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[dex3108]

Few days ago Green Man Gaming started Witcher 3 promotion (35% off for Witcher 3 pre-order) and Gamespot reported that on their page.

But today they updated article saying this:

A representative for CD Projekt Red tells GameSpot that Green Man Gaming's Witcher 3 codes are coming from an "unknown source." As such, none of the revenue from Green Man Gaming's current Witcher 3 promotion will go to GOG.com or CD Projekt Red. If you'd like to buy The Witcher 3 directly from CD Projekt Red, head to the game's GOG.com page here.

GMG is well known digital distributor and it is official store for selling keys.

UPDATE 1 - CDPR response

I would kindly ask our fans no to buy via GMG at this time. We had not sold them Keys and dont know the origin of them.

http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/35436-Witcher-3-35-off?p=1634844&viewfull=1#post1634844

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.

UPDATE 2 - GMG response

"Following a six-month dialogue with [CD Projekt RED] about the launch of The Witcher 3, we were disappointed that despite the offer of significant cash advances, and other opportunities to officially work together, (we even offered to fly to Poland to discuss in detail how we could and wanted to support this launch), CDPR chose not to engage with a number of significant, reputable, and successful retailers, including ourselves, as they instead focused on supporting their own platform GOG. " Sulyok said.

Sulyok explains that GMG chose to essentially go around CD Projekt RED by acquiring digital copies of the game from third parties and retailers that were approved by CD Projekt RED. According to Sulyok, this means that CD Projekt RED is getting the revenue from sales of these games, and that any additional discount is absorbed by GMG. Earlier today, CD Projekt RED told GameSpot it was getting "zero" revenue from these sales.

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/witcher-3-39-codes-legitimate-despite-dev-accusati/1100-6427149/

 

[Zoned]

Seems shady.

 

[The Elite]

This should be interesting.

I just bought Project Cars from there an hour ago.

They are a very reputable site.

 

[Nokterian]

Holy shit GMG? What r u doing?!

 

[theytookourjobz]

Yikes. Always thought GMG was on the up and up.

 

[KINGofCRA5H]

Shame on you GMG

 

[gatti-man]

How does someone reputable sell unofficial keys? Saying cdpr isn't aware of how they got the keys and that cpdr is receiving no revenue from said keys are two different things. That's the same thing as saying these are essentially made up keys or keys passed on through surplus of some promotion. Not sure I 100% believe cdpr here.

 

[sueil]

My mind is full of fuck. GMG you seemed so good.

 

[Mechazawa]

Don't understand how GMG can fuck something like that up. If they're supposed to be getting their keys from publishers, that would mean they actively did not get keys from CDPR/Namco/whatever which is some Shady Shit™.

 

[BaronMonstro]

There's probably a lot of Witcher 3 codes floating around because of that promotion with Nvidia.

 

[Zimbardo]

please say it ain't so.

 

[Grief.exe]

Few days ago Green Man Gaming started Witcher 3 promotion (35% off for Witcher 3 pre-order) and Gamespot reported that on their page.

But today they updated article saying this:

A representative for CD Projekt Red tells GameSpot that Green Man Gaming's Witcher 3 codes are coming from an "unknown source." As such, none of the revenue from Green Man Gaming's current Witcher 3 promotion will go to GOG.com or CD Projekt Red. If you'd like to buy The Witcher 3 directly from CD Projekt Red, head to the game's GOG.com page here.

GMG is well known digital distributor and it is official store for selling keys.

Likely Namco. Did Gamespot didn't bother to reach out to GMG prior to running the article?

 

[Dsyndrome]

I don't want this to be true, they've always seemed on the up and up. Like others are saying, need to hear each side, specifically GMG's.

 

[Zoned]

There's probably a lot of Witcher 3 codes floating around because of that promotion with Nvidia.

Nvidia has a direct partnership with CDPR, so those keys are from publisher itself.

 

[adamantypants]

Dammit GMG. I've been using them a long time. Always seemed like a good site.

 

[JaseC]

There's probably a lot of Witcher 3 codes floating around because of that promotion with Nvidia.

