Is the recent rumor of "Retail Keys Activation Issues" true?

[Infin-Vec]

Some of my friends tells me that they are suffering from some sort of "retail keys activaction issues" in recent days, which means they brought retail keys through retail stores but having some sort of issues that makes them unable to activate those keys.
Is that real? Are there anyone else also suffering from that?
I was considering to buy some games through retails, those cannot or difficult to buy DIRECTLY through the Steam store, but if the rumor is true...

[JPMcMillen]

I assume you are taking about 3rd party key resellers when you say retail stores. If the keys don't work then either the key was never a good key to begin with, or it was but was obtained fraudulently and had already been canceled by the publisher. The latter usually happens when keys are bought with stolen credit card numbers and the charges get reversed by the bank.

[Zekiran]

Buying GAMES via retail outlets - like, packaged, over the counter, actual GAMES - is legit and you'll get the game key that comes in its package...

There's no 'difficult to buy' when you *buy the game on Steam* like you're supposed to, digitally.

[Infin-Vec]

Originally posted by JPMcMillen:

I assume you are taking about 3rd party key resellers when you say retail stores. If the keys don't work then either the key was never a good key to begin with, or it was but was obtained fraudulently and had already been canceled by the publisher. The latter usually happens when keys are bought with stolen credit card numbers and the charges get reversed by the bank.

Do you mean that "gamesplanet" and "humble", or even “yuplay” should be categorized as so-called "3rd party key resellers"?
And they are selling invalid keys so I should avoid them?

[Rens Agatha ⁧【レンス】]

Originally posted by Infin-Vec:

Originally posted by JPMcMillen:

I assume you are taking about 3rd party key resellers when you say retail stores. If the keys don't work then either the key was never a good key to begin with, or it was but was obtained fraudulently and had already been canceled by the publisher. The latter usually happens when keys are bought with stolen credit card numbers and the charges get reversed by the bank.

Do you mean that "gamesplanet" and "humble", or even “yuplay” should be categorized as so-called "3rd party key resellers"?
And they are selling invalid keys so I should avoid them?

for the safety yes but not all of them is fake, Some of them sell legit keys or usually have partnertship with the dev it self like humble bundle...

But when you talk about keys on steam, Theres no assurance you can get the game instanly this is happen to me when i purchase the sims 3 when at sale so i guess thats the main problem ? and i cant play the game because its showing a notification about "Request for key" which i need about 2 days until i can play the game. I dont know how that happen maybe because EA using their own client or something but well atleast the recommended way you buy a game is from steam not 3rd party key selling.

this is the same problem with 3rd party "windows key" which i found lot of people buying windows 10 key from 3rd party and lot of them said the key already used so why you doing illegal way than doing legal way anyway...

[JPMcMillen]

Originally posted by Infin-Vec:

Originally posted by JPMcMillen:

I assume you are taking about 3rd party key resellers when you say retail stores. If the keys don't work then either the key was never a good key to begin with, or it was but was obtained fraudulently and had already been canceled by the publisher. The latter usually happens when keys are bought with stolen credit card numbers and the charges get reversed by the bank.

Do you mean that "gamesplanet" and "humble", or even “yuplay” should be categorized as so-called "3rd party key resellers"?
And they are selling invalid keys so I should avoid them?

Some resellers don't sell keys they themselves acquired but are instead reselling keys for other people and that's where the problem lies. Someone buys a batch of keys with a stolen credit card then dumps them on a key reselling site for a stupid low price to try to move them fast. Then they try to collect their money before the chargeback comes through and the publisher cancels all the keys bought with that transaction.

As for what sites are good... Humble Bundle gets their keys from the publishers so those should be OK. Not sure about those other two you mentioned. There's a list somewhere of key selling sites that can be trusted, but I don't know where it is. There is one easy test for any of these sites, if there is an option anywhere for you to sell keys through their site, it's one to avoid as you can't always be sure where a key you purchase there was obtained.

[Kargor]

Originally posted by JPMcMillen:

As for what sites are good... Humble Bundle gets their keys from the publishers so those should be OK. Not sure about those other two you mentioned.

Gamesplanet (aka https://uk.gamesplanet.com / https://de.gamesplanet.com / https://fr.gamesplanet.com ) is fine, yuplay -- never heard about it, so no idea.

[ReBoot]

Originally posted by Infin-Vec:

Some of my friends tells me that they are suffering from some sort of "retail keys activaction issues" in recent days, which means they brought retail keys through retail stores but having some sort of issues that makes them unable to activate those keys.
Is that real? Are there anyone else also suffering from that?
I was considering to buy some games through retails, those cannot or difficult to buy DIRECTLY through the Steam store, but if the rumor is true...

You should get your statistics right. Do your friends activate keys constantly all the time throughout the years nearly daily and have issues now, or do they activate keys now and have issues?

[Muppet among Puppets]

Lately i bought games from a shop with a name of a known internet controversy......
All went fine.

[↑↑↓↓←→←→BASelect]

Originally posted by Kargor:

Originally posted by JPMcMillen:

As for what sites are good... Humble Bundle gets their keys from the publishers so those should be OK. Not sure about those other two you mentioned.

Gamesplanet (aka https://uk.gamesplanet.com / https://de.gamesplanet.com / https://fr.gamesplanet.com ) is fine, yuplay -- never heard about it, so no idea.

Maybe he is meaning uplay. Just a thought.

[Dr.Shadowds 🐉]

Keys sold by 3rd party retail such as Humble bundle, indie gala, greenmangaming, etc and etc are safe to buy from, try using this site to find the games your looking for at the best possible price, this site will display the trusted sites that devs and publishers work with, so it's less than likely to encounter an issue at all, but if you do, you simply contact the retailer you bought it from, and they give you a new one.
https://isthereanydeal.com/

If you have more questions just ask, and someone will reply.

[Kargor]

Originally posted by Muppet among Puppets:

Lately i bought games from a shop with a name of a known internet controversy......
All went fine.

Nobody said that it's guaranteed to fail (it might still fail later, though -- credit card fraud in particular can take some time).

Even the most shady shops wouldn't be able to find gullible people again and again if NOTHING ever works.

[Infin-Vec]

Originally posted by Killroy was here:

Originally posted by Kargor:

Gamesplanet (aka https://uk.gamesplanet.com / https://de.gamesplanet.com / https://fr.gamesplanet.com ) is fine, yuplay -- never heard about it, so no idea.

Maybe he is meaning uplay. Just a thought.

It's "https://yuplay.ru/", some of my friends (not Steam friend) said that they usually (?) buy retail keys there.

[Infin-Vec]

Originally posted by Infin-Vec:

Originally posted by Killroy was here:

Maybe he is meaning uplay. Just a thought.

It's "https://yuplay.ru/", some of my friends (not Steam friend) said that they usually (?) buy retail keys there.

not "uplay", I mean"-", what's wrong with this link?

[Rens Agatha ⁧【レンス】]

Originally posted by Killroy was here:

Originally posted by Kargor:

Gamesplanet (aka https://uk.gamesplanet.com / https://de.gamesplanet.com / https://fr.gamesplanet.com ) is fine, yuplay -- never heard about it, so no idea.

Maybe he is meaning uplay. Just a thought.

Uplay cant buy a steam key

[Crazy Tiger]

Originally posted by Infin-Vec:

Originally posted by Infin-Vec:

It's "https://yuplay.ru/", some of my friends (not Steam friend) said that they usually (?) buy retail keys there.

not "uplay", I mean"-", what's wrong with this link?

It's blocked, which often means that it's a site where shady things happen.