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I am not sure if this question would be off-topic here but here it goes, I realised that some big-name games (e.g. Fifa 2013, Football Manager 2013, HotS) are cheaper to buy digitally via third-party sellers compared to purchasing directly from primary distributor, like Steam or Blizzard?

Does that mean it's illegal or hacked keys somehow? The websites seem legit (some are even big electronics stores) and they accept practically all common digital payment methods... I am confused about why would anyone buy the game from Steam if getting a key to redeem the same product is cheaper via third party.

Note that I did not add links, considering that it could be seen as an advertisement. If someone doubts I can supply links to stores (in Swedish).

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  • This is certainly off-topic. It's not something we can definitively answer. It falls into the same area as, "Why did the devs design it that way" type of questions. The only authoritative answers can come from the decision makers themselves.
    – Frank
    Mar 14, 2013 at 19:28
  • There have been instances of fraudulent Steam keys being sold. See here for an example that cost Unknown Worlds $30,000: unknownworlds.com/blog/… Mar 14, 2013 at 19:31
  • @fbueckert and other down-voters; please note that I did not ask "why?" but rather if it's possible that such deals are legally OK. agent86 provides an answer along these lines which I find very informative.
    – posdef
    Mar 14, 2013 at 19:46
  • If this is asking about legal areas, it's even more off-topic. Also, note that I did not say that you were asking, "Why". I said that it falls into the same area as, "Why did the devs design it this way." @agent86 provides a good answer, and those are possible reasons. There's no way to tell, one way or the other, though, which is happening.
    – Frank
    Mar 14, 2013 at 19:49

1 Answer 1

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I'm not party to the agreements Steam has with publishers and other distributors, but I can get a pretty good picture of it from viewing it as a gamer/consumer.

If someone wants to sell a game, they can make a deal with Valve to sell keys to that game that are redeemable on Steam. In this case, Valve most likely gets a small cut when the key is purchased or used (they're providing the bandwidth after all...) However, Valve doesn't control the price the game creator sells their game at if they opt to sell outside of the Steam store.

For instance, Amazon might strike a deal with 2K Games to sell copies of Civilization 5 at a steep discount - the games include a Steam code as Civ5 is a Steamworks title. Valve is just providing the infrastructure, they're not setting the price that 2K can sell the game at across the wide expanses of the internet.

When it comes to retail, the store you're purchasing from is buying the games in bulk at a discount from the distributor or publisher. They might choose to pass that discount along to you, in the hopes that you'll think more highly of their store or purchase supplemental accessories or something similar. (This is called a loss leader and is a common retail practice.)

Thus, Blizzard might agree to sell thousands of copies of the latest Starcraft title at some percentage discount to Newegg. Newegg then turns around and either gives up that percentage discount as a "preorder bonus" to customers. You buy the game from Newegg, and you see that they've also got a sale on DDR3, which would be a perfect upgrade for your rig to play the game. Newegg sells a product they might not have sold otherwise, and you feel like you got a good deal. One axiom I like to quote is "if you can't figure out how they're making money, you're not the consumer - you're the product." The meaning here is that they wanted your eyeballs on their site, and they got them by offering you a discount.

Another factor at play here is arbitrage, where companies or people buy a product at a discount, and then resell at less of a discount. For instance, some people might take advantage of a Steam sale and get a game 50% off, and then turn around and sell it for 25% off after the sale ends. Alternatively, if the game keys work internationally, they might buy copies in a country where the price is low, and sell them in a country where the price is higher. Sometimes this is not allowed, though. There may be region locks or other protections to keep this type of arbitrage from occurring.

Be warned, there are deals out there that are scams. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. I'd suggest only dealing with reputable distributors whenever possible. If you don't think you could contact their customer support and get your money back if the keys weren't legit, I'd think twice about buying.

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  • For more about Valve, arbitrage, and the economics of Steam, check out this article and practically everything else by Yanis Varoufakis, Valve's in-house economist.
    – agent86
    Mar 14, 2013 at 20:02

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