GMG isn't a key reseller. I think whoever spoke to Gamespot just isn't aware that GMG is actually a retailer with which the company is affiliated.

Edit: Oh, the game is listed as being published by Scamco. Updated theory here.

 

[Nabs]

I think I'll wait to hear what GMG has to say before jumping to conclusions.

 

[Phinor]

People sure are quick to jump to conclusions.

For reference, the discount isn't so huge that they wouldn't be making profit even if they sourced their keys legit. The game has official pre-order discount that seems to vary a bit depending on store, but regardless of store it's over 10% discount. GMG takes 30% of the remaining, so they can discount games up to extra 30% off and still not make a loss. The math checks out. Whether this developer in question really knows if GMG keys are legit or not is a different matter. We'll see soon enough, I suppose.

One thing to consider is that even if GMG keys are found to be legit (which I expect to be the case), their reputation takes a hit because most people just read the negative news and not the follow-up. Then they keep spreading out of date information etc.

 

[Mechazawa]

There's probably a lot of Witcher 3 codes floating around because of that promotion with Nvidia.

Those codes have to be registered through Nvidia's website so that you can get your actual game key. Unless GMG is redirecting you to some promotional Nvidia url(lol) or they're literally pulling the keys themselves from the Nvidia website(lol), that's definitely not the source.

 

[Durante]

I find this:

As such, none of the revenue from Green Man Gaming's current Witcher 3 promotion will go to GOG.com or CD Projekt Red.

Exceedingly unlikely.

CDPR generated and sold those keys to someone. They don't grow on trees.

 

[jester_]

I think I'll wait to hear what GMG has to say before jumping to conclusions.

.

 

[hobblygobbly]

Probably best to wait on more info before jumping to conclusions, I can't really see GMG doing this maliciously, perhaps there is some miscommunication going on? Wait on GMG's statement.

Also this seems like very lazy reporting with not enough research even for a story you want to break quickly. If GMG hasn't done anything wrong and miscommunication like the fact that Namco is also handling publishing then Gamespot and CDPR are going to be doing some public apologising.

 

[shandy706]

Haha

A lot of people pulling out their Jump to Conclusions Mat.

 

[Salsa]

uh how is this GMG's fault

it's probably Namco or something

they're not key resellers and there's nothing shady about them

also there's no way CDPR isnt getting any money from those keys, that's not how it works

 

[spicy cho]

How is this possible? How does it happen that GMG can get keys without CDPR getting a cut? Seems like bad reporting to me.

 

[gigantor21]

GMG is the last place I expected to hear something like this, holy shit. I've shopped with them for years and never had any problems.

 

[The Elite]

Haha

A lot of people pulling out their Jump to Conclusions Mat.

It's the best way to get nowhere - fast!

 

[Tesseract]

I think I'll wait to hear what GMG has to say before jumping to conclusions.

indeed, they deserve to tell they side

i think this might be a publisher thing

 

[Omega]

I find this:

Exceedingly unlikely.

CDPR generated and sold those keys to someone. They don't grow on trees.

You mean those programs that let you generate free steam/PSN/XBL wallet codes aren't legitimate?

 

[razgriz417]

Yeah I'm on the wait and see side for this story. I'm thinking they're buying nvidia codes or something lol

 

[Neverforget]

Honestly it doesn't surprise me one bit! I had a bad experiences with them, two games key I bought were invalid (duplicate) and not the correct edition listed. I had to go through their support for 2 weeks IIRC to get the correct keys and it annoyed me beyond word.

 

[Intheflorsh]

Thanks for the tip about this great discount.

 

[Zomba13]

Isn't Namco the publisher in some regions or something? Couldn't they have received the keys from Namco instead of directly from CDPR and that is why CDPR don't know where they got the keys from? Because CDPR isn't Namco and let Namco handle the distribution in some regions? Wikipediea says Namco are the publishers in PAL regions, GMG is UK based right? Makes sense.

 

[Tesseract]

Isn't Namco the publisher in some regions or something? Couldn't they have received the keys from Namco instead of directly from CDPR and that is why CDPR don't know where they got the keys from? Because CDPR isn't Namco and let Namco handle the distribution in some regions? Wikipediea says Namco are the publishers in PAL regions, GMG is UK based right? Makes sense.

it does.

