RipperGrim
Member
Do you know the source of the keys? Nothing has changed.
CDPR keeping Witcher 3 keys for Origin, uPlay and GOG; tell GMG to go pound sand
- Thread starter dex3108
- Start date
Do you know the source of the keys? Nothing has changed.
Businesses are not going to explain contract negotiations. Hell a lot of that stuff is often NDA'd.
Silent Chief
Member
They would only be getting into trouble if they are breaking a signed agreement.
Silent Chief
Member
Who's the unknown source again?
Yup, and again that would also make GMG irresponsible CD key reseller. They still have a lot of explaining to do.
I know that, but still. It's fucking uPlay. Most people who will buy The Witcher 3 on PC know how absolutely awful uPlay is and would never buy anything on it that's available elsewhere.
CDProjekt is working with every other digital retailer except the likes of GMG. It's absolutely baffling. If GMG is going to take the loss on the keys from wherever they sourced them from to offer the discount they are, they would surely have been willing to eat the loss on keys from CDProjekt as well.
Well you got me there, GMG dodged that bullet like Neo in their statement. OP still needs tweaks because it doesn't represent full image correctly, imo.
We can be baffled about it, but still CDP doesn't need to tell us why they didn't play ball with GMG. It has nothing to do with topic at hand.
TheSlySoul
Member
I am curious if the middle man was binding in contract to not resell to a vendor. That would explain why the middle man is being quiet.
If that is the case, then miscommunication all around.
If it is no legal obligation who to sell it to, middle man should just say who they are. If CDPR blacklists them, then they look like the bad guy. The end.
Buggy Loop
Member
[Gamespot] CDPR: GMG is selling Witcher 3 keys from CDPR approved key sellers
Would maybe get ~30 replies max, mostly of "well... thats nice i guess?" reactions.
Gamespot doesnt deserve the attention from all of this. We really dont care for GMG to call for the source of their keys, CDPR and GMG can talk on the phone over the issue but if GMG is legal, its really not needed to know from where.
Visualante2
Member
This whole concept of authorised resellers is stupid. Either they're selling a genuine key or not. It doesn't matter (to me as a consumer) if they're authorised to do so or not.
If the product is genuine CDPR got their cut and they have no say in it, other than to look extremely childish and unprofessional in a public space.
If the product is genuine CDPR got their cut and they have no say in it, other than to look extremely childish and unprofessional in a public space.
This is a concern for me, it's that GameSpot is essentially running the trash lesser game blogs would run. I don't exactly go to GameSpot for news but I hold them to a higher standard than this sort of sensationalist stuff.
opticalmace
Member
Does this mean keys bought from GMG might be invalidated at some point?
RipperGrim
Member
Except that's not what CDPR are saying.
Would people really be THAT bothered if it turned out GMG had bought a load of retail copies and started flogging the keys from them ? Admittedly I've bought from all sorts of grey market sites that do that (not talking G2A/Kinguin stolen codes here) like CDKeys and it doesn't phase me in the slightest, never had a problem either.
Or is it more that they are an official reseller that would bother folk more if they had done it that way ? Sounds more like them just trying to get the best deal they can though to be fair, on the UK site they are selling The Witcher on PC for just under £32 so it's not THAT cheap anyway.
Or is it more that they are an official reseller that would bother folk more if they had done it that way ? Sounds more like them just trying to get the best deal they can though to be fair, on the UK site they are selling The Witcher on PC for just under £32 so it's not THAT cheap anyway.
Corronchilejano
Member
When your only weapon is a scientist...
Why do we still call them CD keys? Also, they're supposedly not retail rather digital copies.
Even though this may be a possibility, I'm more inclined to believe GMG doesn't want to disclose the provider because then that provider may eventually end up not having CDPRs' next game for preorder.
I can think this could be a problem if you're a smaller developer and someone is reselling your game for more than it's worth, but GMG is taking losses on the discount, what's the problem exactly?
