# G2A legal?



## Punk (Jan 28, 2015)

Hey guys, 

I bought a Far Cry 4 + Season pass key a week ago and today it disappeared from my Uplay menu and the key has been banned. Do you guys have any idea of what's going on? I left a question on Ubisoft's website, waiting for a reply.

Are those G2A keys actually legal? Has anyone else ever experienced such problems?


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## Darren (Jan 28, 2015)

I remember seeing something on reddit that Uplay was removing keys that were purchased through G2A and other third party key distributors. I don't know anything beyond that and don't have time to find a source at the moment. It's Uplay that's got a problem, not G2A.


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## beers (Jan 28, 2015)

Apparently there are a few articles floating around that they are pulling keys from sites like that where the original key was stolen or similar (fraudulent credit cards, etc) and then sold on those sites.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/2tl4k7/ubisoft_is_removing_games_from_uplay_libraries/


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## voyagerfan99 (Jan 28, 2015)

I've always found G2A a bit iffy. It's rare that I actually buy something from there anyway.


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## Punk (Jan 28, 2015)

Well I contacted G2A too but I'm pretty sure I got screwed on this...


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## voyagerfan99 (Jan 28, 2015)

If you bought it with G2A protection, you should be able to get a refund on your key.


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## Punk (Jan 28, 2015)

voyagerfan99 said:


> If you bought it with G2A protection, you should be able to get a refund on your key.



I don't remember if I did but Ubisoft confirmed they were bought with fake credit card accounts...


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## Darren (Jan 28, 2015)

Guess I'm done with G2A. Pity, they had good prices, and borderline Steam Sale level prices basically all the time.


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## Punk (Jan 28, 2015)

Darren said:


> Guess I'm done with G2A. Pity, they had good prices, and borderline Steam Sale level prices basically all the time.



I'm done with them too, trying to get at least my money back then goodbye! But I think that's thirty euros I'll never see again...


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## Darren (Jan 28, 2015)

In case you hadn't seen this. Kind of sounds like an isolated incident to me. 

http://www.vg247.com/2015/01/28/g2a-responds-to-deactivated-far-cry-4-keys-debacle/


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## PCunicorn (Jan 28, 2015)

Afaik, G2A buys keys somehow, I believe its perfectly legal, and resells them. Perhaps they got a bad source this time. Whatever the case, G2A itself is perfectly legit (they're not the ones stealing keys, I guearentee it) and to me at least, its worth having a risk of loosing $15-$35 on a game when I save way more than that all the time.


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## voyagerfan99 (Jan 28, 2015)

PCunicorn said:


> Afaik, G2A buys keys somehow, I believe its perfectly legal, and resells them. Perhaps they got a bad source this time. Whatever the case, G2A itself is perfectly legit (they're not the ones stealing keys, I guearentee it) and to me at least, its worth having a risk of loosing $15-$35 on a game when I save way more than that all the time.



Yes, there is a genuine G2A part to it, but it's like eBay or Amazon where others can sign up and sell keys, but you don't know where those keys came from. That's why when I buy from G2A I always get the extra protection in case there's an issue with the key.


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## G80FTW (Jan 29, 2015)

Darren said:


> Guess I'm done with G2A. Pity, they had good prices, and borderline Steam Sale level prices basically all the time.



I dont understand why people buy that crap from unreliable 3rd party sources anyway....so many red flags on those sites...

If your gonna pay for something, why not just get it from the source?  If your not buying from the source, legitimacy should always be in question.


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## Punk (Jan 29, 2015)

G80FTW said:


> I dont understand why people buy that crap from unreliable 3rd party sources anyway....so many red flags on those sites...
> 
> If your gonna pay for something, why not just get it from the source?  If your not buying from the source, legitimacy should always be in question.



Thank you for your input but money here is a big factor. Like everyone said, G2A is legal and I never had any probelms before hence why I bought some games there. Far Cry 4 + Season Pass is 70 euros, on G2A I paid 30 euros, why the hell would I not buy there...?


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## voyagerfan99 (Jan 29, 2015)

G80FTW said:


> I dont understand why people buy that crap from unreliable 3rd party sources anyway....so many red flags on those sites...
> 
> If your gonna pay for something, why not just get it from the source?  If your not buying from the source, legitimacy should always be in question.



Because I'm not going to pay $50 on Steam for a game worth $10


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## Darren (Jan 29, 2015)

G80FTW said:


> If your gonna pay for something, why not just get it from the source?  If your not buying from the source, legitimacy should always be in question.



....

Aside from this I've never had an issue with G2A and thousands of others haven't either. Sounds like this was an isolated incident and not really G2A's fault. They seem to be working to resolve the issue. There are a lot worse places you can buy a game. After doing more reading I'll probably shop their again, and be sure to get the G2A shield, which you really should anyway given how the site functions. No different than using the protection you get from Paypal when you use Ebay. (I guess Ebay is out of the question as well according to your logic).


