Key sites, yay or nay

phate101101

phate101101

phate101101

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From looking around it seems most of these key sites are agents, people sell their keys to them, we buy said keys and the key site takes a commission.

I'm guessing most keys originate in countries where the game is cheaper, I.e Russia to name a few so when we buy it for cheap they are still making a profit.

This all seems great except its actually bad for us as gamers in the long run as it reduces game profitibility.
To be honest I'm surprised OC allow links to key sites :/

If you really enjoy a game then buy legit, these sites are anything but legit (just because it works doesn't make it legit) is 40 really THAT much for potentially hundreds of hours of enjoyment?
 
there is only one difference between buying a game on a key site and buying a game on steam.

steam take a bigger piece of the pie.
 
I really don't understand why anyone with an ounce of common sense wouldn't use a reputable key site and save themselves some cash.

As someone already pointed out, if you buy directly from Steam or even GreenManGaming (who's prices have been creeping up for a while)...you're just giving the seller/agent a bigger cut, that's all.
 
~Dockie said:
there is only one difference between buying a game on a key site and buying a game on steam.

steam take a bigger piece of the pie.
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reiyushin said:
ding ding ding ding ding

we have a winner :D
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Hmm not really, it only really ends up hurting the people that made the game.

Steam keys sold from them being bought up in cheaper territories always results in less money to the developer when they are then sold in places like the US and UK.

Cheap prices is great for us gamers, not so much for the people that makes the games. While people like EA and Activision may deserve it in some peoples eyes this also effects smaller indie teams.
 
WiZZyWiGG said:
Hmm not really, it only really ends up hurting the people that made the game.

Steam keys sold from them being bought up in cheaper territories always results in less money to the developer when they are then sold in places like the US and UK.
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Most of the keys sold in the cheaper territories like Russia are region locked these days.
 
WiZZyWiGG said:
Hmm not really, it only really ends up hurting the people that made the game.

Steam keys sold from them being bought up in cheaper territories always results in less money to the developer when they are then sold in places like the US and UK.

Cheap prices is great for us gamers, not so much for the people that makes the games. While people like EA and Activision may deserve it in some peoples eyes this also effects smaller indie teams.
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You're making a lot of assumptions here
 
How does it effect teams that already live in the cheaper territories, like those that create Witcher? Is the reverse then true that when we buy it from steam we're getting ripped off?
 
spoffle said:
You're making a lot of assumptions here
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As a producer at a games publisher this is the kind of thing I have to keep an eye on as part of my day to day. CD key reselling is a problem in this industry.

a lot of these key sites are not sourcing the keys from the people that made the game, which means they end up making less from each sale.
 
I suppose we should stop buying MP3's as well because we should be paying £12.99 for a compact disc, even though we only want the 1 song.

We should also stop using internet shopping sites because we should use the high street shops that pay massive overheads and pass that cost onto the consumer.

The problem with your train of thought is that it promotes a lazy business environment and costs the consumer far more in the long run.

I would buy direct from the retailers / game developers if they actually charged a reasonable price. PC games have always been £20-£30. Until developers started getting greedy and wanted £40 for the same kind of content.

Additionally, there is a lot to be said for selling cheaper and shifting more volume. Finally, why should people drop £40 on a game when the majority of games released these days are bug ridden beta quality scams? How about developers start putting demos out, like they used to.

Oh, I know why, it is so they can hype the game and then use the bait and switch marketing strategy to cream the profit of pre-orders and give gamers a sub standard game on release.

I think CD key sites are the least of the problems for the games industry. When they fix their morally dubious marketing and sales strategies and their woeful quality control, perhaps then I may be more inclined to pay their asking price.
 
WiZZyWiGG said:
As a producer at a games publisher this is the kind of thing I have to keep an eye on as part of my day to day. CD key reselling is a problem in this industry.

a lot of these key sites are not sourcing the keys from the people that made the game, which means they end up making less from each sale.
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Lending and second hand sales are also "problems", it doesn't mean it's wrong.

That, and you seem to be assuming that we're all talking about grey market serials, though I have no issues with grey market serials, I typically don't bother with them just because of the region locking.

I do typically buy my games from the likes of GMG, whilst they are official distributors, they still come under the title of serial key sites.
 
They keys are bought from the vendor at the same price across the board. How much they are sold for it up to the distributor. So paying £40 on steam compared to £15 on a key site makes NO difference to the developer.

Anyone thinking it does is an idiot and deserves to be ripped off.
 
Your right, big publishers should be punished for their price hiking and broken games... Problem is, that same punishment then gets carried over to the smaller guys who it actually effects more.

I'm not saying people shouldn't get stuff cheaper if they can, (far from it as this is human nature and is a waste of time to try and convince otherwise) but they shouldn't act like its a good thing for all involved.
 
agnes said:
They keys are bought from the vendor at the same price across the board. How much they are sold for it up to the distributor. So paying £40 on steam compared to £15 on a key site makes NO difference to the developer.

Anyone thinking it does is an idiot and deserves to be ripped off.
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You think developers sell keys to places like CJS for less then they sell their game on say Steam?
 
WiZZyWiGG said:
Your right, big publishers should be punished for their price hiking and broken games... Problem is, that same punishment then gets carried over to the smaller guys who it actually effects more.

I'm not saying people shouldn't get stuff cheaper if they can, (far from it as this is human nature and is a waste of time to try and convince otherwise) but they shouldn't act like its a good thing for all involved.
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Oh lawd, please don't try to play the morality card.
 
spoffle said:
Oh lawd, please don't try to play the morality card.
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Nothing of the sort, just trying to explain that anyone thinking that certain key selling sites (not places like GamersGate, Green Man etc..) who do not source their keys directly from the developer is a good thing, is wrong. It only costs the studio money in the long term.

Nothing against people buying them if they want, just don't act like everyone wins.

I can see more and more people region locking Steam keys in the future.
 
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