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520°

G2A Sells $450k Worth Of Game Keys, Game’s Developer Receives nothing

Sites such as G2A.com have been commonly used for a fair while now. Their low prices provide a more appealing method to purchase games from across the years. There’s always bee some curious stares thrown towards G2A.com, mainly with suspicions of wrong doing.

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PixelGateUk3296d ago
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PixelGateUk3296d ago
Ashlen3296d ago

The keys were sold to someone who then resold them. The developers got money. The way this is presented is misleading. These developers are apparently wanting to double bill. They want to sell a key then get paid when it's resold.

In this case I fully support G2A. They haven't done anything wrong.

PixelGateUk3296d ago

The breakdown they supplied kinda says otherwise to be fair

Ashlen3296d ago (Edited 3296d ago )

It's the same as if I buy a bunch of games on bulk or sale and resell them on eBay or Amazon. The developers are not going to get paid for my sale directly. But they still got paid at some point.

Edited to add: The keys came from Humble Bundle. So when they sold them to Humble they got paid. Now when the keys are being resold on G2A, for whatever reason this dev thinks they should be getting paid again.

Lon3wolf3296d ago

Will be interesting to see their response.

rdgneoz33296d ago

The 3rd paragraph mentions: "G2A have blamed TinyBuild’s partners, which include Humble Bundle and BundleStars, claiming they are selling keys directly on the marketplace."

I get games from Humble Bundle all the time, you can pay as much or as little as you want and choose who the money goes to. If I bought games on Humble Bundle and decided to have all the money I spend go to charity, the devs get nothing and I get keys. I can then sell those keys and the devs still get nothing, since they were sold to Humble Bundle in the first place (or if Humble Bundle sold without permission, go blame them).

donthate3296d ago

Well, I think the main issue is that the keys were obtained with stolen credit cards, that subsequently funds was taken back with chargebacks. However, the key's are still active, and sold on G2A i.e. G2A is facilitating illegal business.

callahan093296d ago

I was under the impression that Humble Bundle keys came with the caveat that they can't be resold, so if they are buying keys from Humble Bundle on the cheap and reselling them, doesn't that break the Humble Bundle terms?

UltimateMaster3296d ago (Edited 3296d ago )

It can literally be a key generator as we have seen so many times before.
If that is the case, then yes the developers have not received a dime from it.
If it were already purchased from another seller, that has to be determined whether or not that seller did pay the developers.
It's something that I don't like when dealing with all of these third party key reseller, we don't know if they are legit or if they are screwing people and developers out of their money.
Again, 450k is not a small number by any means. The use of stolen credit cards means that either Visa or Mastercard, refuses to pay the illegal transaction and the developers looses their keys.
It is a scam, and developers are loosing money over this. If you were to use a fraudulent credit card on Steam, PSN or Xbox Live, you would get your account banned.

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Lon3wolf3296d ago

Exactly I am not seeing where G2A are doing anything wrong, the devs must get paid for the keys somewhere down the line, they don't just give them away and then say ok pay us later.

PixelGateUk3296d ago

I've reached out to TinyBuild with these kind of questions. They're a bit bust at the moment with their site being taken down so hopefully we'll a answer within the next day or so

wannabe gamer3295d ago

the devs arent getting money cause the original buyer of the keys does a chargeback and still gets all the keys, they then resell them to G2A and make pure profit. G2A gets a HUGE deal cause the person that sold them knows they are essentially stolen and wants to get rid of them quick AND they didnt pay for them so any money made is all profit for them. so at this point G2A is reselling stolen property and making a HUGE profit since they got them mega cheap . the problem is that G2A has been doing this for sooooo many years that they have to know what they are doing. so while they arent stealing the keys themselves they are knowingly selling stolen property and the devs dont see a single cent of from any of this. while the thieves and G2A make tons of money

Dabigsiebowski3296d ago

Whoa hold on...Are you saying that G2A was selling ligate keys? That's a first, usually these orders are fulfilled with a stolen credit cards and then bought out by G2A for a dirt cheap price. I don't know how anyone honestly finds G2A respectable and I will never ever buy a game from them. Saving a couple dollars on a key that goes to criminals pockets on not devs it pretty messed up. Spin it however you like but this is nothing new in the realm of G2A.

PixelGateUk3296d ago

No one is claiming it's new info

conanlifts3296d ago (Edited 3296d ago )

I resell the humble bundle keys if i don't want them. I don't see a problem with it.
Technically though i think it's against the humble bundle terms of service.

