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Key reseller site GamesDeal now lets consumers gamble for game codes

Key reseller site GamesDeal now lets consumers gamble for game codes

A key reseller called GamesDeal has adopted an 'interesting' approach to shifting digital codes.

As brought to our attention by MCV, the marketplace has started letting consumers gamble in order to get their purchases. For example, gamers can pay $16.29 for Playerunknown's Battlegrounds, but there's only a 50 per cent chance they will actually get the key.

If you don't get the key for the game you actually wanted, you still get a key for another title. For example, MCV failed to get PUBG, but did get a key for Hockey Space, which costs $5.40.

It's not just PUBG, either, with Grand Theft Auto V, Battlefield 1, Counter-Strike: GO, Rocket League, Prey, The Evil Within 2 and Middle-earth: Shadow of War also up for grabs.

Purchases made via this 50/50 option are also non-refundable.

As if that wasn't enough, the experience in its entirety sounds pretty awful. MCV reports that Paypal was blocked by the site's security system, with a subsequent call meant to verify their identity. This phone call only came through on the third attempt.

All this negativity aside, and while the core premise of this system is pretty weak, GamesDeal is very upfront and honest about the fact that this is gambling and that users will not always win something.

In these dark times, these are the things we're thankful for.


PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.