Oh damn...
Phanatic8390
Member
Sounds like as long as CDPR doesn't punish people buying keys from GMG, I just got a fantastic deal.
iNvid02
Member
they wouldn't have given you an explanation lol, especially nothing that has not already been uttered to the media. All we can do is speculate
Like a few people pointed out it could be to do with pricing and exposure of gog during the witcher 3 launch - everyone else has no problem selling it at rrp but gmg love to offer a discount immediatley, maybe cdp just didn't want to get undercut by anyone.
as for uplay, it's not as bad as you're making it out to be: http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=510549
Bony Manifesto
Member
Unlikely, as CDPR probably aren't going to want to deal with the legal and PR shitstorm that would follow.
But even if they did, since GMG is a UK company, the legal onus would be on GMG to make things right with the end consumer.
Visualante2
Member
It shouldn't take long to find out. CDPR only has to buy a key from GMG, and then cross reference that with the keys that were sent out. This all works on the assumption that CDPR keeps track of what serials go where.
Buggy Loop
Member
But GMG wont distribute the keys until... maybe a day or two before the game's release. At that point, will it matter who was the 2nd hand? Its money in their pocket.
TheSlySoul
Member
I feel the same way.
Here is my understanding:
The game retails for $60. Buyer A buys it for $55. Buyer B buys it from Buyer A for same price. Buyer B sells it for $39.
Publisher made $55, Buyer A is netting nothing, and Buyer B is selling at a loss. Publisher should be happy to get $55. But not the case...
CDPR cares enough to make a fuss.
In the future, they could blacklist the company. Too late now to really do anything. The sales are mostly done.
Kinky John
Member
EA and Ubisoft publish games so CDPR/GOG want to keep them sweet. GMG would probably undercut GOG so they get told to go whistle.
Visualante2
Member
As Corronchilejano pointed out, it could affect future games from CDPR. Sure it's too late for Witcher 3 pre-orders but there is an expansion coming and I assume a Witcher 4 some day.
We just have onion layers of speculation going on here.
We just have onion layers of speculation going on here.
MrNyarlathotep
Banned
I honestly wouldn't be surprised if GMG just went to an nVidia card manufacturer and either outright bought key generation rights from them, or are cutting them in on a share.
I base this on the NeoGAF Dirt 3 prison economy and how that sprung up
I base this on the NeoGAF Dirt 3 prison economy and how that sprung up
TheSlySoul
Member
I can see that. What is a major tech site in the UK? NewEgg is US based.
ShockingAlberto
Member
Them not saying where they got their keys is enough for me to not risk my Steam account by buying from them further.
There's no ocasion where your Steam account would ever be at risk.
It's not a steam key.
Again, to clarify for people refusing to read: we currently do not know where GMG are getting their keys. No one cares if it turns out to be an approved reseller, the problem is we STILL don't know where the hell they are getting them from. This is the core problem, and people going nuts at GMG or CDPR are being utter twits.
Corronchilejano
Member
Thread title has already been updated and it's about as clear as it can possibly be.
EDIT: Thread was re-re-titled?
MrNyarlathotep
Banned
Doesn't necessarily need to be a UK manufacturer, or even a European one.
Gainward is the only "european" manufacturer I can think of though.
I feel it's absolutely relevant to the discussion when according to GMG it lead to the current situation and CDProjekt is willing to work with other digital retailers. For a company as pro-consumer choice as CDProjekt is, this entire scenario is just weird.
We're never going to get an actual answer, but I imagine it comes down to CDProjekt not wanting keys available for cheaper than the discount offered by owning Witcher 1 and Witcher 2, but the real reason probably boils down to all the people who would begin refunds on GOG/Steam whatever and then go buy it from GMG.
