Controversial PC game key reseller G2A.com fights fires in Reddit AMA
"We are getting downvoted to hell."
G2A.com, the controversial online marketplace for PC video game keys, did a Reddit AMA this week - and it didn't go well.
G2A.com, which has been accused of everything from scamming developers to facilitating the sale of fraudulently obtained game keys, was taken to task by the Reddit community.
Such was the negativity towards G2A.com, that you have to change the comment sorting from "best" to "Q&A" because, as a rep from G2A.com put it, "we are getting downvoted to hell".
As part of the AMA, G2A.com denied a raft of accusations, including:
- G2A sells pirated keys
- G2A is a gray market
- G2A doesn't handle seller verification properly
- G2A Shield is a shady service that takes too long to deactivate
- And developers lose money because of the marketplace
There are a few answers from G2A.com that are worth highlighting:
And:
The animosity reached boiling point after one Redditor highlighted a contradiction between the reality of selling keys on G2A.com and its statement on marketplace protection.
The back and forth is archived on Imgur, but in short, the user revealed how quick and easy it is to get a key verified on G2A.com. The Redditor even added a fake listing, which passed the website's verification process.
G2A.com's response to this was to ban the user's account. This did not go down well.
G2A spent most of 2016 trying to reverse its negative reputation in the industry. In June, Microsoft supplied G2A with over 550 game codes it believed were bought on a third-party site with stolen credit cards. G2A said it was able to identify the keys and remove them from auction. Punch Club publisher TinyBuild had previously claimed G2A sold nearly half a million dollars' worth of its games - and it didn't receive a penny in return. Eventually, G2A.com announced plans to give developers royalties on third-party auctions.
"We are not hurting the gaming industry," G2A.com said in the Reddit AMA. "We honestly want to work with developers, because we want to help them out."
Unfortunately for G2A.com, it seems its answers - and its explanations for its business practice - have fallen on deaf ears.