this post was submitted on 14 Aug 2023
1222 points (98.7% liked)
Piracy
21871 readers
263 users here now
Welcome to /c/piracy
No netflix or streaming services landlubbers allowed, this is pirates territory.
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I wonder where sites like GreenManGaming, Fanatical, Humble and IndieGala fit into the mix as I understand it are legit keysellers?
They buy keys from the devs/publishers directly or legit wholesalers who are known to get the keys from the devs/publishers. Wholesalers themselves don't popup on consumers' radar since they only buy and sell in bulk.
Who do the wholesalers buy FROM, then? It seems clear that the dev, in this case, wants no part of this. Is the publisher enabling this crap?
Yes, only the publisher/developer can generate keys. That's where all key sites get their keys from. You cannot obtain them through the Steam store. And that's also why games that simply do not sell keys to wholesalers don't have this issue. Just look at Factorio. They don't do sales, they don't do bundles, and they don't sell keys. You can get it on key sites but only as a gift and for the same price it's being listed on for on Steam.