G2A "Keeps Their Promise", Pays Wube Software $39,600 for Stolen Keys

So, about a year ago, infamously shady second-hand Steam Key seller G2A announced that if any developer could prove that stolen keys had been sold on their site, they would reimburse them for 10 times the price of the keys in question. This was a bid to come off as more legitimate, but since I have to assume the folks at G2A aren’t completely oblivious, they probably hoped no one would take them up on it, because proving that stolen keys were on the page was going to be a lot of effort for most small developers, and not worth the time for bigger ones.

But spite is a better motivator than cash, and Wube Software, the folks behind Factorio, decided to hold them to their promise. Or at least, try to. They reported a number of stolen keys last year, and for a while, G2A didn’t actually respond. And in that time, the number of stolen keys grew. And grew. And eventually, Wube had proof that 321 keys had been stolen, and 198 had been sold over on G2A. Those are rookie numbers compared to the bigger games that get traded on that site, like GTA and Call of Duty… but at ten times the cost, they were worth a whooping $39,600.

And updating their old blog post, G2A announced they were going to pay it.

“When we launched this offer, we wanted to send a clear message to the gaming community that fraud hurts all parties. As we spell out in this blog, fraud directly hurts individuals who buy illegitimate keys, it hurts gaming developers and it ultimately hurts G2A because we are forced – as the transaction facilitator – to cover costs related to the sale. We wanted to amplify that message and capture people’s attention, so pledged to compensate developers ten times the value of any chargeback fees they incurred, despite the fact that we had nothing to with the illegal acquisition of these keys.

The gaming developer community has our solidarity and sympathies on this issue, and we want to continue building bridges. With our main point being made, about the seriousness of fraud in the industry, from now on we will compensate developers the full value of any chargeback fees they incurred for any keys sold via G2A Marketplace, if they are able to prove they were illegitimate.”

Good on them for keeping their promise, but one does have to wonder: are they aware that if Activision-Blizzard or Take-Two, who also hate G2A, took them up on this offer, the company would go bankrupt in minutes? How about rather than doing these weird stunts, you instead, I don’t know, work harder to ensure no stolen keys are on your site to begin with?

Whatever. Enjoy the win, Wube Software. You’ve earned it.