Where do you usually buy games?

[Ethan99]

Where do you usually buy games? I must admit that I am looking for the cheapest way to buy games. Do you know any interesting sites?

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Welcome

Unless I really want to play a game right now, I'll wait for a sale on Steam/Epic or GOG. There are big sales on Steam in the Spring, Summer, Autumn, Xmas and often more. You'll find games with deep discounts then, even up to 90% off. Epic Store gives games away free all the time, sometimes very good ones.

You can also look at GreenManGaming or Fanatical, these places sell legitimate game keys with a discount negotiated from the developer/publisher. Humble also sells bundles of games for very cheap, also legit and also I've never used them. There might be others know more of these kind of places, I'm lazy and stick to the main stores.

Last and least other key resellers who sell on game keys they have bought in bulk from less developed world markets where the price is cheaper. People call this the grey market, because while its not really illegal its frowned upon. Personally I stay away from those as there are stories of developers cancelling the keys once they realize what happened. Apparently developers dont like people using them either.

Few places to look at to start with.

 

[Brian Boru]

Welcome to the forum

Subscribe to this thread:

The Free Time Limited Games List

I thought it would be nice to have one place to post games that are free for a limited time, regardless of the platform. Feel free to share some gems and I'll try my best to keep the thread updated whenever something new has been posted. Thank you for your contribution.

forums.pcgamer.com

GOG is another top-flight retailer with ongoing big sales, their games are DRM free.

Use this site:

IsThereAnyDeal

isthereanydeal.com

Do you have any interest in free games?

 

[Johnway]

I pretty much buy all my games online now. No hard cd copies as honestly i don't have the space for them. i use https://isthereanydeal.com/ to sniff out the best bargains online or to review data to decide whether to wait or pull the trigger. I also use Humble, fanatical and greenmangaming to buy my games.

 

[Ethan99]

Thank you for your response. I found offers from sites selling very cheap CD keys during my search, and I don't know if that's legal. Someone was buying on such websites as royalcdkeys.com or kinguin.net ? It's safe?

 

[WoodenSaucer]

Thank you for your response. I found offers from sites selling very cheap CD keys during my search, and I don't know if that's legal. Someone was buying on such websites as royalcdkeys.com or kinguin.net ? It's safe?

Those are what we call Gray market sites. They're key reselling sites, similar to ebay for keys. The site, itself, isn't illegal, but you just never know whether the person selling the key obtained it legally or not. I don't think they like people to refer to gray market sites on here.

 

[Johnway]

Thank you for your response. I found offers from sites selling very cheap CD keys during my search, and I don't know if that's legal. Someone was buying on such websites as royalcdkeys.com or kinguin.net ? It's safe?

yeah i've used G2A just to see what the fuss was all about and honestly my experience was mixed. I bought watchdogs and DLC and one of the sellers provided me a duff serial key that couldn't be activated. had to jump through hoops to get a refund and to add insult to injury g2a sided with the seller because i decided to get a refund for a dodgy product he provided (meaningless i know, but still a tad insulted). The other key worked fine and activated instantly.

Generally any sites like kinguin/G2A i would stay away from especially if they offer insurance/protection at extra cost. That's sketchy as hell when the platform can't be sure of the goods. Plus there are stories that certain devs deactivate keys bought from grey sellers and/or tell everyone that they would rather you pirate the game then buy it from greysellers as the devs don't get any money from the purchase anyway.

not sure about royalcdkeys.com though. Some interesting deals but best to do some research etc. Why they don't allow purchase via paypal normally raises eyebrows and the recent issues selling elden ring haven't been encouraging.

 

[Volley]

Steam, Battle.net, and GOG.

Amazon or Ebay for Physical collector copies. There is huge demand right now for 1990-2005 big box games, especially if sealed and/or good condition old stock.

I haven't ever given any coin to EGS or UPlay, and not to Origin since Mirror's Edge Catalyst and Dragon Age Inquisition Deluxe Edition (absolutely fantastic by the way).

 

[ZedClampet]

Thank you for your response. I found offers from sites selling very cheap CD keys during my search, and I don't know if that's legal. Someone was buying on such websites as royalcdkeys.com or kinguin.net ? It's safe?

The developers don't make any money if you buy off of those sites. I heard at least one developer tell people he'd rather they pirated the game than to buy from those places.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

The developers don't make any money if you buy off of those sites. I heard at least one developer tell people he'd rather they pirated the game than to buy from those places.

That makes no sense, though. Where do the keys come from? There is only one proven, documented time when a group of keys at a certain well-known gray market site were bought with a fraudulent credit card. It only happened once that we know about. So what are the other possibilities for those keys? I'll list a few I can think of; you can add more if you think of any.

1. Someone buys a key on sale, and resells it later for less than normal price later when it's not on sale anymore - The dev does make money on that.

2. Someone gets keys they don't need in a bundle and resells them - The dev made that agreement with Humble Bundle. They must get something out of it.

3. Someone gets a free key for a game they don't want with a hardware purchase, so they resell it - The dev made a cut out of that hardware purchase.