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## Punk (Jan 29, 2015)

Darren said:


> ....
> 
> Aside from this I've never had an issue with G2A and thousands of others haven't either. Sounds like this was an isolated incident and not really G2A's fault. They seem to be working to resolve the issue. There are a lot worse places you can buy a game. After doing more reading I'll probably shop their again, and be sure to get the G2A shield, which you really should anyway given how the site functions. No different than using the protection you get from Paypal when you use Ebay. (I guess Ebay is out of the question as well according to your logic).



Anger aside since it's been a few days, yeah I'll probably go back there. Probably, not sure yet. Haven't heard from them since yesterday though.


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## G80FTW (Jan 29, 2015)

Punk said:


> Thank you for your input but money here is a big factor. Like everyone said, G2A is legal and I never had any probelms before hence why I bought some games there. Far Cry 4 + Season Pass is 70 euros, on G2A I paid 30 euros, why the hell would I not buy there...?



Because things like this happen?


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## Darren (Jan 29, 2015)

G80FTW said:


> Because things like this happen?



Because Steam has never had issues with distributing keys, right?

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/new...-Keys-Run-Out-Keeps-On-Selling-Anyway-UPDATED


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## Punk (Jan 29, 2015)

This is the reply I got, they are actually acting good on this:



> Greetings,
> 
> Thank you for providing the screenshots. There have been reports of the keys from Uplay being banned and as such we have to take a closer look at this problem. We have already started the investigation regarding this case, which involves contact with the sellers, suppliers and Uplay to clarify the issue. We will do our best to solve it as soon as possible. This will result in either you receiving a new key or being fully refunded for the purchase. As such I would like to ask you in advance which solution would best suit you:
> 
> ...


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## G80FTW (Jan 30, 2015)

Darren said:


> Because Steam has never had issues with distributing keys, right?
> 
> http://www.escapistmagazine.com/new...-Keys-Run-Out-Keeps-On-Selling-Anyway-UPDATED



Theres a difference between running out of keys, and selling bad/stolen keys....

To my knowledge, Steam has never sold "bad" keys.

And then here is the other issue I have, the reason it is cheaper is because you are only buying keys, not the actual game.  So, if you wanna be legit about it then you have to have bought the game from another source, and if you had bought the game from another source it would have came with a key to begin with. So the only real reason to buy a key without the game, is because the game is not a legit copy.


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## Punk (Jan 30, 2015)

G80FTW said:


> And then here is the other issue I have, the reason it is cheaper is because you are only buying keys, not the actual game.  So, if you wanna be legit about it then you have to have bought the game from another source, and if you had bought the game from another source it would have came with a key to begin with. So the only real reason to buy a key without the game, is because the game is not a legit copy.



What the hell are you talking about?

Everything you buy on G2A is legit, the only difference is that the keys comes from other sellers, hence why you have to pay for the VAT. Most of the sellers buy a bunch of keys during Steam/Origin sales then sell them on G2a when there are no sales. You're also only buying keys on Steam and origin, the only difference is that G2A doesn't have it's own gaming software with a library that makes your game magically appear as soon as you've completed your purchase.


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## voyagerfan99 (Jan 30, 2015)

Punk said:


> This is the reply I got, they are actually acting good on this:



That looks like some good customer service :good:


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## Punk (Jan 30, 2015)

voyagerfan99 said:


> That looks like some good customer service :good:



Went for the refund and I'll just buy another key. I'd like to point out that this is some good customer service especially since I hadn't purchased the G2A shield when I got the keys


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## G80FTW (Jan 30, 2015)

Punk said:


> What the hell are you talking about?
> 
> Everything you buy on G2A is legit, the only difference is that the keys comes from other sellers, hence why you have to pay for the VAT. Most of the sellers buy a bunch of keys during Steam/Origin sales then sell them on G2a when there are no sales. You're also only buying keys on Steam and origin, the only difference is that G2A doesn't have it's own gaming software with a library that makes your game magically appear as soon as you've completed your purchase.



Your not only buying keys on Steam and Origin.....otherwise you wouldnt have a game that you just bought...and also a link was just posted where they were selling games without keys...

And obviously not EVERYTHING you buy on G2A is legit, otherwise this wouldnt have happened is all Im saying.

My point is, there is no reason to buy keys if you bought the game. Which is why I would be very cautious of sites that only sell keys, because things like this happen and you end up paying for stolen product.  You may have got a refund, and thats great. But that doesnt take away from the illegitimacy.  Its like a pawn shop I suppose, except that pawn shops get to keep stolen property.