 

[The Elite]

Isn't Namco the publisher in some regions or something? Couldn't they have received the keys from Namco instead of directly from CDPR and that is why CDPR don't know where they got the keys from? Because CDPR isn't Namco and let Namco handle the distribution in some regions? Wikipediea says Namco are the publishers in PAL regions, GMG is UK based right? Makes sense.

I imagine CDPR/Gamespot would reach out to the publisher before putting a website on the spot like this.

 

[Kriken]

GMG isn't a key reseller, something about this is fishy though

Edit: and like Durante said, keys don't just magically appear. Why would the representative say something like that?

 

[Gentleman Jack]

Isn't Namco the publisher in some regions or something? Couldn't they have received the keys from Namco instead of directly from CDPR and that is why CDPR don't know where they got the keys from? Because CDPR isn't Namco and let Namco handle the distribution in some regions? Wikipediea says Namco are the publishers in PAL regions, GMG is UK based right? Makes sense.

Pfft you can't expect game journos to go out and do research can you?

I imagine CDPR/Gamespot would reach out to the publisher before putting a website on the spot like this.

As such, none of the revenue from Green Man Gaming's current Witcher 3 promotion will go to GOG.com or CD Projekt Red.

I suspect the unnamed representative did not say this and is speculation on the part of Gamespot's writer. One phone call or email would clear this all up.

 

[Tesseract]

I imagine CDPR would reach out to their publisher before putting a website on the spot like this.

well, we don't call them scamco for nothing

 

[airborn]

CDPR generated and sold those keys to someone. They don't grow on trees.

Each PC retail version contains an additional GOG.com key for The Witcher 3. You don't need to activate it to play the game, but it grants you access to a digital backup copy on GOG.com. I would imagine that's where these codes might be coming from.

 

[MUnited83]

Guessing they got their keys from Namco.



itsfuckingnothing.jpg

 

[Nzyme32]

This is unsettling.

I've always trusted GMG and had no issues. Going to be much more careful.

 

[iNvid02]

did nobody ask scamco

 

[garath]

Each PC retail version contains an additional GOG.com key for The Witcher 3. You don't need to activate it to play the game, but it grants you access to a digital backup copy on GOG.com. I would imagine that's where these codes might be coming from.

Did they ever confirm this? As of last week it was still stated that retail versions would NOT come with a gog key.

edit: Yep, they did confirm it a couple days ago. Cool.

 

[Intheflorsh]

did nobody ask scamco

Or GMG?

 

[Enter the Dragon Punch]

This is unsettling.

I've always trusted GMG and had no issues. Going to be much more careful.

Relax. It's probably just Scamco.

 

[Corpekata]

Even if it is Namco it's a bit goofy that the CD Projekt rep is apparently clueless about the source.

 

[Jawmuncher]

Rep probably just didn't want people to get a good deal.

 

[erawsd]

Isn't Namco the publisher in some regions or something? Couldn't they have received the keys from Namco instead of directly from CDPR and that is why CDPR don't know where they got the keys from? Because CDPR isn't Namco and let Namco handle the distribution in some regions? Wikipediea says Namco are the publishers in PAL regions, GMG is UK based right? Makes sense.

That depends. Is Namco at all involve on the digital end? Or is it just distribution of retail units?

I'm willing to bet that GMG is buying up Nvidia codes second hand and reselling them. So, technically, the money is still getting to CDPR through whatever deal they have with Nvidia.

 

[Zeouterlimits]

I thought GMG was an above board outlet so this is surprising.

 

[Krakn3Dfx]

Uninformed articles like this just muddy the water more when it comes to the legitimacy of digital reseller sites like GMG.

Gamespot has an obligation to research things like this before running articles that will potentially leave GMG with a black eye for awhile, especially after it's taken then a couple of years to get to a point where PC gamers don't refer to them as "shady" anyway.

I thought GMG was an above board outlet so this is surprising.

They are, CDPR doesn't know everything about publisher distribution channels, so they're speaking out of turn on this IMO, but Gamespot's eagerness to run with it is even worse.