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[idolminds]

Considering they didn't generate the keys out of nowhere, their origin was from a legit source, be it give away or special price from the developer. So as far as it's theirs, what's wrong in selling them for whatever the price?

Because depending on where and how the keys were generated this could directly impact the profit margins for The Witcher 3.

Even if the keys are legit, they were generated for a different vendor. They could be the nvidia promo keys, they might be keys sold in a different region with a lower price expectancy. So they might be "cheap" keys that don't make a lot of money for CDPR.

CDPR obviously doesn't want everyone to get those. Notice how no one else is selling lower than GOG? That is by design. GOG gets them the highest profit margin per sale. Everyone selling in the US is pricing about the same and this is all worked out on the business side of things.

So now here comes GMG with these keys of unknown origin or cost and they are selling them cheaper than everyone else. Know what happens? Gamers cancel their preorders at GOG and other sites to buy from GMG. This then cuts into the profit margins of everyone involved (including GMG if they are making barely anything or even taking a loss).

The key piece of information missing is who supplied GMG with the keys, and it will make all the difference in this matter.

 

[viveks86]

You say that like it only applies to CDPR. If GMG gets cut out by their competitor, then they're more than welcome to buy keys from reputable sources and sell them at a loss. If that hurts GOG, well, GMG is not obligated to care about their competition.

Except we have no clue if GMG is selling at a loss or not. We are simply going by history and reputation, instead of evidence. GMG, by their own admission, have broken the line of trust in authorized sales. So without evidence, it's impossible for me to have an unbiased view towards the issue. In my eyes, with respect to this particular issue, CDPR comes across as selfish and shrewd, while GMG comes across as unethical. At least until we learn more.

Now is all this immoral and "wrong"? I don't know. It's just business. Consumers get cheaper stuff at the end of the day. It's just messy and detrimental to healthy competition in the long run, imo.

 

[chromatic9]

Honestly, the way this is turning out is looking to be bad PR for CDPR. To someone reading the annotations, GMG is biting the bullet and losing money on selling the game for $39, CDPR refused to work with GMG, GMG is receiving their copies from an authorized retailer who's currently unknown.

As someone looking into the box from outside, GMG is the company that's doing things 'Right'(Whatever that means), and CDPR is scummy. Unless something is being omitted..

That's a weird take.

GMG claimed they deal direct and then admitted after CDPR called them out they aren't dealing direct with CDPR. People buying from GMG believe the keys are from CDPR.

If my shops states I deal direct with Apple but I buy my ipads not from Apple, don't you want to know?

At this point we don't know where GMG is getting the keys from. Approved sellers could mean from Russia or they could be taking a loss just to stay in the game for a major release. They could be sourcing some keys legit and a portion from others that maybe he can't 100% know if such a third party is really legit.

 

[LurkerPrime]

Presumably, if GMG is buying from authorized sellers, then CDPR is getting their cut. It's just currently unknown if they're buying the keys from out of region.

I suspect the cut is the absolute minimal if GMG is making money on the sale. (Let's face it, they are. I refuse to believe that they're loss-leading for the sake of some extra registrations.)

Remember: buying Humble Bundles for a penny is technically OK, too. Doesn't make it right.

 

[Justinh]

I'm still really curious about why CDPr didn't provide keys to GreenManGaming. If even uplay gets 'em, then why?

The only thing I can see different is that for Witcher 2, the last game, GMG is the only place that doesn't offer a non-DRM'd way to play the game (according to PC gaming wiki).

Although, since GMG is selling Witcher 3 preorders using keys for GoG, that can't be the reason, can it?

yeah, that can't be it

Customer notes

This title is DRM free. Customers will receive a GOG backup key for the Witcher 2 on purchase.

 

[BLunted]

Was checking out the GMG site and saw this blurb:

"It’s important to us that our customers trust us to provide them with official, publisher-endorsed games at competitive prices. Being official means that our customers have the reassurance that our dedicated Customer Service team can sort out any issues they might have directly with the publisher, that purchased games will work, and importantly, that the correct version of a game will activate in a customer’s region as it is supplied by direct from the publisher.

