G2A Internal Investigation Proves The Site Has Sold Stolen Keys

Fast forward to today, and it seems like G2A has lost its bet, and that some of those keys the marketplace prides itself on providing a venue to re-sell, were stolen after all.

Only one developer took G2A up on its bet: Wube Software, the creators ofFactorio. After a mutual agreement between the two that G2A should commit an internal investigation, it was revealed that 198 keys were illegitimately sold on the site. G2A has since promised that Wube will be compensated for 10 times the value of the stolen keys.

However, it’s the next part of G2A’s post revealing the results of this investigation that raises more issues. It goes on to say “As we spell out in this blog, fraud directly hurts individuals who buy illegitimate keys, it hurts gaming developers and it ultimately hurts G2A because we are forced - as the transaction facilitator - to cover costs related to the sale.”

But here’s the thing - this is the first and only time G2A has done this. Never before has the marketplace had to pay a developer because illicit keys were sold on its site. There was never any evidence to prove that before now. At this moment, every single developer should be asking themselves if they think illegal keys have been sold on G2A because it’s now been proven that it can and has happened. They should especially consider this due to the marketplace keeping up its promise of compensation for companies that can prove illegal keys were sold on its site. That being said, it’s hard to tell if G2A will be willing to assist in any more investigations. G2A and Wube only agreed on an internal investigation conducted by G2A after “assessing a number of independent auditing companies and finding none that would meet our agreed requirements.”

At no point in this post does G2A apologize for allowing fraudulently obtained keys to be sold on its site. Instead, the company victimized itself, saying that G2A had been hurt because it now has to cover costs. The company also failed to detail any future or ongoing attempts at stemming the flow of stolen keys.