Rebellion Revokes 'Stolen' Sniper Elite 3 Keys

[Bleedman0xx]

We are receiving a lot of reports from you guys telling us that Steam is currently revoking Sniper Elite III keys bought from sites like CDKeys and Kinguin. Valve has yet to offer an official explanation or statement but this could be a sign that the company is going to fight back against cheap CD key selling sites.

Right now customers are receiving emails stating that a problem has occurred with the supplier and full refunds will be issued:

 

“We have continued to work with our supplier to find a solution to the issue that has affected your CD Key today, however despite our best efforts this has unfortunately not been possible. We understand that you are very keen to play the game that you have purchased as soon as possible but as a resolution has failed to materialize and as we are unable to offer you a replacement CD Key we have decided to take the action of issuing you a full refund rather than keep you waiting any longer.”

 

Some retailers are offering a discount on your next order to make up for the trouble but we don’t know if this is Valve’s first step to ridding itself of unofficial sellers.

Source: http://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/steam-is-revoking-sniper-elite-iii-keys/

Source 2: http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2014/06/27/third-party-sniper-elite-3-steam-codes-being-revoked-heres-why/

Source 3: http://www.kotaku.com.au/2014/06/rebellion-revokes-stolen-sniper-elite-3-keys-users-and-resellers-cry-foul/

 

If anything, this is a prime example why people should probably stay away from third-party key sites. Good thing I got my copy from the AMD Never Settle bundle.

[Albatross]

Another way for Steam to try and control people from selling their copies of games.

 

 

And it is working.

[deviant88]

Once cd key selling websites are out of question theres only piracy left,then they will complain again blaming gamers when look where the fault is.

 

I bought so much off steam and sites like kinguin that if they would start revoking my old games id be instantly officially declare myself a non-gamer anymore and sell my steam account.

[Derangel]

If the CDkey sites obtained these keys legally in their country I don't see any right for Rebellion to do this. The sites are a legal grey area (hence the term Grey Market) but barring any laws saying otherwise Valve and publishers should not be allowed to revoke legal non-stolen keys. I don't even think Valve has anything in their TOS about buying keys from other countries,

[Misanthrope]

This amounts to even more fucking region locks and region control, which is bullshit, just another way to scam more money off certain players. Here's a free tip: your customers are not fucking stupid, they know that digital goods have 0 fucking shipping and store costs across different regions, there's just no good reason why the same motherfucking stream of 0's and 1's should cost more on the UK for example

[StingBull]

As much as I like Valve and Steam, I can abandon ship fast.

[brownninja97]

our lord gaben, i may die for this next comment but has he forsaken us, has he given up on the human population

[Bleedman0xx]

If the CDkey sites obtained these keys legally in their country I don't see any right for Rebellion to do this. The sites are a legal grey area (hence the term Grey Market) but barring any laws saying otherwise Valve and publishers should not be allowed to revoke legal non-stolen keys. I don't even think Valve has anything in their TOS about buying keys from other countries,

 

This amounts to even more fucking region locks and region control, which is bullshit, just another way to scam more money off certain players. Here's a free tip: your customers are not fucking stupid, they know that digital goods have 0 fucking shipping and store costs across different regions, there's just no good reason why the same motherfucking stream of 0's and 1's should cost more on the UK for example

 

The hell are you two talking about? This has nothing to do with regions or other countries. This is about third-party key sites and the possibility of being duped into purchasing illegitimate goods whether is be from a key reseller at wholesale or you as a customer to these kind of sites. Anyway, the story is still developing...

[Me1z]

The hell are you two talking about? This has nothing to do with regions or other countries. This is about third-party key sites and the possibility of being duped into purchasing illegitimate goods whether is be from a key reseller at wholesale or you as a customer to these kind of sites. Anyway, the story is still developing...

 

These third-party sites bought the keys in countries where the prices are deliberately dirt cheap and then sold the keys to the rest of the world. The keys are not actually stolen, nor are they illegitimate keys. The developers are upset that they can't get away with massively overcharging the rest of the world for games like they usually do so they ran crying to Valve for help. Like both Derangel and Misanthrope said, at the end of the day this comes down to region locks and artificial differences in price for absolutely no reason.

[Bleedman0xx]

These third-party sites bought the keys in countries where the prices are deliberately dirt cheap and then sold the keys to the rest of the world. The keys are not actually stolen, nor are they illegitimate keys. The developers are upset that they can't get away with massively overcharging the rest of the world for games like they usually do so they ran crying to Valve for help. Like both Derangel and Misanthrope said, at the end of the day this comes down to region locks and artificial differences in price for absolutely no reason.

You're quick to drawing conclusions here. Based on what's actually out there and what's been posted, this is just Dirt 3 all over again where keys were stolen, posted on the net and Valve had those keys blocked.

 

And I call BS on your point that the devs just want people to buy at full price so they can accumulate more money. You can get the game right now for just $30 on GMG.

[That Norwegian Guy]

Always hated Steam. They even dare charging Norwegian payers, a non-EU country, in Euro - because it suits them.

 

If a game is both on GOG and Steam, I will buy it on GOG. All 220 or so Steam games I have to my account were bought heavily discounted, only very rarely - pretty much only Skyrim, Age of Conan, Natural Selection 2 and maybe 2-3 other games did I buy full price.

[Me1z]

You're quick to drawing conclusions here. Based on what's actually out there and what's been posted, this is just Dirt 3 all over again where keys were stolen, posted on the net and Valve had those keys blocked.

