Indeed. Unless the keys were literally stolen (retail copies "off the back of a truck", and so on), but as stated above I doubt that's what happened here.
CDPR are being a bit melodramatic here.
CDPR keeping Witcher 3 keys for Origin, uPlay and GOG; tell GMG to go pound sand
- Thread starter dex3108
- Start date
CDPR are being a bit melodramatic here.
Northeastmonk
Gold Member
In the UK people are sleeping. I'm sure not everyone can pay their staff to work 24 hours a day. If GMG is not in the wrong then they have nothing to worry about.
If you're innocent why jump to a defense?
That can also make someone look guilty.
The Cowboy
Member
Because the company accused is in the UK, and its 10pm here.
It would also explain why they didn't put it up until CDProjekt confirmed there was a gog key in the retail box a few days ago.
That wasn't a direct quote from CDPR. They contacted Gamespot to tell them that the keys are from an unknown source and that's the extent of what Rafal Jaki said on their forums as well:
Look where quotations are.
NexusGamer
Member
GMG is completely legit.
Reading gamespot comment section is making me frustrated by the amount of ignorance, calling GMG a scam website like G2A, etc....
I hope this is sorted soon. GMG is great for sales like this and are fully legit, and I'd hate to see their reputation in shambles because of some misunderstanding.
Reading gamespot comment section is making me frustrated by the amount of ignorance, calling GMG a scam website like G2A, etc....
I hope this is sorted soon. GMG is great for sales like this and are fully legit, and I'd hate to see their reputation in shambles because of some misunderstanding.
CDPR only self publishes their game on GOG and Steam, so if you buy it anywhere else - retail or Greenmangaming - they will not get full revenue for that since Bandai Namco is publishing those copies.
Them saying what they said just means that GMG probably bought RETAIL copies from Bandai Namco instead of digital copies directly from CDPR.
Edit: And this
just looks like an attempt to steer people towards GOG, which makes sense seeing as that earns them the most money lol.
Them saying what they said just means that GMG probably bought RETAIL copies from Bandai Namco instead of digital copies directly from CDPR.
Edit: And this
just looks like an attempt to steer people towards GOG, which makes sense seeing as that earns them the most money lol.
TheJesusFish
Member
Timezones.
TheSlySoul
Member
I think you are 100% correct. Retail keys make sense.
Gareth Bale
Member
If they were planning to sell GOG keys from retail copies that's proper dodgy and I wouldn't buy anything from them again
CarbonFire
Member
The question then is Namco breaching some sort of agreement or contract with CDPR by reselling those digital keys if CDPR retains exclusive digital distribution rights?
Someone will come out of this with egg on their face.
Very troubling.
I stand corrected. I guess it's reasonable for CDPR to merely state they don't know where the keys are coming from.
Still, all this jumping to conclusions is making everyone look a bit silly (myself included, up there). It'd be nice if GMG clarified first thing tomorrow where the keys are coming from. I sincerely hope they're not gutting retail copies to get these keys. I'd probably not use them again if that's the case, because as a customer you're running a bit of a gauntlet, especially if CDPR decides to deactivate the keys out of a fear that they're stolen.
This is what I think is happening. I can't see GMG buying keys from some shady seller, but I can see them buying keys from Namco, who are the retail publisher.
Now, whether Namco is knowingly breaching their agreement or not is another matter. It's probably just a mistake on their part; I can't see Namco being stupid and intentionally doing this, since they'd almost certainly be found out.
Steve Youngblood
Member
I'm far from an expert in this sort of legalese, but as a layman, I basically understand 3 potentially different scenarios.
1.) GMG bypassed CDPR by obtaining keys from another legitimate source that would be able to sell them. For instance, keys from retail copies purchased from Namco (or whoever. I'll note right now that I'm not really invested in this if I'm misunderstanding the specifics).
