tl;dr: key shops… use https://gg.deals as a finder
For those who didn’t know, whenever Humble Bundle or other services have a package available, you can usually find the individual titles for even cheaper than you normally would at keyshops if you don’t want/need the whole package.
For example, this month’s Humble Choice is $11.99, but I only wanted to add Aragami 2, The Red Lantern, and Twin Mirror to my collection.
Using the above gg.deals website, it pointed me to:
- Aragami 2 - driffle - $2.41
- The Red Lantern - kinguin - $0.78
- Twin Mirror - kinguin - $1.27
Total: $4.46
Those prices were the final I paid after discount codes and service fees, but may change at any time for better or worse at different shops.
Hope this is helpful to someone, this concludes this PSA.
edit: regarding possible scams from gray markets
I have purchased literally hundreds of steam keys from such shops over the years and have had a grand total of only 3 keys be removed from my account within days or weeks, and was granted refunds from the shops when I provided proof from Steam that the keys were rejected as duplicates. Every game I’ve installed other than those 3 have worked without issues. It’s an educated risk that I failed to mention because it’s been over 99% successful for me. Make your own call.
edit2: Also worth mentioning that there are many games in my Steam account that were added after the games were delisted, such as the original GTA Trilogy, solely because I could still find keys on keyshops. If you want a delisted game, it’s worth considering.
Reminder to everyone that being an ethical consumer usually means you need to pay a bit more for the greater good.
I agree partially. For indie devs: get the game directly from the dev if possible, never get the codes, because the dev doesn’t really get money for those.
With AAA games, the picture is different. The business model for most has now pivoted to be about extracting money to the point where its absurd. And for them, I have absolutely no qualms with taking advantage of their bad business decisions.
@savvywolf@pawb.social @mateomaui
Going to elaborate on my thoughts here because it’s important.
Anyone promoting key reselling sites in order to help people save a few bucks without even a passing mention of the ethical implications demonstrates a complete lack of empathy.
Firstly, how these sites work. Typically they steal credit cards, buy a bunch of steam keys, then resell them to these black markets. Sure many of them claim that they don’t do this, but given that they think offering an insurance policy for it will be profitable, I’m not giving them the benefit of the doubt.
Then when a chargeback happens, the store (such as Humble here), is charged about $20 by their payment processor, which they then (directly or indirectly) pass onto the indie devs. So you saving $2 costs the developer $20.
You can say that you’re offering “options”, but you’re also intentionally omitting context that allows people to make an ethical decision.
(1/2)
@savvywolf@pawb.social @mateomaui
You can make the point that maybe it’s ethical to do this for big game studios. Not sure I agree, but I can see where you’re coming from. But for indie devs and small stores?
The creative industry, including gamedev, is in a rough spot right now. They’re having to deal with NFT nonsense, the cost of living crisis, the collapse of social media platforms they rely on for marketing and their payment processors pulling the rug out from under them. 2024 is also the year when they seriously have to worry about megacorps being able to mass produce acceptable quality versions of their work for cheap.
My feed is full of creative types begging for people to support them or they’ll have to drop out of the content creation industry.
I speak from a point of privilege here (having a good stable income), but I think anyone for which $2 extra for an indie game breaks the bank also doesn’t want to wish that life on anyone else.
(2/2)