It's safe to assume a fair amount of people who would get The Witcher 3 and own the previous 2 games preordered it because of the 20% discount announced awhile back for those people who own them. But then GMG comes out with its standard coupon codes or deals and then refunds start getting requested because it's available cheaper for elsewhere. So with this hypothetical scenario CDProjekt decides to take tighter control of the reins and limits it to digital retailers who won't offer further discounts on PC and increasing the baseline of their profit margin because there won't be anyone running any discounts not vetted or proposed by CDProjekt until the game's sales have significantly slowed down, in addition to not having to process refunds because of being able to buy the game elsewhere for cheaper while still receiving a guaranteed legitimate key.
And now GMG decides to continue selling it anyway with keys sourced from somewhere that they claim is a legitimate CDProjekt reseller, but GMG is hesitant to disclose the reseller to CDProjekt presumably under the fear that they would invalidate the keys they received if in fact they are legitimate keys, and then they need to process refunds or go through the hassle of trying to beg CDProjekt for keys.
This is all hypothesis, but either way, this will end up a scenario that could have been avoided had CDProjekt ultimately decided to deal with GMG directly.
If they decide to invalidate GMG's keys upon release (Which is probably extremely likely, since I highly doubt GMG is going to reveal its source, and they'll just invalidate all the keys that they can't vouch for) it's ultimately going to be a PR nightmare regardless of if the keys were legitimate or not.
GravityMan
Member
While both GMG and CDPR may have a bit of egg on their faces, it seems like GameSpot's shoddy reporting caused this story to be blown way out of proportion.
If this was all about promoting GOG why then have deals with Steam, Origin, uPlay, HumbleBundle etc.?
And then pray that lurkers don't read comments or they are given bad image about CDPR because people took GameSpots statements as CDPR's statements. Title and OP post both could do with some tweaking, OP post more so.
Edit: Oh wow that title edit... I don't even...
MrNyarlathotep
Banned
But anyone buying a GTX 960 / 970 / 980 gets a free copy anyway *shrugs*
VibratingDonkey
Member
There's a possibility that the authorized third parties GMG acquired the keys from are located in places such as Russia or Brazil.
I would take issue with that. If that's not a thing then they've done nothing wrong as far as I can tell.
CDPR's decision to not provide keys to a competing store is their prerogative, but bad for us regardless.
Those mods went off halfcocked, but what they said didn't appear in any articles AFAIK, so maybe doesn't matter a whole lot.
Whether they made the right call in alerting media about this, I don't know. Depends on things. Did they give GMG enough time to reply etc. It seems like something they should've worked out between themselves, but yeah I don't know.
If Gamespot did try to contact GMG before publishing then they should've noted that. If they didn't try to contact GMG, then they should've.
Also this interpreted elaboration of what an "unknown source" means is false and misleading.
I would take issue with that. If that's not a thing then they've done nothing wrong as far as I can tell.
CDPR's decision to not provide keys to a competing store is their prerogative, but bad for us regardless.
Those mods went off halfcocked, but what they said didn't appear in any articles AFAIK, so maybe doesn't matter a whole lot.
Whether they made the right call in alerting media about this, I don't know. Depends on things. Did they give GMG enough time to reply etc. It seems like something they should've worked out between themselves, but yeah I don't know.
If Gamespot did try to contact GMG before publishing then they should've noted that. If they didn't try to contact GMG, then they should've.
Also this interpreted elaboration of what an "unknown source" means is false and misleading.
It could possibly mean that. It's not what it absolutely definitely means. Led to a bunch of bullshit and confusion in this thread as people took that for a fact, because that's the way he presented it.
Buggy Loop
Member
CDPR would have no fucking rights to cancel GMG's keys, the legal and PR nightmare from that would not favor them. If i buy 100 000 keys tomorow from GOG and give them for free on GAF for the hell of it (wont happen guys), it would be my right.
