Witcher 3 keys on sale at Green Man Gaming are from an "unknown source"

Green Man Gaming is a reputable digital storefront, and it has a hell of a deal on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. It's offering GOG-redeemable codes for just $39, a 35 percent discount on the regular price and considerably cheaper than Steam's $54 tag. But developer CD Projekt told Gamespot that the codes GMG is offering are from an "unknown source," and recommended on its own forums that gamers don't buy them.

"I would kindly ask our fans not to buy via GMG at this time," CD Projekt Red Business Development Manager Rafal Jaki wrote. "We had not sold them Keys and don't know the origin of them." A forum mod then warned that purchasers of fraudulent keys will have "no recourse" against CD Projekt or GOG, and closed the thread "until Green Man Gaming can provide evidence that they are an authorized reseller."

To be clear, this isn't necessarily evidence of shenanigans. In fact, and very interestingly, Gamespot noted that Steam and GOG are both offering The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt for $54, a discount of ten percent off the regular $60 price; but while the Steam price is holding, GOG now has it listed for $40—virtually the same cost as GMG.

It's possible (or so I assume) that GMG is offering the keys at a loss in order to draw eyeballs in a market dominated by Steam. But it's also concerning that CD Projekt claims it didn't sell the keys, and went so far as to recommend against purchasing the game from GMG specifically, rather than from non-GOG sources in general (which would be very sketchy). We've reached out to both CD Projekt and Green Man Gaming to find out what's going on, and will update if and when we receive a reply; in the meantime, exercise whatever caution you deem prudent. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt comes out on May 19, in case the date wasn't already stenciled onto the walls of your memory palace.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.