FlameBaitGod3296d ago

This article is so dumb, they want to pay developers twice for the key lol. Yeah i'm going to buy a broken house to the bank, fix it, sell it for profit and i'm going to give a % to the bank ... LOL retarded.

Christopher3296d ago

You should actually read the article. The developer isn't getting paid due to the use of stolen credit cards and chargebacks by people who reverse the payments once they find that the credit card was stolen and had illegal charges made on them.

Christopher3296d ago (Edited 3296d ago )

***The developers got money. ***

Read the article. They didn't because it's fueled by an economy of people who buy using stolen credit cards. That results in a massive amount of chargebacks to the original seller (steam or otherwise) which means that the money does not go to the developer. The person who bought it with the stolen credit card(s) then sells it for money on G2A and makes money off of a valid key that gave zero money to the developer.

The problem is that CC theft and use is so prevalent and isn't handled as well as it should that it allows this to happen and G2A openly facilitates this structure by having zero questions about where a person gets their keys.

It's also facilitated by Steam and Humble Bundle in that they offer a system of game keys that are given out freely at the point of sale but can result in them losing absolutely nothing while the developer loses a whole sale when a chargeback occurs.

Essentially, and especially for Indie developers, this means a system that is against them on all sides. And small studios with their own stores who suddenly get a rash of chargebacks from stolen CC will result in them having their stores closed down due to that while much larger online retail sources like Steam, EA, and Ubisoft are protected by that with larger purchase portals that they pay extra for such things.

This is why there are Consoles. This is why UPlay and Origin exist.

Gh05t3295d ago

This pertains to every third party seller though. Does GameStop know if the game being sold to them is illegally obtained? Not to mention it should be on the bundle sites that are getting fraud end to come up with a better system for keys if this continues to happen, otherwise these developers are playing the odds. They shouldn't be stolen from but knowing it happens and participating anyways is a calculated risk so to complain about it later is ridiculous. Look at any retailer, shrinkage is a part of the budget. It happens, it sucks but it's factored into the cost of doing business. And if Humble bundle or others can't control the shrinkage STOP USING THEM TO SELL YOUR GAMES. Problem solved.

Christopher3295d ago

***Does GameStop know if the game being sold to them is illegally obtained?***

One credit card can buy hundreds if not thousands of game keys in a very small amount of time and is impossible to track.

One credit card can buy a handful of games that won't suspiciously look like someone just bought a ton of games to resell to GameStop for store credit, not actual cash.

Sorry, but they are not the same.

*** They shouldn't be stolen from but knowing it happens and participating anyways is a calculated risk so to complain about it later is ridiculous. ***

100% wrong and just whitewashing the issue to being of no concern. Again, read the article and you will see that this issue isn't just Humble Bundle items but also Steam where people 'gift' codes they own to people using the same techniques.

IceKoldKilla3296d ago

Read the article. The person even updated here so clarify what many of you thought.

wannabe gamer3295d ago (Edited 3295d ago )

creating a marketplace for said fraud and letting it operate then feigning ignorance is a load of crap. no one believes that bs. receiving stolen property is a crime and they have been doing this for so long that they know what is going on behind the scenes yet they choose to ignore it cause they are making so much money in the process.
you supporting them is no different that going to a local pawn shop full of your neighbors stolen items and then saying that it isnt the pawn shops fault that they have been receiving stolen items for the last 5 years and "didnt know"

atticus143295d ago (Edited 3295d ago )

G2A is as shady as it gets. It's the primary place that encourages those who do credit fraud of some sort, to buy a bunch of games, sell them on G2A as fast as you can before the charge-back happens. G2A doesn't do anything to try to stop this, because they just want to collect their fees. The chargeback only hits the devs and they lost many keys in the process, of course they could deactivate the ones that got stolen, but that is a PR nightmare for anyone, especially an Indie Dev.

This is like ebay with no paypal safety net/money back guarantees. How much do they value the safety of buying from them you ask? Well, you are SOL unless you pay an additional insurance fee and maybe even still SOL if they decide to screw you anyway. They also basically try to trick you into buying that insurance and have a convoluted way of unsubscribing from it.

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Lon3wolf3296d ago

Do the devs give the keys away or something as that's only way they wouldn't be paid, unless the keys are stolen.

wannabe gamer3295d ago

the keys are stolen thats the whole point, they are bought wit ha credit card and then a chargeback is done so they get their miney back and keep the keys so the devs dont get paid. g2a then buys the stolen keys from the person that bought them with the chargeback or a stolen card. so the thieve gets paid for something he stole. g2a gets keys really cheap and acts like they are ignorant to how they got this amazing deal

Lon3wolf3295d ago (Edited 3295d ago )

That wasn't in the article yesterday, hence the update on the article. Why I asked 17 hrs ago.

