WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.340 It's not surprising that many gamers are constantly in search of a discount on the 00:00:04.340 --> 00:00:11.100 titles they want. Lots of AAA titles cost around 60 US dollars at launch and tend to stay that way for quite 00:00:11.100 --> 00:00:16.940 a long time after release. And with digital distribution being the norm these days, it becomes very difficult to sell 00:00:16.940 --> 00:00:20.620 your games later on after you've gotten tired of them. 00:00:20.620 --> 00:00:24.880 And even if your taste in games isn't big budget titles that require a big upfront cost, 00:00:24.880 --> 00:00:29.980 you can easily spend tons of money on DLC, even after buying a cheaper game. 00:00:29.980 --> 00:00:33.220 Or you can just pay on both ends. Easier. 00:00:33.220 --> 00:00:39.060 As a result, a number of grey-market online stores have popped up, such as G2A and Kingwin, 00:00:39.060 --> 00:00:44.060 that offer digital game keys from third-party sellers at prices often far lower than you'd 00:00:44.060 --> 00:00:47.780 find from traditional stores or directly from the developers. 00:00:47.780 --> 00:00:52.780 But how do they keep their prices so low? And is buying from these places a good idea? 00:00:52.780 --> 00:01:00.060 Well these keys can come from a variety of places. G2A claims that many of the keys for sale on their site come from wholesalers that buy 00:01:00.060 --> 00:01:05.100 them in bulk from game studios, while others are sold by folks who take advantage of promotions 00:01:05.100 --> 00:01:10.420 such as humble bundles and giveaways, then flip those codes for a profit. 00:01:10.420 --> 00:01:16.580 Entrepreneurs. However, many codes are acquired by much less ethical means. 00:01:16.580 --> 00:01:22.260 It's not uncommon for unscrupulous resellers to pose as game journalists or YouTubers, 00:01:23.180 --> 00:01:27.460 an attempt to trick developers into giving out review codes, or for them to buy codes 00:01:27.460 --> 00:01:32.180 in one region of the world where a game is cheaper and resell them to folks elsewhere, 00:01:32.180 --> 00:01:35.220 denying the game studio a sale in that other location. 00:01:35.220 --> 00:01:39.420 But considering it's not that hard to steal a credit card number, many keys are simply 00:01:39.420 --> 00:01:44.820 purchased with a pilfered Visa or Mastercard and resold at a very low price. 00:01:44.820 --> 00:01:49.340 In fact, earlier this year G2A promised that it would pay developers 10 times what they 00:01:49.340 --> 00:01:54.700 lost in credit card chargebacks for any stolen keys that ended up on the G2A platform. 00:01:54.700 --> 00:01:59.860 However, G2A also downplayed how often this actually occurred. 00:01:59.860 --> 00:02:04.220 And while G2A said that they wanted to allow game studios to block certain keys from being 00:02:04.220 --> 00:02:08.660 sold on the platform, indie game developers specifically wanted many of their games to 00:02:08.660 --> 00:02:13.500 be delisted from the site entirely since they're more vulnerable to financial harm than the 00:02:13.500 --> 00:02:18.220 larger developers, but G2A refused to do this. 00:02:18.340 --> 00:02:21.340 And this problem isn't just specific to game keys. 00:02:21.340 --> 00:02:26.360 Many major online game stores like Steam no longer sell keys, instead assigning a specific 00:02:26.360 --> 00:02:33.260 copy of the game to the account that bought it. Again, perhaps with a stolen credit card, yet it's still possible to transfer access 00:02:33.260 --> 00:02:37.940 to buyers who might not be aware that they're buying a stolen game through gifting systems 00:02:37.940 --> 00:02:43.380 such as Steam GIFs. And regardless of whether it bothers you that you might be buying a stolen or otherwise 00:02:43.380 --> 00:02:48.100 ill-gotten copy of a game, you do run the risk of the game studios deactivating your 00:02:48.140 --> 00:02:51.420 copy if you found out it wasn't legitimately obtained. 00:02:51.420 --> 00:02:56.620 Ubisoft did exactly this back in 2015, to gamers who already bought and activated games 00:02:56.620 --> 00:03:00.620 from reseller sites that were originally obtained with a stolen credit card. 00:03:00.620 --> 00:03:04.620 The moves spurred outrage among gamers that didn't realize that they had bought a stolen 00:03:04.620 --> 00:03:09.420 game. And although Ubisoft did ultimately restore access to players that had already activated 00:03:09.420 --> 00:03:14.220 their games, they didn't give any other recourse for other resold keys. 00:03:14.220 --> 00:03:17.860 Doing the right thing? Maybe not in the best way. 00:03:17.860 --> 00:03:21.900 OK Riley, I get it. These game marketplaces are shady. 00:03:21.900 --> 00:03:24.900 But how can I save money on games without using them? 00:03:24.900 --> 00:03:31.340 I got kids to feed, man! Well the good news is that sites like Is There Any Deal make it fairly easy to find out if 00:03:31.340 --> 00:03:36.180 a game you want is on sale at a seller known to be legitimate at any given time. 00:03:36.180 --> 00:03:40.100 And you also have the option of buying game bundles at a significant discount. 00:03:40.100 --> 00:03:44.900 There are also game subscription services such as EA Access and Xbox Game Pass that 00:03:44.900 --> 00:03:49.100 let you play from a library of titles for a flat monthly fee. 00:03:49.100 --> 00:03:53.620 And down the line, you may even have the option to legitimately purchase used digital games 00:03:53.620 --> 00:03:59.060 from others. Earlier this year, a French court ruled that consumers have the right to sell their unwanted 00:03:59.060 --> 00:04:02.860 Steam games, assuming Valve doesn't win their appeal. 00:04:02.860 --> 00:04:07.340 So hopefully buyers or more silver digital games will soon become a thing of the past. 00:04:07.340 --> 00:04:12.500 In the meantime, you might want to think twice before pre-ordering that copy of Dishwashing 00:04:12.500 --> 00:04:29.380 Simulator 4. Even though it sounds incredibly fun.