G2A Vs Developer marketplace Detects Fraud and Compensates Developers

Why is g2a bad

Why is G2A Developer Cheap Bad News

Last year, indie studios accused G2A of profiting from stolen credit card fraud. The provider therefore offered developers to reimburse the incurred expenses tenfold in order to prove their own seriousness. A studio now receives just under $40,000.

Even illegal copying is better than an acquisition with G2A and Co, developers had formulated last year, because the lack of action against fraud costs twice: First, by the time, which must be invested in the protection against fraud, secondly, among other things, by chargeback charges from credit card providers. These chargeback costs are usually charged to the seller.

No audit but a result

According to the current state of affairs, only one of the critics has actually used the G2A service: Wube Software, the provider of the advanced simulation Factorio, has contacted us. According to information from Games Industry, the audit procedure originally prescribed by G2A was waived by both parties by an independent company. Potential partners would not have wished for results to be made public, G2A told the site. In addition, an independent audit body was only offered under the assumption that developers would have liked to have consulted it. It should therefore emphasise the transparency and seriousness of the offer.

Of 321 activation keys attributed to Wube Software fraud, 198 were sold via the G2A marketplace. The studio has therefore received $39,600, and both parties assume that all other keys have been sold by other means. This proves, said a spokesman for G2A Games Industry, that of more than 10 million annual transactions, only a tiny fraction is processed with illegally acquired keys. The logic is compelling: since there are no other confirmed cases, there are no other fraudulent activities. More meaningful would be the relationship between legal "and illegal" activation keys in the case of Factorio. How many copies of the game G2A sold in the same period, the supplier did not want to reveal on demand of the site.

The amount of time it takes and administrative dealings to get this refund, it's probably not worth the monetary compensation if it was not 10x.

Error only admits G2A on demand. In a statement, which received Polygon among others, it is said that G2A took too long to realize that a small number of individuals abused the marketplace. In a blog entry, the action is also presented as a lesson that shows that fraud damages the entire industry and is a serious problem.

In the future, developers who can prove fraud will only receive Chargeback fees in full instead of tenfold. However, Wube Software made it clear that G2A had only been contacted because a refund was offered ten times as much. Otherwise, time and effort would not have been worth it. When other developers make similar considerations, the balance of the marketplace remains clean: No confirmed cases are not cases. In addition, G2A remains true to its previous communication strategy: The provider places itself in a row with developers as victims.

Developers are the source

However, the real problem could easily be prevented, as Wube Software’s comments make clear in Games Industry. The G2A offer treats a symptom, the studio says, it is better to turn off the source, and these are often developers. At Wube, the activation keys were sold via their own website. After switching to a widget from Humble Bundle and the general abandonment of giveaways, which are sometimes requested by fictitious influencers, that is, fraudsters, the problem has been completely resolved.