G2A, As Told By the Voices In My Head
So Casey, what is G2A exactly, and why must I be so scared of them? Are they coming to take my games?
For the uninitiated, G2A is a game key reselling marketplace. They provide a space and tools for resellers to market and sell unused game keys. On paper, G2A seems like a great idea. A valid, and maybe even necessary, service. They provide an alternative to Steam, GOG, and other digital game marketplaces. According to the economics textbook whose title I never actually read from my high school class I didn’t pay attention to, competition is a good thing. It drives prices down, and leads to an increase in product and service quality. Sounds like a good thing for the consumer, right?
G2A has been reported on various forum threads to be a marketplace which harbors stolen goods. Some of these forum posts claim that many of the keys sold on their site are stolen through fraudulent transactions. But Casey, you exclaim, who cares if they are stolen? I get to play Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo for 79 cents! That’s awesome!
You’re right, it is awesome…for you. For the developer of the game, not so much. The practice of buying and selling stolen game keys severely impacts the developers and publishers who create and market these products.
Sources: Polygon Article, Reddit Thread
But how, you retort smugly, does it hurt the developer exactly? I paid for the game. I could have just pirated it. That would have been worse, right? Please tell me I’m a good person.
I’m so glad you asked that, made up character in my head. If you hadn’t, the rest of this article would have no context whatsoever. And no, you’re not a good person.
How to Steal From a Developer
Assuming it is true that a large number of the keys sold on G2A are stolen through fraudulent credit card transactions. A less-than-moral person steals a credit card number, uses it to purchase any number of game keys through a digital storefront, and then lists those keys on G2A. When the fraudulent charges are disputed, the credit card company receives a refund from the storefront while also charging said storefront a fee for “allowing” a fraudulent charge to take place.
The money is refunded to the original card holder, and the credit card company keeps the fee. The storefront, or developer if the game was purchased directly, actually LOSES money on the transaction due to the aforementioned fee. The key-selling party makes money on the G2A transaction along with G2A itself, while funds are taken out of the developer’s metaphorical pockets.
In this case, using G2A is more damaging to the developer than your run-of-the-mill piracy. Instead of simply losing out on the potential for profit, the developer/publisher has money taken from them. Piracy would have been the better choice, or the “less worse” choice rather.
Matter of Accountability
When those credit card transactions are disputed and a refund is issued, the keys are then deactivated. The games are rendered unplayable. The 3rd party who purchased the key, not knowing it was stolen, is what I would call “shit out of luck”. He/she purchased stolen goods, and now those goods are useless.
Unless, of course, you purchase G2A Shield, a service which protects the G2A customer from just this situation. If you, as an “innocent” consumer happen to purchase a key which is faulty in any way, G2A will provide a working replacement.
G2A takes no accountability for selling stolen goods, and yet provide an optional service designed to mitigate the damage caused by selling said stolen goods. On top of taking a percentage of each sale, G2A also make an additional product from selling an insurance policy.
There is little evidence to suggest that G2A has been shutting down sellers who are known for shilling said keys. G2A, much like other major online marketplaces, tracks and displays seller feedback. This information is readily available to potential buyers. It doesn’t take much effort to find resellers on G2A who flip stolen and otherwise unusable game keys on the regular. These accounts have a reputation, and yet are still open for business – perhaps this needs to be addressed.
Enter Star Fox…er…tinyBuild
Apparently, developers aren’t too fond of their games being sold without their consent
Let’s talk about a widely reported fiasco concerning tinyBuild, an indie game dev and publisher who have been greatly affected by G2A. TinyBuild CEO Alex Nichiporchik published an article stating G2A had sold $450,000 worth of their game keys. It’s worth a read…after you finish this of course.
G2A responded to Mr. Nichiporchik’s post by “calling” for the dev to share a list of their “suspicious keys” within 3 days. You can read the full statement from G2A here.
What G2A didn’t tell the public in the statement, according to tinyBuild CEO Alex Nichiporchik, is they also required tinyBuild to begin using G2A’s proprietary online payment system, G2a.pay. Yes, you read that right. In order to be compensated for damages done by G2A, tinyBuild has to do business with G2A itself.
TinyBuild isn’t the only company to have this problem, of course. Another great example can found through this article on Kotaku Australia. MangaGamer, a small company which localizes and sells adult visual novels, encountered the issue where “customers” took to buying handfuls of keys at once with stolen credit numbers and flipping the keys on G2A. Each chargeback costs MangaGamer $30, on top of the original sale.
The practice of purchasing and reselling stolen codes has affected countless video game companies from the smallest of indies to the giants, such as Ubisoft. This example comes from another key reselling marketplace, Kinguin, but the result is the same. You can read Kinguin’s state regarding their run in with Ubisoft.
Devolver Digital, a publisher I’m quite fond of, has gone far enough as to claim they will deactivate any keys which are purchased through G2A. I have no knowledge of any keys actually being deactivated (and this article is long enough as it is), but the tweet alone is enough to show their stance on the issue.
How To Help
Wow Casey, that was very enlightening. I want to make amends. What do you suggest I do?
It does not necessarily mean people reselling keys are bad people, nor is it a personal attack. However, if you believe the above reports to be true, you should consider supporting game developers directly instead of making purchases via key reselling websites. Ponder over the information in this article (and the provided links) in order to reassess your opinion and come to a decision.
The voice in my head would like to thank tinyBuild, Polygon, Game Informer, Devolver Digital, and Kotaku AU for shedding light on this topic and sharing information with us lot. Oh, and Destructoid, of course.