TinyBuild reached out to G2A to figure out if they could get some compensation for the keys, as well as trying to figure out exactly where the keys came from. Thousands of transactions were hit with chargebacks at once, leading to the store's quick closing. tinyBuild itself saw this in action when they had their own store for a short while. Obviously, retailers don't get their product, the keys, back, so any one merchant could potentially cost them thousands of dollars. The result is that nearly all of those fraudulent charges will then end in a chargeback, which forces a retailer to return the money used to buy the keys.

Put them up onto G2A and sell them at half the retail price.

Go to a bundle/3rd party key reseller and buy a ton of game keys.

Get ahold of a database of stolen credit cards on the darkweb.

He said his core business model was thus: They say they spoke with a successful merchant on G2A, who makes about $3-4 thousand a month. tinyBuild's issues with G2A are only the most recent in a long line, but they do serve as a great background for a discussion into why G2A is a terrible thing for the gaming industry and consumers.įor further information on G2A, their shady services and shady dealings, check out our article here about their clash with Gearbox. Not only illegally obtained, but the way in which they obtain them directly hurts developers/publishers. However, what G2A is often used for, very often in fact, is selling illegally obtained keys.

On the surface, sounds like a good idea to let us all make a couple bucks back on codes we would otherwise do nothing with. Essentially, G2A is a third-party site where anyone can come and sell their unwanted, or extra copies of, game keys, whether it's leftover from some bundle you bought or what have you. If you've been paying attention to the gaming world, specifically the industry news, you'll no doubt have heard about the rumblings developer and publisher tinyBuild has been making in regards to G2A.

G2a pit people download free