I can't confirm this, but I thought sometimes there are stipulations for resellers imposed by the publisher on how low they can price a game, particularly for pre-release/launch time, when they are buying the game directly from the publisher. You'll notice Steam, Origin, UPlay, and even GOG have the game priced at 10% off or $53.99 in the US. The only exception is the 20% off on Steam as part of the loyalty discount for owning the last 2 games, but that's about it.
It's possible that whoever bought a key directly from CDP agreed to not sell it lower than 10% off and no one could undercut the GOG price. With the GMG price at $39 being the best price on the game (Nuuvem is cheaper, but you have to go through some form of VPN to buy from them in the US), maybe they had to go through a middle man, sell at a loss, in order to bypass this restriction.
Again, don't know if this correct, but it would be in line with their comment of CDP prioritizing GOG, and not wanting the game sold cheaper somewhere else.
Phanatic8390
Member
Being free with a card purchase probably doesn't devalue purchasing ftom GOG as much as a competing storefront offering a 15% cheaper price.
Overclockers & Scan are probably the biggest two.
It's not, but it's a huge part of it, I bet. The other guys probably fronted a huge wad of dosh. Or negotiated a deal where CDPR gets a bigger cut.
Forsaken82
Member
Considering how cheap there games have always been due to constant sales that are at the top when it comes to digital day one releases, you have to assume they were not getting the keys direct from the source.
That being said, until GMG is proven to be AS shady as something like G2A or whatever that shit site is I will support them for games that end up being significantly discounted by some promotion if I am interested in it.
ShockingAlberto
Member
I don't mean this specifically.
I just bought The Old Blood from them, which was a Steam key, and my assumption has always been that they were official keys that GMG was buying in bulk from Bethesda (or whoever) and discounting on their own. Now I can't be sure where they're getting their keys because they aren't saying.
I'd rather not bother wondering. I'll just not shop there.
TheSlySoul
Member
Great title change, ha ha.
I think either CDPR or the middle-man is at fault IMO.
I think either CDPR or the middle-man is at fault IMO.
This all could have been also avoided had GMG accepted that CDPR isn't playing ball with them with TW3 sales. Instead they decided to turn to some 3rd party, that they won't name, for GOG keys that CDPR didn't want to give them.
Maybe CDPR's decision to exclude GMG was driven by the fact that they want best deal to be GOG, but is it that bad? They want push GOG and grow it as business, game like TW3 is great for doing that.
Invalidating keys sold my GMG is extremely unlikely happen, just based on CDP reps statement. Basically they just wanted to know from where GMG is getting those keys so they know nothing shady is involved. If its all fine and legal then it's GMG's business.
"...or they just bough Keys from gog just like a regular customer and now they resell them with a loss (we cannot prevent anyone from selling something)."
http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/35436-Witcher-3-35-off?p=1635264&viewfull=1#post1635264
I wonder who changed that title. It now puts all blame on CDP from get go and with bad OP post it just piles on...
At least those who firmly believe that CDPR is at fault here are pleased -_-
Realistically if GMG discloses the supplier CDPR could invalidate that suppliers ability to get codes as well and force them both to refund customers. People are being outraged but control of availability is very important to companies especially when you are dealing with companies like GMG who give deep discounts to build customer bases. This is pretty much the same as Penguin not selling ebooks to amazon because of their pricing policy. I don't expect we will get the name of the source but I think they will probably be punished in some way by CDPR since they will buy one of those keys to trace. I wonder if the supplier will chicken out and pull back from GMG after this.
No ones at fault except for GMG for not revealing their supplier to CDPR when they were asked. Now the article is really poorly written since it accuses GMG of shady practices. However I think CDPR as a company has the right to decide who they want to do business with. However unlike other companies who don't mind being severely undercut they did not want that to happen in this case.
No ones at fault except for GMG for not revealing their supplier to CDPR when they were asked. Now the article is really poorly written since it accuses GMG of shady practices. However I think CDPR as a company has the right to decide who they want to do business with. However unlike other companies who don't mind being severely undercut they did not want that to happen in this case.