G2A says it will pay devs 10 times what they lose in chargebacks due to fraud

This week, several developers and publishers expressed their displeasure at seeing their games sold via key reseller G2A, some even saying they'd prefer people to pirate their games instead of purchasing them from the website. Today, G2A has responded with a statement where it says it will pay developers ten times the money they've lost through chargebacks for keys bought with stolen credit cards, as long as there's proof.

That was a few hours ago; since then, a petition started by No More Robots rep Mike Rose has gone up demanding that G2A stops selling indie games. This isn't the first time developers have been critical of what the key reseller seems to consider concessions. After publisher TinyBuild complained about key fraud, G2A asked for a list of suspected keys to compare them, but the publisher declined because it would have been "an insane amount of work".

G2A says it will use an auditing company to check if keys sold on the platform were obtained using illegal credit cards, and if the auditor finds any, G2A "guarantees" that it will pay all the money lost on chargebacks, multiplied by ten. Dealing with fraud ends up costing time and resources as well, so it's not just about lost sales income. G2A says it will also cover the cost of the first three audits for the developer, though after that it will be 50/50.

The post also mentions the current Twitter beef between G2A and publisher No More Robots, and claims that only 8 percent of games sold on the platform are indie games. Since nobody can really agree what an indie game is these days, that number is impossible to verify. G2A also claims that, since only five copies of No More Robots' last published game were sold on the platform, it's not having a significant impact on the business.

"G2A says that they do care about the games industry, the industry they profit from every day," the protesting petition reads. "We suggest that G2A could surely take an 8% hit to their sales, if it means making 99% of developers in the industry happier, and allowing us to retain the perceived value of our games."

Let's say that petition goes and G2A decides to stop selling any indie game. "Nature abhors a vacuum". Sellers would move to the next platforms (there is like 20 of them) and then to Ebay and other marketplaces.July 5, 2019

The petition is approaching 800 signatures at the time of writing, which it's amassed in around four hours.

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.