4. Game devs give a reviewer a few keys so they'll review the game. The reviewer uses one, and either sells the others, or gives them to other people who end up putting them on the market - This is the shadiest way out of my list. But even so, the only keys being sold are the ones the dev put out there.

In 75% of my examples, the dev does get at least some money out of those keys. It's not logical that pirating would be better for the devs.

 

[ZedClampet]

That makes no sense, though. Where do the keys come from? There is only one proven, documented time when a group of keys at a certain well-known gray market site were bought with a fraudulent credit card. It only happened once that we know about. So what are the other possibilities for those keys? I'll list a few I can think of; you can add more if you think of any.

1. Someone buys a key on sale, and resells it later for less than normal price later when it's not on sale anymore - The dev does make money on that.

2. Someone gets keys they don't need in a bundle and resells them - The dev made that agreement with Humble Bundle. They must get something out of it.

3. Someone gets a free key for a game they don't want with a hardware purchase, so they resell it - The dev made a cut out of that hardware purchase.

4. Game devs give a reviewer a few keys so they'll review the game. The reviewer uses one, and either sells the others, or gives them to other people who end up putting them on the market - This is the shadiest way out of my list. But even so, the only keys being sold are the ones the dev put out there.

In 75% of my examples, the dev does get at least some money out of those keys. It's not logical that pirating would be better for the devs.

In your example, the dev sometimes makes money off of one sale, but many of those keys on those sites are gotten fraudulently according to developers, so they make no money. Plus, even if your examples happen some of the time, the developer is still losing a sale to whoever buys from the key site and makes no money from it.

 

[Brian Boru]

developer is still losing a sale to whoever buys from the key site and makes no money from it

Isn't that how it works for most products? I buy a second-hand car or computer, Ford or Dell don't get anything extra. Same with second-hand books & movies & clothes. I can't think of a product sector where the originator gets a cut every time the product changes hands.

many of those keys on those sites are gotten fraudulently according to developers

That's different, of course. So someone somehow steals—or guesses?—key numbers and sells them on, or buys with stolen card. Are there other kinds of fraud?

 

[ZedClampet]

Isn't that how it works for most products?

No, because with digital products you have people buying keys in countries with extreme regional pricing and then selling those keys in the U.S.

That's different, of course. So someone somehow steals—or guesses?—key numbers and sells them on, or buys with stolen card. Are there other kinds of fraud?

Stolen cards are a very big part of the picture, and a huge part is stealing physical copies--in a variety of ways from a variety of places. So someone ends up with 1000 physical copies, or maybe they just open the boxes, record the keys, and seal them back up. Now they have 1000 Steam keys. They can either upload these to the key sites, or sell them in bulk, generally to someone who has a stolen credit card. This person then resells them on key sites.

Or, a slightly more honest person just buys 100 physical copies in Russia or Turkey or wherever, and then sells the keys, but usually this person is buying those copies with a stolen card. Over 20 million credit cards are stolen annually, so it's a big deal, and nearly everyone committing these types of crimes has access to stolen cards.

 

[Brian Boru]

No

I didn't know those things were going on at scale, thanks for info

 

[Wynny2k]

Anywhere reputable and cheapest to be honest I do not mind and I have only bought 2 or 3 games from steam

 

[WoodenSaucer]

Or, a slightly more honest person just buys 100 physical copies in Russia or Turkey or wherever, and then sells the keys, but usually this person is buying those copies with a stolen card. Over 20 million credit cards are stolen annually, so it's a big deal, and nearly everyone committing these types of crimes has access to stolen cards.

You're right about buying in other regions and reselling them in the US. I can't argue against that. But the stolen credit card argument is used all the time, and as far as we know, it has only happened one time. And when it happened that one time, they caught it and the keys were canceled. We don't know of any other event when keys were bought with a fraudulent credit card.

I'll just say this, I've had a lot worse luck of accidentally buying software that was outright pirated on eBay than on gray market key sites. The truth is sites like G2A or Kinguin are not any different than eBay. They're just focused only on games instead of everything. They're all just auction sites, and the individual sellers could be legit or not. And I also want to make clear that I'm not saying people should go buy everything on the gray market. I'm just saying it's not logical to say that pirating is better. It is not.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

You're right about buying in other regions and reselling them in the US. I can't argue against that. But the stolen credit card argument is used all the time, and as far as we know, it has only happened one time. And when it happened that one time, they caught it and the keys were canceled. We don't know of any other event when keys were bought with a fraudulent credit card.

I'll just say this, I've had a lot worse luck of accidentally buying software that was outright pirated on eBay than on gray market key sites. The truth is sites like G2A or Kinguin are not any different than eBay. They're just focused only on games instead of everything. They're all just auction sites, and the individual sellers could be legit or not. And I also want to make clear that I'm not saying people should go buy everything on the gray market. I'm just saying it's not logical to say that pirating is better. It is not.

I'm sure no one here is recommending anyone pirate any games. If you read the article I linked from PCG several publishers were saying that it costs them more overall for other reasons if you buy from key resellers than if people pirate.