DarkOcelet3296d ago

The devs receive nothing because those game keys were already bought a first time and they got their cut the first time. So they shouldn't expect to get paid a second time if those game keys went to sale.

PixelGateUk3296d ago

From what i understand, it seems to be concerns stemming around stolen keys or keys bought with stolen card details etc. It's all a bit murky at the moment, still wait for them to reply to get a clearer idea

rdgneoz33296d ago

Unless their servers were hacked, the keys were stolen. If they were bought with stolen cards, that's another issue and headaches for a lot of people. One of their partners is Humble Bundle, which sells keys at time for as little or as much as you want, and you can choose to have the money you spend go to a charity and not the devs. They're a digital eBay, instead of going after them they should be going after their partners giving away keys for free / selling their keys without splitting the profits or the ones buying stuff with stolen cards.

ThePope3296d ago

Good for them I mean its places like G2A that makes all these games that we love! give them the money! Oh wait! They make nothing that we love to play.

yarbie10003296d ago

They make it much easier on my wallet to buy the games I love. Been using them for yrs and not had one bad experience. Great prices for games & XBL/PSN subscriptions. I can see where some people might be a bit salty for overpaying for everything :)

Christopher3296d ago

Poor logic.

It's good for me, so it must be good in general!

You can go to the guy on the corner and get a rip of the latest album for a $1, that doesn't mean it's good for the economy. Because it isn't. This is why people came up with DRM, consoles, online authentication, and more. By supporting methods that allow the circumvention of the standard retailer process and encourage illegal activities, you are actually encouraging them to create systems that we complain about all the time here while being ignorant of your own actions that have led to it.

wannabe gamer3295d ago (Edited 3295d ago )

yea why bother wondering why you are getting stuff so cheap..... i mean benefits you so no need to research how g2a gets keys so cheap..... its not like the writing has been on the wall all these years screaming "we sell stolen stuff" so you buy your clothing from a child labor sweatshop in bangladesh too cause its cheap and you dont see the kids being beaten?

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60°

Rogue Trader producer reveals his dream project: a CRPG SCP game with an actual budget

Owlcat Games producer Anatoly Shestov reveals his dream project: an SCP game with Owlcat RPG flair and a proper budget.

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Community1d ago
190°

While Layoffs Hit the Industry, Nintendo Retains 98% of Staff Including 78 With Disabilities

TNS: Based on its most recent ESG data, Nintendo boasts a remarkably low staff turnover rate of just 1.9%, with virtually no reported layoffs.

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Community1d 5h ago
Jin_Sakai1d 13h ago

Because Nintendo makes great games.

Yesyes15h ago

It’s unreal that people are downvoting this when they consistently have the best scoring games on metacritic.

1d 11h ago
rlow11d 10h ago

Well it doesn’t surprise me. As much money as they make and how they value their employees. It’s a great company in that regard.

1d 9h ago Replies(1)
drivxr1d 7h ago

Well, when your games remain full price many years after release.

And you make profit off of outdated hardware.

I would be shocked if they couldn't afford to retain their staff.

lodossrage1d 4h ago (Edited 1d 4h ago )

I didn't want to say anything but drivxr is right.

Nintendo always sells at a profit because they purposely use tech that's always 5 or more years behind. And it's also true their games hardly ever get price decreases.

Don't get me wrong, it's great they kept most of their workforce, but making a point to have your tech specs behind everyone else affords that luxury.

Darkegg1d 2h ago

I don’t think it’s their purpose to use old tech. It’s their purpose to make value of software and know their value. Nobody makes games like them that’s for sure. I just don’t appreciate their customer unfriendly policy.

It’s not impossible to take their status. Companies need to have a selection of 8-bit and 16-bit. Now imagine a split screen for 8 player game for SNES Mario kart and selling at $9.99. The problem is that it doesn’t make profit. So many companies won’t invest in “old” technology. Everyone guns for triple AAA modern technology software but honestly we can enjoy modernized 16-bit creative ideas that allows 8-player mayhem. It’s a pipe dream, possible but impossible.

Shane Kim1d 3h ago (Edited 1d 3h ago )

If they ended up kicking people out after all of that stated above, it would be truly shameful.

DivineHand12522h ago

Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Tesla and Meta are all trillion dollar companies yet they are laying people off in large numbers.

