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G2A says it isn't damaging perception of value for games

G2A says it isn't damaging perception of value for games

Key marketplace G2A has said it is not responsible for eroding how much people think games are worth.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, comms boss Maciej Kuc defended the company from accusations that by offering game keys for a price much lower than the RRP that consumers view titles as being worth less month. The head of communications says that, in fact, a lot of indie developers and publishers offer launch discounts which he says does exactly what these studios are complaining about.

"And yet it's G2A's fault that the perception of value is...? Come on," Kuc said.

"You have full control [over the price], you can generate as many keys as you want, you can sell the game on Steam for a price you set. But it's G2A's fault the perception of value is worse?

"Our goal - and we're not hiding it - is we want to raise awareness among people that games can be cheaper. That's exactly what we do. But we're not saying that games are not worth your money. If you're discounting your game the first day... People who missed that, what do they do? Do they pay more, or do they wait for discount?"

Renewed criticism of G2A erupted in July of this year when Mike Rose of indie publisher No More Robots took to Twitter to take issue with the company buying Google ads advertising game keys when people looked them up. The developer of No More Robots-published Descenders Rage Squid said that it'd rather users pirate their game than buy from G2A.

The marketplace published a blog post in the wake of this criticism that details how its business actually operates. The company also launched a key blocking tool that would allow developers and publishers to stop keys being sold that were meant for giveaways or reviews, though companies weren't in a rush to sign up for the scheme.

At Gamescom 2018, we caught up with G2A to see - ironically - how the company had managed to turn around its perception, given that it hadn't been caught in any controversy for some time. That piece has aged well.


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.