Is G2A legit?

[It's Not Lupus]

Is this a legit store front? Do you have any experiences buying here?

I'm looking to buy Diablo 2 and the expansion, and it's cheaper to buy here than a retail $20 battle chest. I'm in the US.





Locking this as it appears this company and others may be circumventing the laws and/or terms of service to acquire their wares and we do not support such things here.

Thank you.

Anandtech Administrator
KeithTalent

 

[Bateluer]

Yes, its legit. But, it is a UK focused site, to the best of my knowledge. I know there were some crackdowns from Steam and other places on killing regional keys though. Don't think that applied to G2A.

I've bought a few Steam keys from G2A a while back.

 

[DefDC]

I've been buying most of my games from G2A lately. Been legit for at least a dozen games or more for me.

 

[CPA]

Never heard of this site. So, it's an auction house for game keys?

edit: front page says they are based out of Hong Kong, not the UK.

 

[Leopardos]

Very legit....
I buy from G2A or CJS only, they have cheaper prices than steam....

I had a problem with G2A once,i bought a CD-key (per-order) they was late delivering the CD-key to per-load it, so i cancelled and they refunded me right away without even asking for the refund reason...

 

[MeldarthX]

G2A and cdkeys.com are places I buy from; I had a couple issues with keys from both places; aka picture sucked and couldn't tell what the key was and they took care of me right away and cdkeys gave me 10% discount off next order because of how long I'd been ordering from then and they wanted to apologize for the issue....

cdkeys tends to be just a hair cheaper than G2A at times also

 

[Mem]

Yes,I've brought a key or two from them,also used gamemafia.pro and a few others with no issues.

 

[imaheadcase]

The actually sell win 8.1 to Win 8.1 Pro upgrade keys for like $40. I used it to upgrade stream box to Pro, took like 5min and was done. Worked like a charm.

Lots of Twitch streamers use it because of its nice referral program.

 

[darkewaffle]

Most of these sites are legit in that they are selling actual keys, but in general selling Region X keys in Region Y is a gray area practice.

 

[smackababy]

Never heard of this site. So, it's an auction house for game keys?

edit: front page says they are based out of Hong Kong, not the UK.

Being HK based, I'd avoid it just to not have to deal with any hassle of grey market keys.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

yeah they're legit. bought from them a few times. great site for new releases.

 

[Danrr]

Just look for region-lock games on steam.

I think this sites buy keys in countries were the prices are in the local currency, a game in the US sells for $59.99 USD, but in Mexico it sells for $699.99 MXN, that's $46.66 USD the same applies to other countries and in Asia countries are far more cheaper.

 

[clok1966]

Most of these sites are legit in that they are selling actual keys, but in general selling Region X keys in Region Y is a gray area practice.

Its an odd thing, you take a country where the average game price is $60 for a AAA title (US) and then some countries is $20-$30 equivalent ..Its based on income averages.. you don't sell a game for $60 in country where most people make that a week. many companies would just not sell it , but some lower the price (and make almost nothing) to get it out there. Almost all licences (games too) are sold by region. SO its not GRAY, it is illegal in almost all cases (not all), many of the countries the keys are sold in do not have laws on this, but most of the countries (US/UK/etc) do have laws.. so for the company to sell the keys, not Illegal, for you to buy them in the US/UK/etc it is. As it costs money to track keys, make region specific keys etc. its not done.

will it work, pretty much, who is going to track you down?

 

[smackababy]

Its an odd thing, you take a country where the average game price is $60 for a AAA title (US) and then some countries is $20-$30 equivalent ..Its based on income averages.. you don't sell a game for $60 in country where most people make that a week. many companies would just not sell it , but some lower the price (and make almost nothing) to get it out there. Almost all licences (games too) are sold by region. SO its not GRAY, it is illegal in almost all cases (not all), many of the countries the keys are sold in do not have laws on this, but most of the countries (US/UK/etc) do have laws.. so for the company to sell the keys, not Illegal, for you to buy them in the US/UK/etc it is. As it costs money to track keys, make region specific keys etc. its not done.

will it work, pretty much, who is going to track you down?

I actually don't believe grey market sales are illegal, especially for software licenses. This is due to there not being an import restrictions on the products being sold and 'imported'. Something like prescription drugs, wouldn't be grey market, as the importation is restricted by law already. That would be black market goods, even if both are legal drugs.

However, certain entities that validate the keys (Steam, for example) have the right to refuse a key or revoke access if it is from a region other than the normal region the user operates in.

