How come so cheap on third party websites?

[RandalMcdaniel]

I remmeber when mortal kombat X came out people were selling it on (cant say name it gets censored) for only $18.. Which blew my mind. And not only that but thousands of copies were sold at that price. I was really confused considering it was a $60 game..

What confuses me most is that this seemingly legit website is even sponsored by pewdiepie..

So i look up madmax on this third party retailers and its $16... sixteen freaking dollars. With over 30k copies sold.. And all people redeeming them said they work just fine..

How? Just how?

What confuses me is this.. The only company on earth that can PRODUCE cd-keys that are compatible with steam is steam itself correct? So how do these keys get out by the thousands?

[BackdireinEis]

Got one of this key two.

[RandalMcdaniel]

And whats even weirder is i have never seen steam try and go against this website or try and shut it down.. But if you type in the name of this website in chat it gets censored

[Viggo Kirtelgaard]

Isnt there a chance that the keys are bought by stolen credit cards or just stolen cd-keys? If thats the case steam can remove your game from your libary.

[ExtraSpaghetti]

g2a oh my god it does haha

[Zecele]

Simple, the CD Key sites buy the keys from cheaper countries then sell them for a profit.

[✠Der Ehrwürden✠]

Originally posted by Psychomis:

Isnt there a chance that the keys are bought by stolen credit cards or just stolen cd-keys? If thats the case steam can remove your game from your libary.

This is actually false, as Zecele said it's probably pretty much that, but we may never know. What I do know is they do not steal peoples information and buy the games with said information. Every retailer I know uses Paypal so it's safe. I've bought a few games off Kingu1n and they still remain in my library such as Mad Max. Even popular streamers advertise Kingu1n and give out give aways. I hardly believe in paying for a 60 dollar game nowadays with the way developers and companies are. Very few games deserve my full 60 dollars. Either way most retailers still buy them legitley and sell them for a cheaper price, I'm not going to complain.

[RandalMcdaniel]

its simply too large of an operation for the keys to be illegal. We are talking about thousands of keys here. If its illegal than someone is dropping the ball hard for these guys to get illegal cdkeys.

Didnt some company revoke third party keys from some site once before?

For most people $16+ the risk of having your game removed is far more appealing than paying $60

[Viper]

The keys themselves are not illegal. The crime to obtain them and sell them is whats illegal. And there are many grey market sites that allow people to sell there keys and they get a small % of the sale. They also buy a lot of games in Russia for very very cheap and resell at a profit. So yes you do have chance of losing your game if you buy from a grey market reseller. So if you buy a game purchased with a stolen credit card. The game will initially work. But then later you will find it no longer exists in your library. Does not matter if its a big operation or not. G 2 * is a large operation and they are grey market. Guaranteed if a game is very cheap then your taking a risk buying it.

[RandalMcdaniel]

But a lot of these grey market websites have the prices of games (during the release time) at similar prices to steam for $55 or $60 which makes sense.

My question is why every once in a while do games like mkx and this go for less than $20 at release when its clearly a $59.99 MSRP

^^THOSE rare times with the cheap prices like that is what makes me skeptical of where the keys come from. And its not like ONE GUY is selling them all so cheap. There are like 10 sellers who all have that cheap price as well.

I wonder if these guys will ever be investigated or anything..

But in order to have a paypal approved website you have to prove genuinity of your site and be trustworthy.. So idk what to think anymore

[Viper]

Originally posted by RandalMcdaniel:

But a lot of these grey market websites have the prices of games (during the release time) at similar prices to steam for $55 or $60 which makes sense.

My question is why every once in a while do games like mkx and this go for less than $20 at release when its clearly a $59.99 MSRP

Because somebody purchased the game is Russia for $10 and is still reselling at a profit.

[RandalMcdaniel]

Originally posted by Viper:

Originally posted by RandalMcdaniel:

But a lot of these grey market websites have the prices of games (during the release time) at similar prices to steam for $55 or $60 which makes sense.

My question is why every once in a while do games like mkx and this go for less than $20 at release when its clearly a $59.99 MSRP

Because somebody purchased the game is Russia for $10 and is still reselling at a profit.

I dont think so because the russian copies are even cheaper like $4-9 and can not be redeemed in US region

[Viper]

Originally posted by RandalMcdaniel:

Originally posted by Viper:

Because somebody purchased the game is Russia for $10 and is still reselling at a profit.

I dont think so because the russian copies are even cheaper like $4-9 and can not be redeemed in US region

Well then they make even more profit. Many games are not region locked.Russians buy up all the boxed copies and then just throw everything away but the key and resell at a profit. Its a pretty major deal right now in the video game industry.

[RandalMcdaniel]

Well if it is in fact legal, i guess its a good way to save money.

However i would like steam to give word of their official stance on these websites

[Silver]

Originally posted by RandalMcdaniel:

I remmeber when mortal kombat X came out people were selling it on (cant say name it gets censored) for only $18.. Which blew my mind. And not only that but thousands of copies were sold at that price. I was really confused considering it was a $60 game..

What confuses me most is that this seemingly legit website is even sponsored by pewdiepie..

So i look up madmax on this third party retailers and its $16... sixteen freaking dollars. With over 30k copies sold.. And all people redeeming them said they work just fine..

How? Just how?

What confuses me is this.. The only company on earth that can PRODUCE cd-keys that are compatible with steam is steam itself correct? So how do these keys get out by the thousands?

When a game is on steam.
Steam takes 40% of the prize income.
I think thats why the games are so exspensive on steam
because since Steam takes so much the price has to be high for the game developer also to make money.
The game key sites takes less money for having the keys
but i dont know how much they take?

[WhiteSosa]

Originally posted by RandalMcdaniel:

Well if it is in fact legal, i guess its a good way to save money.

However i would like steam to give word of their official stance on these websites

there is no way in hell its legal. Why would it be? Use your head. If the game is being sold for $60 bucks on Steam, and $20 bucks and lower on anyother website, How in the hell does that seem legit to you? lol. obviosly steam takes a portion of the profit off the $60 dollar steam price, but it aint no 40 bucks..