this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2025
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[–] SmokeyTheBear@hexbear.net 14 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

This is why I only buy keys on sale ☝️🤓 and play old titles.

I can imagine its going to be hard for kids these days though. They are going to rack up quite a budget on the latest and greatest games/systems.

[–] Tabitha@hexbear.net 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

I'm not sure what you specifically mean by keys but it's common for game dev to give free keys to curators, streamers, youtubers, other influencers, which could even be 4+ keys in the case of multi-player games. Then some of those turn out to either be grifters or or otherwise don't even try out most games they were given free keys for and they sell these keys on key resale marketplaces. These are called grey market keys.

If it's important to you that the dev actually receives money, you should scrutinize the chain of custody on where the key came from. Otherwise, you might as well just pirate.

[–] BelieveRevolt@hexbear.net 9 points 3 days ago

https://isthereanydeal.com/

The stores on here are authorized non gray market resellers. Some developers have straight up said they'd prefer it if people pirate instead of buying gray market keys.