2.) GMG has otherwise obtained legit keys but from a questionable source. Honestly, there's a lot of different possible scenarios at play here and some I think are more of a gray area than others.
3.) GMG has obtained keys from a completely illegitimate source that may or may not work in your region or may later be revoked ala what sites like G2A are known for/accused of.
RadioactiveLobster
Member
What about the many games I've bought at GMG and gotten keys for prior to launch?
Well, for starters I suggest people stop naming Namco, as they are only distributing TW3 in Europe and Oceania. CDPR signed distribution deals with bunch of other companies that will sell retail copies in 109 countries and I doubt buying European boxes would give GMG much profit.
StopMakingSense
Member
Yeah, the timing is dodgy, it posted well after COB in the UK (going by the time when the OP was posted), so the soonest response from GMG might not be until the morning.
TheSlySoul
Member
Would be interesting.
CDP can sell directly the Steam and GOG keys, making 100% profit. Gamestop codes would require a split of revenue since Namco is publishing it in retail.
Curious if they broke a rule where they had to contact any digital retail keys sold.
All involved parties are based in Europe. It's 10/11pm over here - not exactly the easiest time to get in contact with business partners in order clarify such a situation.
Just curious why this would be a bad thing? I'm not really familiar with issues behind key vs. retail distribution.
GMG releases keys for pre ordered games a few days before the official release date. I recall I bought Valkyria Chronicles or Civ: BE from GMG and then I pre loaded them.
AHA-Lambda
Member
Assuming these would be legit ROW copies and not from cheaper regions what does it matter?
CelticKnight
Member
CDPR is handling digital distribution period. That includes PS4 digital, Xbox One digital, Origin digital, Gamestop digital and so on.
Corronchilejano
Member
I could think of a few reasons.
They'd be opening the box and taking out the code that is supposed to go with the game disc. If the box said that it includes a game code for GOG, it'd now be false advertising if it's resold.
Considering they're selling it at a loss, I wouldn't be surprised this may be the case, and a bunch of used copies will start popping up online.
It's risky because we don't know how the retail copies were acquired. Were they stolen? Are they from a region that has the game for cheap? What are the consequences of me buying that key? Will my game be Russian or Polish due to the region of the key? Will it even register on my Western GOG/Steam account? Will it be revoked at a later date?
Admittedly a lot of this is to do with the publisher carving up the regions for price discrimination purposes (and as I said earlier, I don't want to get involved with discussing that), but I'd rather buy keys from distributors who have keys from my region, straight from the dev/publisher, so I know exactly what I'm getting. GMG has a good reputation for selling legit keys at good prices, so I'd be pretty sad if that had changed.
plasmawave
Banned
What sort of witchcraft is this?
Original post from CDPR was at 7:40PM, GMT+1. I understand that they're likely a 9-5 outfit, but letting something like this sit around for 12 hours isn't good.
Xion_Stellar
People should stop referencing data that makes me feel uncomfortable because games get ported to platforms I don't like
The kind only a Witcher can handle..
I was already going to buy this from GOG so this doesn't change anything for me.
The problem is that GMG is explicitly selling digital gog keys to the game and not retail copies. If these are retail copies that they take the code out of (totally fine imo), they should probably be a bit more clear about that.
If they wanted to redirect people to only buy games on their platform they could do that quite easily. Instead, the game is widely available on gog, steam, origin, and whatever ubisofts thing is called, and probably some other digital services Im unware of. It sounds to me like they are just telling people not to buy the game from GMG until they can confirm that those copies are legitimate.
TheSlySoul
Member
Finally they elaborate.
I think they bought it from a legit source though. Could be at a loss...
The Elite
BOSS
First legitimate statement that has come out of this.
GMG needs to respond tonight. I know it's late but someone should get on the phone.
That's curious, wonder why, especially when they mention in the same post that GMG was a legit partner. I wonder if CDPR has some sort of exclusivity contract with Valve at this point outside of their standard GOG sales.
