Gearbox demands major changes from G2A

Gearbox demands major changes from G2A

Gearbox demands major changes from G2A

 
Gearbox has now demanded some major changes from G2A after a huge PR backlash that followed the announcement of the G2A Collectors Edition of Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition.
 
This came shortly after John Bain, better known as Totalbiscuit, stated that he would not cover any of their games/products while they supported G2A. In recent years G2A has been surrounded by a lot of controversies, as the company’s storefront can and has been used to sell stolen game keys, with the company actively profiting from the sale of stolen goods. 
 
G2A also offers a form of insurance called “G2A Shield”, a subscription service that is exceptionally difficult to unsubscribe from that offers users insurance against scammers, or from stolen game keys that are later revoked. This tactic forces users to pay a “protection fee” to ensure that they are not scammed, which is a service that is typically provided for free on other storefronts. 
 
After finding out about these controversies, Gearbox has issued the following demands from G2A, requesting that the storefront cleans up their operation and actively works to prevent stolen items from being sold on the storefront, as well as make their “G2A Shield” service free. Gearbox has made it clear that they will not support G2A if they do not meet these requirements. 
 
        Gearbox Publishing heard loud and clear the concerns voiced by John “TotalBiscuit” Bain. Gearbox was then provided with a lot of documentation on the subject, after which John was gracious enough to spend time across the last two days with our head of publishing Steve Gibson to put together a proposal and a deadline for G2A to act upon.

· Before Bulletstorm Steam launch, G2A makes a public commitment to this: Within 30 days, G2A Shield (aka, customer fraud protection) is made free instead of a separate paid subscription service within terms offered by other major marketplaces. All customers who spend money deserve fraud protection from a storefront. To that end, all existing G2A Shield customers are notified by April 14th that fraud protection services are now free and they will no longer be charged for this.

· Before Bulletstorm Steam launch, G2A makes a public commitment to this: Within 90 days, G2A will open up a web service or API to certified developers and publishers to search for and flag for immediate removal, keys that are fraudulent. This access will be free of charge and will not require payment by the content holders.

· Before Bulletstorm Steam launch, G2A makes a public commitment to this: Within 60 days implement throttling for non-certified developers and publishers at the title, userid, and account payable levels for a fraud flagging process. This is to protect content providers from having large quantities of stolen goods flipped on G2A before they can be flagged.

· Before Bulletstorm Steam launch, G2A makes a public commitment to this: Within 30 days, G2A restructures its payment system so that customers who wish to buy and sell legitimate keys are given a clear, simple fee-structure that is easy to understand and contains no hidden or obfuscated charges. Join the ranks of other major marketplaces.

Gearbox Publishing won’t support a marketplace that is unwilling to make these commitments and execute on them.

 

  

Gearbox demands major changes from G2A

 

At this time it is unknown if G2A has responded to Gearbox, though the message here is loud and clear, clean up your act or we will refuse to do business with you. Now G2A has to either take serious measures to legitimise their business or confirm that they are unwilling to take action against the thieves that are generation profit for the company.

 

You can join the discussion on Gearbox’s G2A ultimatum on the OC3D Forums.

  

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