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## Darren (Jan 30, 2015)

You're not making any sense. You talk like keys and games are different. They're not. A key gives you access to the game. If you have a game on Steam or Origin you have a key that you bought with that too. You can't have a game without a key on Steam/Origin.

"No reason to buy keys if you bought the game." What does that even mean? You can't buy a game without a key on an digital distribution site. When you buy a game on Steam you're purchasing a key that gives you access to the software. Sure with Steam it's more "legit" as you say because you're purchasing it from the people that also distribute the software, but you're still buying a key just as you would with G2A.


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## Punk (Jan 30, 2015)

Darren said:


> You're not making any sense. You talk like keys and games are different. They're not. A key gives you access to the game. If you have a game on Steam or Origin you have a key that you bought with that too. You can't have a game without a key on Steam/Origin.
> 
> "No reason to buy keys if you bought the game." What does that even mean? You can't buy a game without a key on an digital distribution site. When you buy a game on Steam you're purchasing a key that gives you access to the software. Sure with Steam it's more "legit" as you say because you're purchasing it from the people that also distribute the software, but you're still buying a key just as you would with G2A.



Yeah, exactly what I tried to explain to him ealier...

On a side note, I got my refund + 5$ discount


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## G80FTW (Jan 31, 2015)

Darren said:


> You're not making any sense. You talk like keys and games are different. They're not. A key gives you access to the game. If you have a game on Steam or Origin you have a key that you bought with that too. You can't have a game without a key on Steam/Origin.
> 
> "No reason to buy keys if you bought the game." What does that even mean? You can't buy a game without a key on an digital distribution site. When you buy a game on Steam you're purchasing a key that gives you access to the software. Sure with Steam it's more "legit" as you say because you're purchasing it from the people that also distribute the software, but you're still buying a key just as you would with G2A.



Im making complete sense because we are saying the same thing....  No reason to buy keys, because the game comes with a key when you buy it. So, what I am asking, is why you would buy a key separate from the game.  

If your buying the key on a website for a fraction of the cost of the game itself, then where would you get the game? It seems rather pointless to me to buy a key from a website which doesnt offer a physical or digital copy of the game with the key you purchased, like Steam does. So in logical terms, it is you who is trying to separate the key and the game.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/too-good-to-be-true-read-this-before-buying-discounted-game-keys/


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## voyagerfan99 (Jan 31, 2015)

G80FTW said:


> Im making complete sense because we are saying the same thing....  No reason to buy keys, because the game comes with a key when you buy it. So, what I am asking, is why you would buy a key separate from the game.
> 
> If your buying the key on a website for a fraction of the cost of the game itself, then where would you get the game? It seems rather pointless to me to buy a key from a website which doesnt offer a physical or digital copy of the game with the key you purchased, like Steam does. So in logical terms, it is you who is trying to separate the key and the game.



You buy the key off the third party website and activate it on the game client (Steam, Origin, uPlay, etc.). DUH!  That's what the "Activate a Product on Steam" menu selection is for.

Once you activate the key, the game is added to your game library and you can download it and play it.


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## G80FTW (Jan 31, 2015)

voyagerfan99 said:


> You buy the key off the third party website and activate it on the game client (Steam, Origin, uPlay, etc.). DUH!  That's what the "Activate a Product on Steam" menu selection is for.



Do those all accept third-party keys though? From what I read, some dont. And then theres still the chance of buying bad keys from a third party...


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## voyagerfan99 (Jan 31, 2015)

G80FTW said:


> Do those all accept third-party keys though? From what I read, some dont. And then theres still the chance of buying bad keys from a third party...



Depends on if the client has the game for sale or not. If they don't sell it, then you can't activate it on the game client.

Also, even if it sells the game, you can't swap keys (you can't use an Origin key on Steam, vice versa - the key is specific to the client).

As for buying the bad key, that's a risk you need to be willing to take. That's why 2A has the shield protection - if you have an issue with a key you bought, you get a replacement or refund like Ben did. Though I personally try to buy direct from G2A when I buy game keys off there.


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## G80FTW (Jan 31, 2015)

voyagerfan99 said:


> Depends on if the client has the game for sale or not. If they don't sell it, then you can't activate it on the game client.
> 
> Also, even if it sells the game, you can't swap keys (you can't use an Origin key on Steam, vice versa - the key is specific to the client).
> 
> As for buying the bad key, that's a risk you need to be willing to take. That's why 2A has the shield protection - if you have an issue with a key you bought, you get a replacement or refund like Ben did. Though I personally try to buy direct from G2A when I buy game keys off there.



I guess I dont buy enough games to want to risk losing any money on it.  Its good that he got a refund, however this may not always be the case..

I actually havent bought any games for PC since the PS4 came out.


