I worked for two video game companies and when a game didn't sell well and was total sh**. The excuses were similar to the above the new excuse was second hand sales are killing us. This is BS if you make a good game you be successful and the more outlets users can purchase the game the better.
To clear things up I'm location in the US I will only purchase region free games from the sites no craziness like VPN to activation Russian keys.
Another hitch when companies have promotions buy a NVidia Video card get a free Ubisoft game and the person sells the free game on eBay the devs complain about that to.
The PC game market second-hand really doesn't exist and devs should be Thankful for that.
I worked for two video game companies and when a game didn't sell well and was total sh**. The excuses were similar to the above the new excuse was second hand sales are killing us. This is BS if you make a good game you be successful and the more outlets users can purchase the game the better.
To clear things up I'm location in the US I will only purchase region free games from the sites no craziness like VPN to activation Russian keys.
Another hitch when companies have promotions buy a NVidia Video card get a free Ubisoft game and the person sells the free game on eBay the devs complain about that to.
The PC game market second-hand really doesn't exist and devs should be Thankful for that.
Gigabyte Z370 Gaming 7 32GB Ram i9-9900K GigaByte Aorus Extreme Gaming 2080TI (single) Game Blaster Z Windows 10 X64 build #17763.195 Define R6 Blackout Case Corsair H110i GTX Sandisk 1TB (OS) SanDisk 2TB SSD (Games) Seagate EXOs 8 and 12 TB drives Samsung UN46c7000 HD TV Samsung UN55HU9000 UHD TVCurrently using ACER PASSIVE EDID override on 3D TVs LG 55
https://www.fortressofdoors.com/g2a-piracy-and-the-four-currencies/
http://tinybuild.com/g2a-sold-450k-worth-of-our-game-keys
It's a pretty shitty deal and the responses from G2A were underwhelming.
But, I think that gamers still need legit grey sellers to buy games from. The world is apparently globalised, so why do we still pay different prices? Either revert to isolationism, or develop a global currency - otherwise I will use a grey seller.
The issue is how do you police the difference between a legit grey seller and a fraudulent one?
http://photos.3dvisionlive.com/chtiblue/album/530b52d4cb85770d6e000049/3Dvision with 49" Philips 49PUS7100 interlieved 3D (3840x2160) overide mode, GTX 1080 GFA2 EXOC, core i5 @4.3GHz, 16Gb@2130, windows 7&10 64bit, Dolby Atmos 5.1.4 Marantz 6010 AVR
https://lockesjourney.wordpress.com/2016/03/17/the-hard-truth-about-g2a-kinguin-and-grey-market-keys/
TLDR - this article suggests around 5% of keys are from stolen credit card transactions - so 95% are ok, we just hear the stories about the bad ones.
Meh, I made a small transaction on G2A and it failed - steam said it was stolen. But I did buy the G2A shield, got my money back, had to wait 2 weeks and then got 3 keys for something like $5 US. And they all worked. So I guess, in my experience, I can attest that 75% of the keys on G2A are not stolen :)
yes cd-keys.com and cdkeys.com are OK too
I own 853 steam games
29 uplay games
40 games in my Origin Account
and I have been purchased from discount sites for years very few games I purchase at full retail and never had a problem.
The only two problems I had were with Green Man Gaming with two preorders they were able to supply the keys and my money was refunded.
Just remember Devs said second hand games (Xbox 360 and PS3) were hurting the sales.
Gigabyte Z370 Gaming 7 32GB Ram i9-9900K GigaByte Aorus Extreme Gaming 2080TI (single) Game Blaster Z Windows 10 X64 build #17763.195 Define R6 Blackout Case Corsair H110i GTX Sandisk 1TB (OS) SanDisk 2TB SSD (Games) Seagate EXOs 8 and 12 TB drives Samsung UN46c7000 HD TV Samsung UN55HU9000 UHD TVCurrently using ACER PASSIVE EDID override on 3D TVs LG 55
The fact that you made 4 transactions and one was stolen doesn't mean the rest definitely weren't - it simply means they weren't cancelled. Maybe they were legit, maybe the developer decided not to cancel the key to avoid pissed off customers. Either way, a 25% rate of theft (using a very small sample size) is still unacceptable.
Consider using more reputable sellers. You can still avoid regional pricing, just don't screw over the devs to do so.
Regardless, I simply can't pay full games at their current prices, even now that Steam barely goes under 50% discounts in AAA games so i have to skip them. I see many people here with SLI 980s etc., i'm sure they can afford games at full price, good for them, but it took me ages to save for my current 970gtx. I can understand they could choose to buy games directly, I simply have to get them in other ways if I want to play them at all.
All hail 3d modders DHR, MasterOtaku, Losti, Necropants, Helifax, bo3b, mike_ar69, Flugan, DarkStarSword, 4everAwake, 3d4dd and so many more helping to keep the 3d dream alive, find their 3d fixes at http://helixmod.blogspot.com/ Also check my site for spanish VR and mobile gaming news: www.gamermovil.com
Yea, I'm happy to agree that G2A is likely the worst of the bunch with regards to stolen material.
But, I think the issue that zig mentions may also be relevant - devs (or more so publishers) don't like anyone getting games cheaper than full price for their region. They want to maximise profit. They don't like the second hand console game trade and they don't like Ozzies, or Poms or anyone they perceive to have enough money paying Russian (or whatever) prices.
Like everything, in my experience, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. What would be really nice is if someone got hard data on what grey sellers actually have the lowest percentage of theft related material.
Sure, it's true that there's no way to know if a key is stolen before you buy it - but a significant enough portion clearly are.
Developers wouldn't be advocating piracy over G2A if it was simply a matter of them being paid a bit less.
I worked for two video game companies and when a game didn't sell well and was total sh**. The excuses were similar to the above the new excuse was second hand sales are killing us. This is BS if you make a good game you be successful and the more outlets users can purchase the game the better.
To clear things up I'm location in the US I will only purchase region free games from the sites no craziness like VPN to activation Russian keys.
Another hitch when companies have promotions buy a NVidia Video card get a free Ubisoft game and the person sells the free game on eBay the devs complain about that to.
The PC game market second-hand really doesn't exist and devs should be Thankful for that.
Gigabyte Z370 Gaming 7 32GB Ram i9-9900K GigaByte Aorus Extreme Gaming 2080TI (single) Game Blaster Z Windows 10 X64 build #17763.195 Define R6 Blackout Case Corsair H110i GTX Sandisk 1TB (OS) SanDisk 2TB SSD (Games) Seagate EXOs 8 and 12 TB drives Samsung UN46c7000 HD TV Samsung UN55HU9000 UHD TVCurrently using ACER PASSIVE EDID override on 3D TVs LG 55