We are incredibly proud to be a business trading and working officially with the world’s greatest publishers and developers. We have direct contracts as an official, approved retail partner with every publisher / developer that has a game listed on Green Man Gaming, so our customers can buy with confidence."

Does anyone know if they have resold keys before? If not, I wonder if they are going to update their site.

 

[baterism]

Sometime I wonder, why can't we put additional information to CD-key that show when the CD-keys generated and to whom the CD-keys are given so it can be tracked back.
Like, QR or barcode or something.
I'm still not sure how CD-keys work though.

 

[Koh]

So GMG will stoop to reselling keys if they can't get them directly. I don't think legitimate sources are enough to really make it okay as it's circumventing the developer's cut, which should be the whole point of selling their product. Although, given hawk's post, this is an unusual scenario stemming from GOG, GMG's actions have still managed to shake my faith in their service. Now, every time I buy something from them, I'll have to wonder, "is this money going to the developer?" That isn't a question I want to ponder.


As a complete bystander, this seems like a good post. So good that I'll quote the whole thing in all its glory.

What's the problem if GMG decides their willing to pay a middleman for their keys? That's what's happening here, and it's most likely legitimate.

No different than a store buying supplies from a costco and selling them. Costco paid for those goods to the original producer, then made some profit selling them to a store that might not have the same supply chain opportunities. The only one losing out in this instance would be the store which had to pay more for their goods than if they got it from the original manufacturer.

This is assuming the keys are in fact legitimate, but i have seen nothing to suggest they aren't.

 

[BreezyLimbo]

That's a weird take.

GMG claimed they deal direct and then admitted after CDPR called them out they aren't dealing direct with CDPR. People buying from GMG believe the keys are from CDPR.

If my shops states I deal direct with Apple but I buy my ipads not from Apple, don't you want to know?

At this point we don't know where GMG is getting the keys from. Approved sellers could mean from Russia or they could be taking a loss just to stay in the game for a major release. They could be sourcing some keys legit and a portion from others that maybe he can't 100% know if such a third party is really legit.

Did they claim they dealt directly with CDPR? Or are you talking about in general? I parsed the first couple pages and the links/updates didn't show anything about GMG saying they're dealing directly with CDPR before this mess started.

 

[Kintaro]

As a consumer, here's how it "looks."

GMG is selling keys for The witcher 3 at 35% off.
CDPR says "Wait, what? We aren't working with them!"
GMG says "We tried working directly with CDPR like we have before. They decided to cut us and other retailers out. So we bought ours from other CDPR authorized parties instead for our customers."

Nothing else from CDPR (as its probably very late or early or whatever time it is now).

As a consumer, if these keys are legit like GMG says they are, they are working hard for my business. They tried working direct, they and their customers got cut out and they've found another way to service their customer base. Plus, CDPR got their cut too.

I honestly don't see much wrong here on GMG's end, if these keys are legit. CDPR comes out looking a bit like pricks here until we get another statement. I want to know why they have taken this stance.

 

[viveks86]

Did they claim they dealt directly with CDPR? Or are you talking about in general? I parsed the first couple pages and the links/updates didn't show anything about GMG saying they're dealing directly with CDPR before this mess started.

They've claimed they always dealt directly with all publishers. So they have been claiming that they dealt directly with CDPR before this mess started. Check post above:

"It’s important to us that our customers trust us to provide them with official, publisher-endorsed games at competitive prices. Being official means that our customers have the reassurance that our dedicated Customer Service team can sort out any issues they might have directly with the publisher, that purchased games will work, and importantly, that the correct version of a game will activate in a customer’s region as it is supplied by direct from the publisher."

 

[nynt9]

What's the problem if GMG decides their willing to pay a middleman for their keys? That's what's happening here, and it's most likely legitimate.