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## Punk (Jan 31, 2015)

G80FTW said:


> I guess I dont buy enough games to want to risk losing any money on it.  Its good that he got a refund, however this may not always be the case..
> 
> I actually havent bought any games for PC since the PS4 came out.



No it will probably not always be the case but I guess that's since Uplay removed quite a few keys they had to do something. If it was an isolated incident I don't think I would have gotten a refund... :good:


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## Aastii (Jan 31, 2015)

G80FTW said:


> Do those all accept third-party keys though? From what I read, some dont. And then theres still the chance of buying bad keys from a third party...



No

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7480-wusf-3601

Any of these games can be activated on Steam. When you enter the key, it appears in your Steam library. You can then download the game, update the game, mod the game, whatever, at this point there is zero difference between buying a copy through Steam, or via the key.

When you buy a physical copy of a game that must be activated through Steam, as soon as you walk out of the shop, the disc that comes with it is useless. You activate the key through Steam, Install some of the content from the disc and then the rest will download, along with the day one patches and DLC that are becoming more and more common... Again, at this point there is zero different between buying a physical copy, or through Steam, or via a key.


Aside from that there are other uses. For instance, I have Warcraft 3 + TFT, but I cannot find my booklet that came with WC3. Since you need to activate WC3 to play TFT online, my online TFT is pretty much useless. If I so chose, I could buy a key for WC3 and use it to play. Don't have to go to the shop to get a copy, don't have to wait for it to be shipped, I already have the physical media, all I needed was another key.


There are indeed some dodgy sites out there, but you get dodgy ebay sellers, dodgy shops on the street, dodgy etailers... If there is a way to make money in a dubious way, someone will find it. Just because there is "a guy" selling stolen TV's in a back alley does not make all electronics retailers sketchy as well. The same is true here.

All that has been displayed by G2A is a distribution hitch. Something similar happened to Sniper Elite 3 where a shipment was stolen and the keys sold on. These were caught and banned, HOWEVER, unlike Ubisoft, Rebellion and 505 actually helped out the customers and retailers, not just remove the game with no explanation.

The people at fault here are not G2A, who from what Punk has said have been awesome throughout this, it is partly down to those that dubiously sold the keys, but mostly down to retailers and publishers. If they released the games at the same prices throughout the world, rather than cheaper elsewhere, this sort of practice would not happen, and everyone would benefit. When you pay you 70 bucks for a game, it is being sold in India, Russia and throughout Africa for 20. Explain how buying from a "legit" source is fair when you are getting charged 3+x more for an identical product, and how obtaining it for a price closer to it's actual value is somehow bad?


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## Darren (Jan 31, 2015)

That^


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## Darren (Feb 4, 2015)

Just got a 30 day free sub to G2A shield. They're trying to do damage control.


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## Darren (Feb 23, 2015)

Welp I just purchased 180 days of WoW game time on there. After doing a questionable key redemption process involving screen sharing with a representative, they sent me a key. I added it to my account and it showed up as "pending". Got an email this morning saying there was a problem and contacting Blizzard and they told me the key was fraudulent. I purchased G2A shield with it and contacted G2A. They told me to take it up with the seller first. I'll probably end up with a refund at some point. More just of an annoyance.

I did pay 50 USD for 6 months of game time, when it's normally 15 dollars a month. Get the short end of the stick sometimes when you're bargain hunting.


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## C4C (Feb 24, 2015)

Tells me to steer clear of G2A... I'll stick to grocery stores (like Walmart) and Amazon for disk/DRM-free downloads haha.. 

Edit: Humble Bundle does deals too though... Almost forgot about them.. https://www.humblebundle.com/store


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## Darren (Feb 24, 2015)

I was refunded within the day. I was pretty suspicious going in considering it was so flipping cheap. 

If you use the G2A shield and are willing to deal with the potential headache I think it's still worth it considering you can get really good prices a lot of the time. Shield basically guarantees it works or a refund and it's only an extra buck and change.


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## voyagerfan99 (Feb 24, 2015)

So why did you need to do screen sharing? That part confuses me.


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## Darren (Feb 24, 2015)

I could do it without but to get the shield she had to watch me actually redeem the code. Which I did. It didn't show until the next day that it was invalid. Game time works a bit differently than actual games so it was a bit weird.


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## voyagerfan99 (Feb 24, 2015)

Oh okay. Makes a little sense at least.


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## Darren (Feb 24, 2015)

They're "out of stock" on G2A for what I bought. Hopefully they booted that specific seller because there was still stock after I bought mine but before I got my refund.


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## Darren (Mar 1, 2015)

Took G2A 5 days but finally got my refund. I'm definitely iffy on buying from them from now on. I'll stay away from game time cards for sure.


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