Confused on Steam Play and Proton? Be sure to check out our guide.
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.
We've had colourful discussions about G2A in our Telegram group, IRC, reddit and other places. Some people don't care and just want cheap games, but for those of you who want to support not only Linux, but gaming in general—read on.

I've written before about how IndieGameStand has to deal with fraud, and it's not pretty.

The developer tinyBuild originally had their own shop on their website, which they had to shut down due to chargebacks. They noticed that later G2A would suddenly get a bunch of keys to their games.

Here's the developer tinyBuild on how G2A has sold approximately $450,000 worth of their games without them being compensated.
Note: Seems their website is now suffering problems, here's a screen-grab of the article.

The developer emailed the store, and got a reply along the lines of "you won't get a penny from us, start selling your games on our store or we won't do anything about it".

tinybuildIn short, G2A claims that our distribution partners are scamming us and simply selling keys on G2A. They won’t help us unless we are willing to work with them. We are not going to get compensated, and they expect us to undercut our own retail partners (and Steam!) to compete with the unauthorized resellers.


Stores like G2A make me very angry, ripping off developers and gamers and by the looks of it they don't give a hoot, disgusting.

If you didn't know about this, fair enough, but I urge you to stop now. If you buy from G2A and you understand this, you're not helping developers at all. I implore you: if you use G2A just stop.

I should note, that I don't personally see anything wrong in selling on keys you legally own and haven't used to someone else. The problem is that stores like G2A built a business around it, which has obviously attracted the attention of a fair amount of scammers using stolen credit cards to buy keys and sell on. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Editorial
0 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
90 comments
Page: «2/9»
  Go to:

guzzard Jun 20, 2016
And now tinybuild.com is down.. within hours of posting damning information about G2A.. coincidence? I think not... disgusting :><:

http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/tinybuild.com
Liam Dawe Jun 20, 2016
Quoting: guzzardAnd now tinybuild.com is down.. within hours of posting damning information about G2A.. coincidence? I think not... disgusting :><:

http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/tinybuild.com
Incoming G2A ddos on GOL in 5...4....3...
DrMcCoy Jun 20, 2016
Quoting: EhvisFor instance, let the cheap Russian version only have the Russian language
Limiting language selection is pretty crummy for expats living in places where they don't speak the local language well enough.

Or for people who prefer the original over a potentially bad localization. Hell knows I'm pretty annoyed with the TV situation here in Germany (though it is getting a bit better, partially), where I have to wait a year to see a show in a badly done German dub, with no option to even get the original (apart from waiting another year for a physical copy).

And seeing how abysmal German, which is in theory relatively close to English still, translations of English games can be, I'm sure Russian translations are very often very very bad.


Last edited by DrMcCoy on 20 June 2016 at 9:05 pm UTC
guzzard Jun 20, 2016
Quoting: liamdawe
Quoting: guzzardAnd now tinybuild.com is down.. within hours of posting damning information about G2A.. coincidence? I think not... disgusting :><:

http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/tinybuild.com
Incoming G2A ddos on GOL in 5...4....3...

Wouldn't be surprised at all if those crooks had something to do with it.. tinybuild.com responding now but with a blank page stating "Error establishing a database connection"..
ProfessorKaos64 Jun 20, 2016
I diligently check the "Key Resellers and What They Mean For You" page on /r/linux_gaming whenever I even consider doing such a thing.
qptain Nemo Jun 20, 2016
Quoting: DrMcCoy
Quoting: EhvisFor instance, let the cheap Russian version only have the Russian language
Limiting language selection is pretty crummy for expats living in places where they don't speak the local language well enough.

Or for people who prefer the original over a potentially bad localization. Hell knows I'm pretty annoyed with the TV situation here in Germany (though it is getting a bit better, partially), where I have to wait a year to see a show in a badly done German dub, with no option to even get the original (apart from waiting another year for a physical copy).

And seeing how abysmal German, which is in theory relatively close to English still, translations of English games can be, I'm sure Russian translations are very often very very bad.
Yeah, I'm with DrMcCoy here, forcing a particular non-original language on a copy of a game is really really uncool.
Linas Jun 20, 2016
View PC info
  • Supporter Plus
Can somebody explain to me how would G2A "suddenly get a bunch of keys"? Where do they come from?
qptain Nemo Jun 20, 2016
Quoting: LinasCan somebody explain to me how would G2A "suddenly get a bunch of keys"? Where do they come from?
As far as I understand the process is roughly as follows:
· The scammer purchases a bunch of keys with their fake credit card.
· They get the keys.
· Only then their rigged credit card returns some kind of "oops, not really" response to the bank of the developer/store/whatever, effectively aborting/reversing the transaction.
As the result the scammer now has working keys for free.

edit: right, DrMcCoy's explanation is more on point, I was remembering things wrong


Last edited by qptain Nemo on 20 June 2016 at 9:37 pm UTC
DrMcCoy Jun 20, 2016
It's more like that they use stolen credit card information. The "oops, not really" is the original owner later discovering that a charge was made with the card that was stolen, and directing the bank to charge it back.
Samsai Jun 20, 2016
Quoting: qptain NemoAs far as I understand the process is roughly as follows:
· The scammer purchases a bunch of keys with their fake credit card.
· They get the keys.
· Only then their rigged credit card returns some kind of "oops, not really" response to the bank of the developer/store/whatever, effectively aborting/reversing the transaction.
As the result the scammer now has working keys for free.
There are also scammers that pretend to be game reviewers, livestreamers and youtubers and sell the promo keys they get. This likely only accounts for a small fraction of the fraudulent keys entering the market but it hurts people like us in addition to the developers.
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.