No different than a store buying supplies from a costco and selling them. Costco paid for those goods to the original producer, then made some profit selling them to a store that might not have the same supply chain opportunities. The only one losing out in this instance would be the store which had to pay more for their goods than if they got it from the original manufacturer.

This is assuming the keys are in fact legitimate, but i have seen nothing to suggest they aren't.

This is the problem:

Was checking out the GMG site and saw this blurb:

"It’s important to us that our customers trust us to provide them with official, publisher-endorsed games at competitive prices. Being official means that our customers have the reassurance that our dedicated Customer Service team can sort out any issues they might have directly with the publisher, that purchased games will work, and importantly, that the correct version of a game will activate in a customer’s region as it is supplied by direct from the publisher.

We are incredibly proud to be a business trading and working officially with the world’s greatest publishers and developers. We have direct contracts as an official, approved retail partner with every publisher / developer that has a game listed on Green Man Gaming, so our customers can buy with confidence."

Does anyone know if they have resold keys before? If not, I wonder if they are going to update their site.

They claim that they are official authorized sellers who don't pay a middleman for keys.

 

[BreezyLimbo]

They've claimed they always dealt directly with all publishers. Check post above:

"It’s important to us that our customers trust us to provide them with official, publisher-endorsed games at competitive prices. Being official means that our customers have the reassurance that our dedicated Customer Service team can sort out any issues they might have directly with the publisher, that purchased games will work, and importantly, that the correct version of a game will activate in a customer’s region as it is supplied by direct from the publisher."

Yeah, I saw that after making my post. But this case is an exception, and not the rule...I hope it is, atleast. Never the less, I find this situation extremely interesting.

 

[nynt9]

Yeah, I saw that after making my post. But this case is an exception, and not the rule...I hope it is, atleast. Never the less, I find this situation extremely interesting.

I mean this only became known when someone posted on the CDPR forums, if that wasn't posted GMG would probably get away with pulling this. The fact that GMG made no official declaration on this before and are still being coy with where they get their keys and that this discount is similar to other discounts they've offered in the past makes me wonder if this is a thing they've been doing for a while but haven't gotten caught before.

 

[Denton]

CDP may look like "pricks" because they decided not to give keys to GMG.
But this is entirely their right, it is their games they spent 4 years making and their decision who gets to sell it.

GMG may look like "pricks" because they decided to go around CDP and sell their game regardless of CDP's wishes, while going against their own stated policy.

 

[Almighty]

I honestly don't see much wrong here on GMG's end, if these keys are legit. CDPR comes out looking a bit like pricks here until we get another statement. I want to know why they have taken this stance.

This is my biggest question as well. I am really curious why CDPR decided to refuse to let GMG sell this game? Even more so since they worked with them with their previous stuff. As long as the keys GMG are getting are legit then they are good in my book. It's CDPR that seems to be doing the odd stuff.

 

[viveks86]

Yeah, I saw that after making my post. But this case is an exception, and not the rule...I hope it is, atleast. Never the less, I find this situation extremely interesting.

That is the hope. And it behooves them to come clean on it and explain how they obtained the keys. Otherwise they are reneging on their own promise to customers (as stated above) and risking their reputation over a single game. Not that most customers really care about any of this (discounts? yay!), but I'm sure there are more than a few who tend to steer clear of questionable sales.

 

[danm999]

I was under the impression GMG's policy was to source keys direct from the publisher and not go through a third party. So assuming they bought these keys from an undisclosed retailer or reseller once CDPR refused to sell them keys, wouldn't they be in violation of that policy?

Edit; yeah it seems it is their policy. So in effect, when CDPR refused to supply them with keys (I'm guessing to push GOG), they went to someone and got some (I'm guessing so as not to be left out of a major release), CDPR got wind of it and wanted to know who sold it to them, which GMG refused to disclose.

I wonder what GMG ultimate plan was here though, since it'd become obvious eventually who was supplying them with keys as soon as those keys were redeemed.