 

[Super56K]

They are not legitimate. GreenManGaming, for example, is an authorized seller who gets keys direct from publishers, but sites like G2A do not. G2A has been called out in the past for doing sketchy stuff. Yes, you as the purchaser will likely be fine and get your key and activate successfully, but whether the makers of the game ever see a nickle from you is another story.

Everyone remember the Humble Bundle changes about getting Steam keys and minimum purchase price to get them? Sites like G2A among others had long been bulk buying bundles for pennies to resell. Heck, you still see key reseller sites among the 'top donors' doing some advertising.

Here's an interesting take from the Natural Selection 2 makers where they had $30,000 worth of lost revenue and credit card charge backs from purchases made with stolen cards (they lose the game sale plus get hit with a $22 charge back fee): http://unknownworlds.com/blog/beware-shady-key-resellers-and-discount-steam-keys/

I've bought numerous things from Nuuvem and other unauthorized sellers, but anymore sales are all so aggressive from authorized sellers that I've decided not to be lured in because it's impossible to know how they obtained their keys.

 

[smackababy]

I've bought numerous things from Nuuvem and other unauthorized sellers, but anymore sales are all so aggressive from authorized sellers that I've decided not to be lured in because it's impossible to know how they obtained their keys.

I haven't purchased from grey market sites, and I don't simply because of the potential hassle doesn't outweigh the small savings. There are enough sales and legitimate ways to get cheap games, there is no reason to even take the risk of Steam revoking a key I bought.

 

[It's Not Lupus]

Based on recent news, it's clear G2A is shady.

 

[smackababy]

Based on recent news, it's clear G2A is shady.

And what recent news is this?

 

[Mem]

And what recent news is this?

I've no idea what he is talking about,however their main company has a lot of well established partners like Razer,Paypal,IGN,Symantec,DHL, etc to name a few https://www.g2a.co/ .

I just purchased another key for Secret World,no issues at all, good company IMHO.

 

[gothamhunter]

And what recent news is this?

Ubisoft is banning all (FC4) keys that were purchased from sites like G2A.

 

[ThinClient]

Ubisoft is banning all (FC4) keys that were purchased from sites like G2A.

So, there's a key to all of this. Like, literally.

Places like G2A buy region-specific keys AND they buy global keys.

When they sell their games, somewhere on the sale page will be listed whether this is a region-specific key or a global key. If you're in the United States and you're dumb enough to buy a region-specific key that's not being sold in the united states, well you're an idiot and you get what you deserve. Make sure you check to verify that what you're buying is a global key.

I've missed out on a few sales because the keys offered were region-specific keys.

Then again, companies like Steam could solve this problem by checking the key's region upon submitting the key to add the game to your library. "Sorry, this key is locked to another region" or something like that. Instead, they simply accept every key submitted regardless of region, and then BAN the account later if they find region-specific keys submitted in the wrong region. Entirely brainless solution, Valve, you fail.

In any case, pay attention and make sure that the key you're buying is valid in the region that you're registered in. But yes... G2A is legit.

 

[smackababy]

Ubisoft is banning all (FC4) keys that were purchased from sites like G2A.

Ah, so Ubisoft is tired of these stupid grey market keys scamming them out of money. This is exactly why I avoid these places. Is saving $15 bucks worth this crap? Not to me, but then again, I have a job and can afford to be outside my parents basement.

 

[ThinClient]

Ah, so Ubisoft is tired of these stupid grey market keys scamming them out of money. This is exactly why I avoid these places. Is saving $15 bucks worth this crap? Not to me, but then again, I have a job and can afford to be outside my parents basement.

G2A is not grey market. They buy keys legitimately from the company that sells the game. They buy keys in bulk.

There ARE grey market and black market sites, but G2A is not one of them.

 

[Dankk]

G2A is a gray-market, unauthorized CD key seller. You can buy from them without problems - and many people have - but it can be risky. Publishers have deactivated gray-market games from people's Steam libraries in the past.

 

[Dankk]

I've bought numerous things from Nuuvem and other unauthorized sellers, but anymore sales are all so aggressive from authorized sellers that I've decided not to be lured in because it's impossible to know how they obtained their keys.

Believe it or not, Nuuvem actually is legitimate. They legally acquire their games directly from the publisher and sell them within the publisher-agreed price threshold. The only difference is that they're Brazilian, and pricing works a bit differently down there. Some people from outside South America buy games from there and exploit this fact. But at least it's a legitimate game you're buying.