G2A says it'll pay devs 10x the money lost on fraud chargebacks, if they can prove it
Online game retailer G2A is vowing to compensate developers who fall victim to fraudulent credit card purchases tenfold.
In response to the recent controversy that caused multiple developers to ask players to pirate their games instead of buying keys through G2A, the retailer has fired back.
In a lengthy letter, G2A attempted to explain how the site works, where keys come from, and offered developers who say they've been scammed some recourse.
In the post, G2A says the vast majority of games sold on its platform come from businesses who get discounts on buying large quantities of keys directly from publishers. Some publishers even sell their keys officially through G2A Direct - the site's way of showing the key you're looking at is being offered by a developer's official account.
More specifically in Descenders' case, G2A said only five keys for the game ever showed up on the marketplace, adding that G2A has - in this case at least - not lost the developer any revenue.
The post goes on to address G2A's reputation of being a place where credit card thieves can peddle their stolen goods, but it contends that "it's not easy" to steal credit cards. "Bestselling games on G2A are exactly the same games that are popular everywhere, so basically AAA titles," the post explains.
"As a thief, your goal is to cash out the money on stolen credit cards as soon as possible, before they get blocked. If you got, say, $5,000 to cash out, you’d have to buy 250 copies of said indie game for $20 each. Considering average indie sale statistics, it’d take you about 2-3 months to sell them on G2A. Doesn’t seem like ASAP at all!"
The main takeaway from the massive post is that G2A says it's willing to pay developers 10x the revenue lost as a result of chargebacks and fees for fraudulent credit card purchases.
"To assure honesty and transparency, we will ask a reputable and independent auditing company to make an unbiased examination of both sides – the developer’s store and G2A Marketplace. The cost of the first three audits is on us, every next one will be split 50/50," G2A explained.
"The auditing company will check if any game keys sold on G2A were obtained using stolen credit cards on a developer’s store compliant with card scheme rules from Visa and Master Card/payment provider rules. If so, G2A guarantees it’ll pay all the money the developer lost on chargebacks... multiplied by 10."
You can read the full thing at the link above, which also goes on to address keys obtained through giveaways, and those sold by pretend influencers and press.