 

[DealWithIt]

I was under the impression GMG's policy was to source keys direct from the publisher and not go through a third party. So assuming they bought these keys from an undisclosed retailer or reseller once CDPR refused to sell them keys, wouldn't they be in violation of that policy?

That's the whole point. GMG is trying to have it both ways. They want to claim to be directly dealing with devs and publishers while also reselling keys they got from a third party.

 

[ScatheZombie]

Well, you ignored the whole wall of text that came before it.

It's ridiculous because, due to the circumstances, it stands to reason that this wasn't an exogenous shock to the supply chain, but a business decision that needs to be understood. "It happens all the time" is not a satisfactory explanation.

I didn't ignore it. I accepted it for what it was, a very well explained, educated guess.

The point is that nothing CDPR has done thus far, regardless of underlying circumstances, warrants explanation, understanding, or investigation. They are completely in their right to refuse distribution to any retailer for any reason. You have nothing to substantiate that they have done any wrongdoing whatsoever. And, in fact, your argument for the most likely cause their dispute - which actually boils down to a failure to set price thresholds (as would be evident by other retail distributors having identical sale prices) - is an entirely legitimate and common reason for terminating distribution contracts.

While, on the other hand, it is clear that GMG has severely overstepped their bounds as a retail distributor. When your distribution contract fails, for whatever reason, you don't go around your supplier to acquire their goods via third parties. Especially when most suppliers have no-resell or 'resell to only trusted retailers' clauses in their distribution contracts. Doing so is an express ticket to becoming a blacklisted retailer. Regardless of the legitimacy of GMG's acquisition of keys, they're still in the wrong by knowingly bypassing the distribution contract - which, by the way, is against their own policy of selling only publisher-endorsed keys. And a contract that, in all likelihood, they turned down themselves in the first place.

 

[viveks86]

I was under the impression GMG's policy was to source keys direct from the publisher and not go through a third party. So assuming they bought these keys from an undisclosed retailer or reseller once CDPR refused to sell them keys, wouldn't they be in violation of that policy?

Indeed. And when they openly admit it like it was the right thing to do, it goes against the very reason they were well regarded in the first place. I tweeted their discount the moment I heard about it. Now I wish I hadn't. It really needn't have come down to this.

 

[gai_shain]

I'm still really curious about why CDPr didn't provide keys to GreenManGaming. If even uplay gets 'em, then why?

The only thing I can see different is that for Witcher 2, the last game, GMG is the only place that doesn't offer a non-DRM'd way to play the game (according to PC gaming wiki).

Although, since GMG is selling Witcher 3 preorders using keys for GoG, that can't be the reason, can it?


yeah, that can't be it

2 companys not coming to a business agreement happens all the time I dont think thats even remotely interestig tbh. Most of the time its going to be because of profit because thats what a business wants to get the most. Nothing wrong with that

 

[nynt9]

I didn't ignore it. I accepted it for what it was, a very well explained, educated guess.

The point is that nothing CDPR has done thus far, regardless of underlying circumstances, warrants explanation, understanding, or investigation. They are completely in their right to refuse distribution to any retailer for any reason. You have nothing to substantiate that they have done any wrongdoing whatsoever. And, in fact, your argument for the most likely cause their dispute - which actually boils down to a failure to set price thresholds (as would be evident by other retail distributors having identical sale prices) - is an entirely legitimate and common reason for terminating distribution contracts.

While, on the other hand, it is clear that GMG has severely overstepped their bounds as a retail distributor. When your distribution contract fails, for whatever reason, you don't go around your supplier to acquire their goods via third parties. Especially when most suppliers have no-resell or 'resell to only trusted retailers' clauses in their distribution contracts. Doing so is an express ticket to becoming a blacklisted retailer. Regardless of the legitimacy of GMG's acquisition of keys, they're still in the wrong by knowingly bypassing the distribution contract - which, by the way, is against their own policy of selling only publisher-endorsed keys. And a contract that, in all likelihood, they turned down themselves in the first place.