The point being that there's really no need to use grey market resellers anyway. If you're short on cash you're better off waiting for sales on digital stores, and if you want to save a bit on new titles you can use Fanatical or GMG or similar and everyone wins.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

I'm sure no one here is recommending anyone pirate any games. If you read the article I linked from PCG several publishers were saying that it costs them more overall for other reasons if you buy from key resellers than if people pirate.

The point being that there's really no need to use grey market resellers anyway. If you're short on cash you're better off waiting for sales on digital stores, and if you want to save a bit on new titles you can use Fanatical or GMG or similar and everyone wins.

Thanks. I'll check that article out when I have time. These days, I'm mainly just playing whatever is on Game Pass, so I don't outright buy much anymore. But I'm interested to see the behind the scenes stuff for how it affects them.

 

[ZedClampet]

as far as we know, it has only happened one time.

I'm not sure how to respond to this without sounding rude, which is not my intention, but as someone who works in cybersecurity, this is one of the most naïve statements I've ever heard.

The fact is that every developer I've heard is at a loss for where these hundreds to thousands of keys came from, as they are usually never in the orders they get from Steam, so the scenario I listed above is the most common one that people accept. Also, you literally hear all the time from people whining that their keys have been turned off. If it hasn't happened to you, you are fortunate.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

I'm not sure how to respond to this without sounding rude, which is not my intention, but as someone who works in cybersecurity, this is one of the most naïve statements I've ever heard.

The fact is that every developer I've heard is at a loss for where these hundreds to thousands of keys came from, as they are usually never in the orders they get from Steam, so the scenario I listed above is the most common one that people accept. Also, you literally hear all the time from people whining that their keys have been turned off. If it hasn't happened to you, you are fortunate.

First of all, I've never once heard a first hand account of anyone getting a key turned off.

As for developers saying there are hundreds to thousands of keys showing up that they can't account for, that may be true, but that would not be credit card fraud. If it were credit card fraud, they would have been paid for those keys, and they would be able to account for them; they just would have been fraudulently purchased. So it's not credit card fraud. It sounds more to me like actual pirating. People have figured out how to crack the key codes, and they're generating their own keys that work to unlock a game. If that's truly happening, then I agree with you that it's a bad thing.

And I also want you to know, at least from my side of this discussion, that I'm not getting heated about it. I'm just discussing my thoughts because I'm genuinely interested in finding out the truth behind it, and not just people's arguments. If the pirating side of it is true, then that kind of changes my perspective a little. But I want the truth about what is happening, and not just arguing points.

 

[Sarafan]

For me it's usually GOG and Steam directly. I rarely shop at authorized resellers and never touch the unauthorized ones. Probably I should buy more from the authorized resellers, because the prices there are better, but I rarely have the time to track these offers on daily basis. I am aware of https://isthereanydeal.com/ site, but I usually forget checking it regularly...

 

[Alm]

First of all, I've never once heard a first hand account of anyone getting a key turned off.

As for developers saying there are hundreds to thousands of keys showing up that they can't account for, that may be true, but that would not be credit card fraud. If it were credit card fraud, they would have been paid for those keys, and they would be able to account for them; they just would have been fraudulently purchased. So it's not credit card fraud. It sounds more to me like actual pirating. People have figured out how to crack the key codes, and they're generating their own keys that work to unlock a game. If that's truly happening, then I agree with you that it's a bad thing.

And I also want you to know, at least from my side of this discussion, that I'm not getting heated about it. I'm just discussing my thoughts because I'm genuinely interested in finding out the truth behind it, and not just people's arguments. If the pirating side of it is true, then that kind of changes my perspective a little. But I want the truth about what is happening, and not just arguing points.

I found this article from Engadget from a few years ago which echos what I remember:

https://www.engadget.com/2019-07-17-g2a-key-gift-game-developers-explained.html

Edit: Though it's against a specific key site rather than all of them.

 

[Johnway]

For me it's usually GOG and Steam directly. I rarely shop at authorized resellers and never touch the unauthorized ones. Probably I should buy more from the authorized resellers, because the prices there are better, but I rarely have the time to track these offers on daily basis. I am aware of https://isthereanydeal.com/ site, but I usually forget checking it regularly...

You could configure it so that it sends you an alert. You could configure it to send it when it has a particular % discount or the price is set to a level you want to be notified on. Pretty handy if you can keep up and just want to look at a couple of games. Saves you time checking the site.

That said, i still look at the site when i have a game i'm interested in and i want to see pricing history.

 

[Brian Boru]

this article

Thanks for that. Still doesn't provide an all good or all bad answer tho—which I wasn't expecting, considering I've seen Amazon selling keys in the past.

The point about cheaper prices devaluing the perceived value of games is rubbish tho—or has that guy never seen the multiple big sales per year from all retailers?

The point about not making money from resales is also moot—same with music, books, movies etc.

The minimizing of fraud and selling stolen keys seems the 'key' problem which needs to be addressed.

 

[Pr0udCh0sen1]

I've bought thousands of games from Kinguin and G2A, never had any problems, others can say what they want, but i love them. Humble can be decent and once in awhile Fanatical is okay. Heck, even sales on Steam can be decent during holidays or seasonal promotions.