It's still super weird that GMG is still at $39 with such confidence at this point, I bought directly through gog.com, but I like GMG a lot, so hopefully they get this all sorted.
Delusibeta
Banned
Considering Green Man Gaming lists Namco as a publisher, I would wager that Green Man Gaming got the keys from them. Meanwhile, I would expect GOG to have their Digital Backup service available for all keys in physical PC versions, including all of the keys Namco have received. Hence why GMG is advertising it as a GOG key rather than a retail key, since there's probably going to be no difference between the two.
It is interesting that they refused to sell them keys.
TheSlySoul
Member
Yeah my guess is CD gave Namco codes for retail boxes, but they screwed up and sold them to GMG.
GMG needs to say they bought it from Namco though.
Either way, best to buy from GOG until it gets sorted out.
jim-jam bongs
Member
I'd like to know the specifics of this before I write GMG off totally, but it does seem odd. Thankfully I bought my copy direct from GOG a long time ago with a massive discount for owning the other two games.
The last possibility is very interesting. I wonder if selling games at a loss is ever beneficial to a website. I understand the concept of selling electronics at a loss, but is there a benefit to a store doing the same? Does it really encourage brand loyalty or something of the sort? I would have imagined that gamers bought games out of whatever was cheapest rather than being used to buying from the same place or something.
(If I'm not being clear, I'm not implying anything here - I'm actually legitimately wondering if selling at a loss is a valid strategy for an online games retailer because I have no clue.)
Could be a number of reasons. Might have not come to a conclusion on the deal with GoG not getting enough from it or something. Who knows really but we at least have some more light shed on the situation.
My absolutely baseless theory on all of this:
1.) GMG tried to buy codes from CD Projekt directly like they've done in the past. CD Projekt declined this time around.
2.) GMG knows that Witcher 3 is one of the most important releases of the year and doesn't want to miss out. Searches for different ways to get keys.
3.) GMG asks Bandai Namco for keys.
4.) Bandai Namco replies that they aren't allowed to sell keys. They can, however, sell retail copies to GMG. They can't endorse GMG to gut the copies for keys, but hey, we can't stop you. *wink wink*
5.) GMG buys a whole lot of retail copies from Namco, offers the game on its site and CD Projekt is suddenly utterly confused.
Also possible:
GMG doesn't own any keys in the first place and all of this is based on miscommunication between CDR and GMG.
1.) GMG tried to buy codes from CD Projekt directly like they've done in the past. CD Projekt declined this time around.
2.) GMG knows that Witcher 3 is one of the most important releases of the year and doesn't want to miss out. Searches for different ways to get keys.
3.) GMG asks Bandai Namco for keys.
4.) Bandai Namco replies that they aren't allowed to sell keys. They can, however, sell retail copies to GMG. They can't endorse GMG to gut the copies for keys, but hey, we can't stop you. *wink wink*
5.) GMG buys a whole lot of retail copies from Namco, offers the game on its site and CD Projekt is suddenly utterly confused.
Also possible:
GMG doesn't own any keys in the first place and all of this is based on miscommunication between CDR and GMG.
GMG doesn't have a massive staff either, they are a very small company.
Physical distributors have to generate the same keys that GOG have access to as far as Steam games are concerned. They didn't even have to purchase physical copies, Namco may have just generated codes.
Delusibeta
Banned
Also, anyone expecting any statement from GMG before 9am BST tomorrow will be disappointed. Indeed, CD Project only flagged this up 8:24 pm BST, hence the lack of response (everyone from GMG had already gone home about three hours earlier).
Nvidia codes are definitely GOG keys. Redeemed mine last week.
Somebody posted here saying that you need to log in with your GOG account and redeem keys that way directly on your account.
EvilKatarn
Member
What's this bullshit? It's not AMERICA TIME all over the planet?
If you read Jaki's post he claims they contacted GMG earlier but received no response.