This right here. I really can't grasp why people are mad at CDPR and are trying to defend GMG here. CDPR have no obligation to sell their game on GMG, it's available DRM free on their site anyway.Whereas GMG broke their own policy and in effect lied to their consumers.

I guess people are just defensive of GMG because they like the deals despite them doing something obviously wrong?

 

[Denton]

I didn't ignore it. I accepted it for what it was, a very well explained, educated guess.

The point is that nothing CDPR has done thus far, regardless of underlying circumstances, warrants explanation, understanding, or investigation. They are completely in their right to refuse distribution to any retailer for any reason. You have nothing to substantiate that they have done any wrongdoing whatsoever. And, in fact, your argument for the most likely cause their dispute - which actually boils down to a failure to set price thresholds (as would be evident by other retail distributors having identical sale prices) - is an entirely legitimate and common reason for terminating distribution contracts.

While, on the other hand, it is clear that GMG has severely overstepped their bounds as a retail distributor. When your distribution contract fails, for whatever reason, you don't go around your supplier to acquire their goods via third parties. Especially when most suppliers have no-resell or 'resell to only trusted retailers' clauses in their distribution contracts. Doing so is an express ticket to becoming a blacklisted retailer. Regardless of the legitimacy of GMG's acquisition of keys, they're still in the wrong by knowingly bypassing the distribution contract - which, by the way, is against their own policy of selling only publisher-endorsed keys. And a contract that, in all likelihood, they turned down themselves in the first place.

This needs to go into OP.

 

[Hasney]

CDP may look like "pricks" because they decided not to give keys to GMG.
But this is entirely their right, it is their games they spent 4 years making and their decision who gets to sell it.

GMG may look like "pricks" because they decided to go around CDP and sell their game regardless of CDP's wishes, while going against their own stated policy.

You don't get to pick and choose who sells anything once your product is out there. If I wanted, I could get a stock of the game at wholesale, take the key inserts and sell them on my local market if I wanted. Digital is no different than physical other than your re-sale rights being restricted once the key has been redeemed.

If they got a ton of keys, as long as they're not stolen and that is where I trust GMG, so be it.

While, on the other hand, it is clear that GMG has severely overstepped their bounds as a retail distributor. When your distribution contract fails, for whatever reason, you don't go around your supplier to acquire their goods via third parties.

Yes you do. At Game, Tesco and CEX when they sold new copies, if a supplier didn't come through for a big game at the price the wanted, they just brought in European stock. Game was more of a stock thing for GTA San Andreas, but we had some fun times in CEX and Tesco putting some BBFC stickers on some French copies of games.

 

[danm999]

That's the whole point. GMG is trying to have it both ways. They want to claim to be directly dealing with devs and publishers while also reselling keys they got from a third party.

Indeed. And when they openly admit it like it was the right thing to do, it goes against the very reason they were well regarded in the first place. I tweeted their discount the moment I heard about it. Now I wish I hadn't. It really needn't have come down to this.

Ok, so then I go back to my question of how GMG expected this to go down. Word had to get to CDPR eventually that GMG was doing this, and who was supplying them, so I guess they were banking on the public goodwill for providing a low cost product mitigating any fallout from publisher relations or people who felt burnt by being misled about where there CD keys were coming from.

 

[MarcoZombieCannon]

So long as GMG's keys are legitimate (and it looks like they are), I don't give a shit if they came directly from CDPR or not.

 

[diablos991]

You don't get to pick and choose who sells anything once your product is out there. If I wanted, I could get a stock of the game at wholesale, take the key inserts and sell them on my local market if I wanted. Digital is no different than physical other than your re-sale rights being restricted once the key has been redeemed.

If they got a ton of keys, as long as they're not stolen and that is where I trust GMG, so be it.

You actually can restrict resales. Ever heard of "not for resale"? It is generally loosely enforced for individuals but it can be detrimental for a company to violate. If a person did this in a large scale they could also be in violation of operating a business without a license. A company can also restrict resale through contractual means.

