They're a key marketplace. They can buy your keys or sell other people's keys to you.

Now how exactly people get them for that cheap is a different matter. There's a reason Steam has been forced to implement region locks recently, especially in Russia and Eastern Europe, and why Humble Bundle until very recently locked all keys to your Steam account when you bought them (Steam broke the OAuth they were using for that, which is why they reverted to Steam keys).

 

Welp. Lost wallet with about 90 euro and all my cards inside.

There go my dreams of playing Witcher, I guess. The hype was good while it lasted.

 

G2A is an unauthorized retailer and is incredibly risky. It should never be your first option when buying games, especially when their prices suck most of the time. There have been multiple instances where G2A keys have been revoked, due to fraudulent purchases, like Natural Selection 2, Sniper Elite 3, and the entire AC U/FC4 debacle not long ago. People seem to think it's a legitimate retailer when it isn't, not by a long shot.

 

Its cheap. And those cases rarely happen.

 

I've admittedly bought a few keys from G2A, never heard anything about them being dodgy - although I never looked. Had no problems so far.

 

I've heard bad things, and though I have bought from them a couple of times, it is always a risk. The question is if the price is worth the risk

 

They happen more often than you think, the bigger incidents are the only ones that get publicized.

Not to mention, quite often, you're supporting the reseller far more than the actual publisher/dev. There have been many instances, as an example, where listings of indie games on G2A have been of people pretending to be youtubers and selling the free press copies they receive. The devs would actually make more money off you pirating the game then buying it later during a sale, which just emphasizes the level of the gray market nowadays.

Plus, their prices suck for "legit" copies. There have been many instances where the prices they're asking for are significantly higher than legitimate retailers that are selling the game. As an example, G2A marketplace is currently selling Life is Strange Complete Season for $14.19 + $1.10 shield. You can buy a key from a legitimate retailer for $10.

Enhanced Steam, as an addon, tracks sales and pricing for you from legitimate retailers, so it's even easier to see sales.

 

Well, my train of thought is... Check Steam prices, too expensive? Check G2A, or GoG for that matter. Either way, cheapest wins. I don't necessarily just look at G2A's price tag. Low pricing does not beat smart buying.

Also, not all G2A games are "free press copies". Most of them are low priced because of Steam's stupid ass policy of selling games at a higher price in an area and lower price in another. They just take advantage of that fact and buy the games that are sold cheaper and sell it to an area (NA, EU) that Steam games are sold for higher price tags.

 

Oh G2A is sketchy as fuck, but I wanted to play modern warfare 2 for nostalgia (don't judge) and it was like five bucks compared to twenty. Or shit, I got watch dogs for literally a dollar.

Isthereanydeal.com is another good site for finding deals, but if everything on there is a bit too pricey for your blood G2A might have something for cheaper.

Still sketchy as shit and a bit morally eh though. Up to you if you care enough about that to purchase some there else.

It's the sorta site you don't spend a lot of money on.

 

There are no regional pricing differences now, at least substantially, unless you live in Australia, in which case, they fuck you in the ass. Literally, the differences in regions between EU, NA, and Japan is a max of $2-$4 on average, with very few exceptions. Every other cheaper region has been completely region locked to the run time level. Thus, yes, if a game is cheaper than the historical low via legit retailers and it isn't in a graphics card promotion, the only way it could possibly be cheaper is through illegitimate methods such as stolen credit cards or press copies.

 

Steam Summer Sale starts June 11th!

Something to keep in mind

 

Remember, that only counts if you haven't played the game a lot yet.

 

It's that time again.

 

As always.

 

Not necessarily anymore, not with refunds. As Big Z said above.

 

Gotta say though, it's pretty hilarious hearing about all the scummy shit going on where some companies are just increasing prices right before they go on sale. 10/10 classy shit.

 

Yeah, definitely. They slap on a "big" discount but it doesn't go below historical minimums. Enhanced Steam is your friend, guys.