Ubisoft might block Far Cry 4 copies bought through third-party key sellers
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I recently got Resident Evil Remaster via G2Pla and it hasnt been banned.
Though as others around the web have pointed out, its best to buy from G2play direct rather than some shifty thirdparty that sells via G2A/Play partner program. Same goes for Kinguin.
The best thing G2A/Play do now is to release a statement of some sorts. Anything.
WhiteLightning
Moderator
Too bad people got scammed
fantaskarsef
To be honest, it's bad people got scammed. But it only happened because they wanted to go cheep on the keys, and could have been avoided...
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Hilbert Hagedoorn
Administrator
lobez
I've been buying keys from these sellers for months, bought like 15-20 games (?), and had 0 problems redeeming them on Steam, Origin or Uplay; until a few weeks ago.
After returning from christmas holidays, i noticed that Ubisoft BLOCKED my Farcry 4 key, which i bought from G2A shop. After a few e-mails, G2A refunded me the money. Ubi said it was illegal copy.
Seketh
Arrrggghhh! Aye be sendin' Ubisoft a message from now, join me mateys!
WhiteLightning
Moderator
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-01-26-it-looks-like-ubisoft-is-going-after-third-party-key-sellers
I could only find this about it
Ubisoft has said it is actively deactivating keys it believes were "fraudulently" obtained and resold via third-party websites.
rpsgc
This is Ubisoft being greedy and a huge jerk-off (in other words, Ubisoft being Ubisoft).
I was planning to buy Far Cry 4, eventually. Not any more. There's only so much BS you can take.
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Should get Anonymous to revoke ubis access to the internet.
Fox2232
G2Play was always good shop. I have few dozens of games from them, including Starcraft 2, Skyrim, Tomb Raider (all at release day with good prices).
I quite reduced shopping there since steam announced regional locking, but even then there was no problem.
If UBI disables your game it is not because G2Play does something illegal, but because UBI want your 60E + what you paid before.
rpsgc
lucidus
The last similar incident I remember was Sniper Elite 3 but some people were "legit" customers too so I wouldn't be surprised if they're cracking down on people who took advantage of regional pricing. They're not wholly wrong but if they weren't charging so much for what can be argued is of poor value in the first place, these complications wouldn't arise.
rpsgc
Twiddles
Time to calibrate the LOIC again, lol. Sounds like they want the sole right to sell keys for full price.
lucidus
Darren Hodgson
The banning of keys by Ubisoft has me very concerned.
Last year, I purchased what I thought was a legitimate key for Sniper Elite III on PC from a trusted retailer I had been using for years and was able to successfully activate it and pre-load the game. A couple of days later I was notified by Steam that the key was not valid and the game disappeared from my library, apparently because it was suspected to be fraudulent and stolen (like what Ubisoft are saying now). I was able to get a full refund and I went and bought the boxed version from Amazon for, thankfully, just a few pounds more. I've had no problems since.
Now I bought PC copies of Assassin's Creed: Unity, Far Cry 4 and The Crew from the same retailer I have used for years with no problems for £24.99 each last year, a substantial saving on the £39.99 being asked by Ubisoft and Valve. They are still there now (or rather they were there this morning when I checked...) but with the Sniper Elite III issue still fresh in my mind, I can't help but think that Ubisoft may target these other sellers next and I will find all those games removed.
This is a big problem with digital distribution in my opinion. If I buy an Xbox One, PS4, PS Vita or Wii U boxed game from ShopTo.net or Amazon, wherever, then I know that it will be a legit copy (unlike PC games they do not require the entry of a key except for DLC, etc, either). However, unless I purchase a boxed PC game from one of those places then how am I supposed to know whether the key I've bought is actually from an approved seller? It may work initially but will it still be valid in six months (apparently copies of Watch_Dogs weren't) and where does it leave me if the retailer goes bust in the meantime? What chance then do I have of getting a refund? Call me cynical but is this just a way for the publisher to scare their customers from buying cheap keys and make them pay more for them from their own sites (Uplay and Steam) so they can maximise their profits? Are we suddenly going to find chunks of our games libraries deleted as publishers ban more of these supposedly cheaper "stolen" keys?
Regardless, what annoys me about what Ubisoft are doing is that unlike Steam they are apparently not notifying their customers that games have been banned nor are they explaining exactly why either. Surely that is not legal or right? In my humble view publishers should be targetting the sellers of these keys and punishing/suing them not the customers who in all likelihood bought the keys in good faith. Just because something is cheap, doesn't mean it is 'dodgy' or illegal. Console games sell in digital format on PSN and Xbox LIVE for much higher prices than what I generally pay for boxed copies from ShopTo.net after all, and on PC there are fewer games being released on disc (or are delayed until after the digital release, likely in an effort to make them pay higher prices in my view) meaning that you have no choice but to seek out a digital key if you want to play it on release. Why would I pay £40 if a reputable retailer, someone who I trust and have been using for years, is selling the same key for £15 less? Is that not what we've been doing for years with boxed PC and console games?
I can see why publishers want their games to be sold digitally as they can have absolute control over pricing. I buy a lot of PC games and one of the main reasons I do is because they are cheap. I can pick up bargains in the Steam sales and generally I never pay more than £25 for a full-priced release, whether its picking up a boxed copy on Amazon or a key from my favourite online retailer. However, if publishers decide to ask £40-£50 for PC games new, and when they are as broken as Far Cry 4 and Assassin's Creed: Unity were at launch, well then I will simply stop buying them at launch, end of, until they are cheap in a sale (which is probably the most sensible thing to do anyway as the games many issues should be fixed by then!).
(This is a repost of the one from the Far Cry 4 thread in the Games section)
sykozis
People just need to do what I do.... Avoid Ubi games.... The only reason I play FC3 is because I got it free with my 7950... If I had to pay for it, I wouldn't own it.
fantaskarsef
Solfaur
As I said in the FC4 thread, my Season Pass key which I bought from a 3rd party reseller (cjscdkeys) got banned after 2 weeks of working just fine. I still have my main game which I got with my GPU, so I hope that one will be left alone. But as things are now, it's like Ubisoft are deliberately trying to alienate the PC gamers through all means possible. I seriously doubt that all these keys were "stolen", as I purchased other games trough 3rd party key resellers on several ocasions...