Of course this likely doesn't apply in this situation: Just wanted to set this straight.

 

[Koh]

This is the problem:



They claim that they are official authorized sellers who don't pay a middleman for keys.

Thanks. I misunderstood the issue. I thought the issue was of stolen keys like other key resellers or traders may provide.

Instead the issue is about misrepresenting the products they sell.

 

[Deleted member 59090]

What's the GMG price for The Witcher 3? I can only see the British price in my country which is way more than what GOG is offering.

 

[viveks86]

Ok, so then I go back to my question of how GMG expected this to go down. Word had to get to CDPR eventually that GMG was doing this, and who was supplying them, so I guess they were banking on the public goodwill for providing a low cost product mitigating any fallout from publisher relations or people who felt burnt by being misled about where there CD keys were coming from.

When things go downhill, it's usually because someone dropped the ball and didn't think it through. Pretty sure GMG wasn't banking on public goodwill before their decision. But they sure as hell will now. You are seeing a lot of said goodwill in this very thread. They get a free pass because "hey it's GMG, they couldn't have abused the law could they? As long as it's not stolen, my conscience is not prickled".

 

[Kiyo]

Was checking out the GMG site and saw this blurb:

"It’s important to us that our customers trust us to provide them with official, publisher-endorsed games at competitive prices. Being official means that our customers have the reassurance that our dedicated Customer Service team can sort out any issues they might have directly with the publisher, that purchased games will work, and importantly, that the correct version of a game will activate in a customer’s region as it is supplied by direct from the publisher.

We are incredibly proud to be a business trading and working officially with the world’s greatest publishers and developers. We have direct contracts as an official, approved retail partner with every publisher / developer that has a game listed on Green Man Gaming, so our customers can buy with confidence."

Does anyone know if they have resold keys before? If not, I wonder if they are going to update their site.

This doesn't have to be not true. They list the publisher as Namco and they have a deal with Nacmo so technically they have a deal with the publisher of the game that's listed on the site.

 

[Denton]

You don't get to pick and choose who sells anything once your product is out there. If I wanted, I could get a stock of the game at wholesale, take the key inserts and sell them on my local market if I wanted. Digital is no different than physical other than your re-sale rights being restricted once the key has been redeemed.

If they got a ton of keys, as long as they're not stolen and that is where I trust GMG, so be it.

The difference between you selling keys you purchased from third party and reselling them, and GMG doing the same, is in GMG having actual stated policy of only selling authorized copies obtained from publishers themselves.
GMG is of course free to do their business G2A-style, but then they should perhaps amend their about page and remove the passages like

We have direct contracts as an official, approved retail partner with every publisher / developer that has a game listed on Green Man Gaming, so our customers can buy with confidence.

 

[Sijil]

Something similar happened to us a few years back, our family owns a carpet factory, we chose to cut one of our wholesale customers in favor of a batch of others. That customers proceeds to buy some of our carpets wholesale from some of our other customers far away from the area and started undercutting the retail price in his area, effectively hurting the customers we choose to deal with.

Wasn't much we could do about it except ask for his suppliers (our other customers) to cut that shit out and stop selling to him, which they eventually did.

In the end I can sympathize with both sides, CDPR wants to maintain a baseline retail price and GMG is known to undercut most retail prices, that would be embarrassing to CDPR whose supplying the keys to the market, CDPR has to take into consideration Amazon,Origin, Steam and Uplay. While GMG is a legitimate reseller that doesn't want to get left out of this spring'sbiggest release.

 

[BreezyLimbo]

When things go downhill, it's usually because someone dropped the ball and didn't think it through. Pretty sure GMG wasn't banking on public goodwill before their decision. But they sure as hell will now. You are seeing a lot of said goodwill in this very thread. They get a free pass because "hey it's GMG, they couldn't have abused the law could they? As long as it's not stolen, my conscience is not prickled".