I believe the reason Nintendo layoffs off less workers may be a result of their culture. It seems Japanese companies believe in giving their workers long term or life long employment opportunities and will exhaust all options before laying off workers. This is something we don't see much of in the west unfortunately.

Rdeal16h ago

might be something to do with the fact all those companies hire more than 20x the employees than Nintendo

LoveSpuds22h ago(Edited 22h ago)

What the hell are you talking about? It has nothing to do with how profitable they are. Its completely cultural, MS and Sony make stacks of cash and still lay folks off. Nintendo chose not to lay off staff for the same reason their execs took pay cuts to increase staff pay instead; because they value their staff and view them as colleagues, and respect them as such.

If Sony weren't so US centric I fancy they'd fare better too, they should get shot of US and European leadership and go back to when Japanese execs were running the show if you ask me!

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170°

It Shouldn't Take Expedition 33's Success to Remind Square Enix That Turn-Based Still Sells

TNS: Expedition 33 was the wake-up call Square Enix needed, telling it turn-based RPGs are still popular, but that shouldn't have been the case.

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Community3d ago
Relientk773d ago

True, but if it does get it through their thick skulls, then that works.

Although, the Dragon Quest 1 + 2 HD remakes will be turn-based and (the worst kept secret) Final Fantasy IX remake should be turn-based I would imagine. Let's see if any newer games go turn-based too.

thorstein3d ago (Edited 3d ago )

DQIII HD Remake was turned based and very successful. Then there was a really obscure turn based game came Balder's Gate 3. I heard it might have done well.

Profchaos3d ago

I wouldn't be shocked if they switched ff to the vii remake combat system

PapaBop3d ago

It won't get through to them though, despite E33's success, they still won't risk going fully turn based for their big budget projects simply because they are still in the mindset that it needs to be action combat to appeal to the mainstream audience. I hope I'm wrong but don't underestimate just how stubborn Japanese execs can be

barom3d ago

Ya'll are hyping up Expedition 33 too much. Reminder that FF XVI sold 3 million in a week and it took Expedition 33 approximately a month to get to that (33 days to reach 3.3 million).

barom2d ago

1 platform vs 3 platforms
1 week vs 1 month

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DivineHand1253d ago

While it is true that Sqaure Enix has moved away from turn based games compared to how they were in the past, there is a good reason for it.

Older gamers will know this but during the ps2 era, we were flooded with turned based games from Japanese studios and this created a form of fatigue back then going into the next generation.

When Square released FF13, they received heavy criticism for making the game turned based like every other FF game and not doing enough to innovate. This is why they made FF15, FF7 Remake and FF16 have real time combat. It gave the series a fresh spin and has brought in new fans to the series.

I personally would be happy with either turned based FF or the real-time combat version we see today.

Shane Kim3d ago

Remake and Rebirth have "turn based" if you set it in the settings.

Lexreborn23d ago

Dang wish I saw your post before I made mine because we definitely feel the same way lol

Profchaos3d ago (Edited 3d ago )

Yeah hit the nail on the head but its like ww2 games we get hundreds of them then a decade of nothing and people start missing them i think we're going to start seeing them return

Claire, dragon quest even yakuza have seen turn based return

Runechaz2d ago

Every Pokémon game is also a Turn Base RPG.. and selling millions

andy853d ago

Only need to look at their own game DQ 11 approaching 10 million to show there's a market. And that's not as big of a name as FF

Runechaz2d ago

you can also look at the Pokemon game number

Tacoboto3d ago

Another article about Expedition 33 and Square Enix and turn-based games? This is starting to sound like propaganda.

The game didn't sell because it's a turn-based game; it sold and is enjoyed because it's a really freaking good game that released completed at a good price without gamer drama attached to it. No Mtx, no wait-until-it's-patched, minimal bloat, a self-contained story, no multiplatform BS. Just a solid original game that absolutely nails what it intended to do.

Redemption-643d ago

I was just about to say the same thing.

anast3d ago

This comment should have a 100 upvotes, at least.

CrimsonWing693d ago

Maybe try actually listening to the fans who have supported the series for decades. This habit of ignoring your core audience just to chase people who were never interested in Final Fantasy in the first place makes no sense. And when that approach fails, doubling down on it is beyond baffling.

The battle system has never been the main reason non-FF or non-JRPG players stayed away. Gutting the series’ identity to chase a broader market doesn’t attract new players. It just alienates the loyal ones.

Keep going down this road and we’ll end up with Final Fantasy Fortnite abomination or a F2P Battle Royale game.. Oh wait…

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