Unless they steal the keys, they're not abusing the law. Sure it's a bit devious of them to say 'Hey we work with publishers' but for this case to go to resellers that are authorized by witcher 3 to sale keys.. Like I mentioned before, it'll be interesting to see where this goes because of that fact.

 

[danm999]

This doesn't have to be not true. They list the publisher as Namco and they have a deal with Nacmo so technically they have a deal with the publisher of the game that's listed on the site.

Ah, so Namco provided them with the keys? I'm guessing Namco would be on CDPR's shitlist then.

Edit;

Wait, so they DIDN'T get them from Namco? So technically they're misrepresenting that they have a deal with CDPR and Namco?

 

[DealWithIt]

This doesn't have to be not true. They list the publisher as Namco and they have a deal with Nacmo so technically they have a deal with the publisher of the game that's listed on the site.

Ah, so Namco provided them with the keys? I'm guessing Namco would be on CDPR's shitlist then.

Namco is only the publisher of physical copies. they aren't supposed to be doing keys.

http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/35436-Witcher-3-35-off/page4

Just a few words of explanation:

We have worked with GMG in the past for w2 and they were a legit partner.
We control all digital and the codes, and because we decided not to sell Keys to GMG it came as a suprise that they are doing a special promo without buying Keys from us. We have reach out to ask for the source of they Keys but up until now there was no response. They might sell nVidia Keys (which are not to be sold but gifted with the nVidia promo), 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).
They also list Bandai Namco as the published which is not true for w3 (namco is our box distributor in PAL), so GMG is not a CDPR partner for W3 but they still might sell Keys that will work.

 

[Almighty]

Ok, so then I go back to my question of how GMG expected this to go down. Word had to get to CDPR eventually that GMG was doing this, and who was supplying them, so I guess they were banking on the public goodwill for providing a low cost product mitigating any fallout from publisher relations or people who felt burnt by being misled about where there CD keys were coming from.

Probably didn't expect CDPR to publicly call them out or probably more importantly for GameSpot to insinuate that they are thieves is my bet. As for whatever else they are risking by going around CDPR that seems to be mostly speculation.

 

[dex3108]

Morning i am back to my PC so if you want me to change something in OP just tell me

There is also one interesting thing. CDPR only posted two post in now closed thread on their forum that is not pinned and it will be forgotten soon. They haven't made any official threads or posts on their Forum or web page warning customers about GMG situation.

Same thing goes with GMG. It's like both sides want this to go unnoticed.

 

[Kiyo]

Namco is only the publisher of physical copies. they aren't supposed to be doing keys.

http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/35436-Witcher-3-35-off/page4

Well maybe Namco has a deal with them for boxed copies and they're physically opening the boxes and pulling keys? There's nothing illegal about reselling something you've bought.

 

[ScatheZombie]

You don't get to pick and choose who sells anything once your product is out there. If I wanted, I could get a stock of the game at wholesale, take the key inserts and sell them on my local market if I wanted. Digital is no different than physical other than your re-sale rights being restricted once the key has been redeemed.

If they got a ton of keys, as long as they're not stolen and that is where I trust GMG, so be it.

Actually, you do. As a supplier of a proprietary product, you set contracts with your distributors and retailers that limit what they are able to do with your products. It's one of the reasons retailers throw excess stock away rather than donating it or selling it for super-cheap. Because their retail contract stipulates that they can only sell to consumers, not businesses, and they have to sell above (or below) certain price thresholds. This is fairly common practice across most retail stores.

For example, I once worked for a company that made a specific name brand hair care products. All of our distribution contracts had a no-resell clause with exceptions to specific trusted re-distributors and retailers. And different companies got different contracts. Because Wal-Mart bought our product in significant bulk, they got a discount on our margins. However, Wal-Mart couldn't turn around and use that discount to resell our product to, say, Target - who wasn't ordering the same bulk quantities and thus was not getting the discount.

This is done for a number of reasons, but mostly to discourage second-hand or 'black market' sales where businesses purchase in excess bulk quantities for the expressed purpose of reselling to other businesses who don't or can't get distribution contracts for various reasons and to limit the ability for knock-off, illegal or illegitimately acquired products to circulate amongst both legitimate retailers and grey-market retailers.

This works both ways too. As a retailer, you want to be a 'trusted vendor' and have direct contracts with your suppliers and distributors because you don't want to end up in a situation where you find out your products are illegitimately acquired or knock-offs.

 

[DealWithIt]

Well maybe Namco has a deal with them for boxed copies and they're physically opening the boxes and pulling keys? There's nothing illegal about reselling something you've bought.

I have no idea if the box versions are shipping with dvds or just digital download codes. I guess this is possible, but doesn't something about that idea seem off to you? GMG is buying hundreds of boxes and manually inputting the codes?

 

[Mohonky]

I'm more confused about why CDP just didn't deal with GMG directlyto begin with.

Unless the other resellers are offering CDP a higher % of resale profits back to CDP to keep the game off those other resellers, which would be bit of a dick move.

 

[Kintaro]

In the end I can sympathize with both sides, CDPR wants to maintain a baseline retail price and GMG is known to undercut most retail prices, that would be embarrassing to CDPR whose supplying the keys to the market, CDPR has to take into consideration Amazon,Origin, Steam and Uplay. While GMG is a legitimate reseller that doesn't want to get left out of this spring'sbiggest release.

Amazon isn't selling the game digitally btw.

People keep quoting that GMG about page. GMG DID deal with them directly. They got cut out. Maybe they should have slapped a huge notice on the front page saying "Hey, we tried to get you The Witcher 3 at our awesome discounts, but CDPR cut us out because they don't like our discounts!" I wonder how that would have looked for CDPR. Better or worse.

There is a phrase that GAF likes to use when it comes to things they don't like...what was it? Oh yeah. Just because its within your right, doesn't mean you should do it?" That the way it goes? Or does that only apply to Nintendo?

 

[viveks86]

Well maybe Namco has a deal with them for boxed copies and they're physically opening the boxes and pulling keys? There's nothing illegal about reselling something you've bought.

Are you saying CDPR is publicly calling them out without verifying with their own retail PAL publisher? They do not have a deal with Namco. And I don't think anyone is claiming that it is illegal. It's a grey market. One that GMG stayed away from and assured their customers of the same.

 

[Nokterian]

I'm really glad I'm getting Witcher 3 for free now. Them throwing GMG under the bus like that is a really poor move.

Also got the game for free from my work..but yeah seeing this how it unfold is pretty sad on how cd projekt red doesn't want consumers buy else where because choice.

 

[DealWithIt]

Are you saying CDPR is publicly calling them out without verifying with their own retail PAL publisher? They do not have a deal with Namco. And I don't think anyone is claiming that it is illegal. It's a grey market. One that GMG stayed away from and assured their customers of the same.

Be careful. I got shit all over in this thread for calling it "greymarket." People get really touchy about it.

 

[Sijil]

I have no idea if the box versions are shipping with dvds or just digital download codes. I guess this is possible, but doesn't something about that idea seem off to you? GMG is buying hundreds of boxes and manually inputting the codes?

I think reselling codes from boxed copies is illegal, read that somewhere just can't find the source yet.

 

[Kiyo]

I'm more confused about why CDP just didn't deal with GMG directlyto begin with.

Unless the other resellers are offering CDP a higher % of resale profits back to CDP to keep the game off those other resellers, which would be bit of a dick move.

This is a simple one to answer. They wanted to set a price floor of $53.99 so that every seller was on even ground, which would then cause people to buy directly from their own site (GOG) so they get a bigger cut of the profit.

GMG decided that no, they would not agree to whatever contract CDPR offered them. They'd go around CDPR (probably to Namco) and sell the game at the discount that they normally offer.

 

[pants]

Wont stop me from buying their games, but CDPR can go fuck themselves in this case.