 

And I call BS on your point that the devs just want people to buy at full price so they can accumulate more money. You can get the game right now for just $30 on GMG.

You call BS on the idea that a company would want to increase their profitability? Just think about that for a second. 

[Bleedman0xx]

You call BS on the idea that a company would want to increase their profitability? Just think about that for a second. 

Thought about it for a second... A company committing fraud is probably not a good way to maximise profitability...

[Scionyde]

Somebody associated with these gray market sites stole a bunch of CD keys and sold them to players. Rebellion and Valve found out and invalidated those stolen keys. Am I misunderstanding something here? This sounds perfectly fine to me.

[Bleedman0xx]

Somebody associated with these gray market sites stole a bunch of CD keys and sold them to players. Rebellion and Valve found out and invalidated those stolen keys. Am I misunderstanding something here? This sounds perfectly fine to me.

Apparently the story reads in a more malicious tone to many other people. Many of the 'victims' that had their key revoked are calling foul play on the devs, saying that the keys are totes legit. Because they would know, right? I would like to know what Valve has to say about all this though. Only time will tell.

[Scionyde]

Apparently the story reads in a more malicious tone to many other people. Many of the 'victims' that had their key revoked are calling foul play on the devs, saying that the keys are totes legit. Because they would know, right? I would like to know what Valve has to say about all this though. Only time will tell.

 

I would imagine Valve's response would mirror what Rebellion has said regarding the keys being stolen. I'm more curious to hear what CDKeys has to say about the legitimacy of the keys. If the key reseller websites are refunding/replacing the keys like one of the sources says, then perhaps it's an admission of fault? It's hard to say. 

 

I'm curious to see what happens with future games on Steam - I'm not going to succumb to confirmation bias like a few others and assume this conforms to the "Valve is now evil!" narrative...at least not unless we see more examples of this happening. 

[Derangel]

I would imagine Valve's response would mirror what Rebellion has said regarding the keys being stolen. I'm more curious to hear what CDKeys has to say about the legitimacy of the keys. If the key reseller websites are refunding/replacing the keys like one of the sources says, then perhaps it's an admission of fault? It's hard to say. 

 

I'm curious to see what happens with future games on Steam - I'm not going to succumb to confirmation bias like a few others and assume this conforms to the "Valve is now evil!" narrative...at least not unless we see more examples of this happening. 

 

Valve's response will likely be the same response they give to every controversy. That being to say nothing and pretend the problem doesn't exist while they either continue as normal or deal with the matter behind the scenes.

 

All the good grey market sites have a refund policy in place just in case keys don't work or get revoked. They buy a bunch of keys in batches and resell them, so if the story is true then one of their suppliers likely stole the keys.

 

While there is a case to be made for Valve's poor customer practices in some areas in this case they're totally at the mercy of publishers. If a publisher comes to them and says "ban this batch of keys for this reason" then Valve has to comply. Valve probably should have a policy in place where a key can only be revoked if the publisher can prove the keys were stolen but I suppose it's a rare enough issue (MW2 I think was the last huge random key ban) that they don't want to bother.

[Misanthrope]

While there is a case to be made for Valve's poor customer practices in some areas in this case they're totally at the mercy of publishers. 

 

No they're fucking not: They've survived Origin and Uplay just fine and just keep on growing, they're big enough to tell any shitty publisher to fuck off. They just don't want to because they actually are smarter than other companies and know when to shut the fuck up and let it blow over, cause gamers are well, stupid, and easily forgive and forget (i.e. If Farcry 4 has someone acceptable ultra settings with even a little bit of a noticeable difference to consoles, everybody will immediately get Ubisoft's dick back in their mouths.)

[TheNinjaNextDor]

Why do people like Steam so much?

[Derangel]

No they're fucking not: They've survived Origin and Uplay just fine and just keep on growing, they're big enough to tell any shitty publisher to fuck off. They just don't want to because they actually are smarter than other companies and know when to shut the fuck up and let it blow over, cause gamers are well, stupid, and easily forgive and forget (i.e. If Farcry 4 has someone acceptable ultra settings with even a little bit of a noticeable difference to consoles, everybody will immediately get Ubisoft's dick back in their mouths.)

 

Valve no more owns the keys than users do. All the rights to the keys and games lay in the hands of publishers. Valve would risk being sued if they told publishers to piss off. Not to mention no amount of people making claims of only buying from Steam would keep publishers around if Valve didn't listen to them in important matters.

[Misanthrope]

Valve no more owns the keys than users do. All the rights to the keys and games lay in the hands of publishers. Valve would risk being sued if they told publishers to piss off. Not to mention no amount of people making claims of only buying from Steam would keep publishers around if Valve didn't listen to them in important matters.

 

No, they just need to slightly change their wording on the agreement with the publishers to make it kosher. What are they going to do? Not sign and not be on the most important platform around? Not even massive dipshits like EA have been able to completely start a competing service and achieve the same numbers.

[JAKEBAB]

More proof Geben and valve are scum lol but nope people are still to dumb to realize there dogs lmao.

[XTankSlayerX]

From CJS CD Keys Facebook page

 

Quote from Rebellion, Developer of the Sniper Elite series

We have been saddened to learn that some fans have been caught out by companies selling unlicensed or stolen Sniper Elite 3 Steam keys. If you have been affected by this we encourage you to contact the seller in question and seek a refund immediately.

 

 

From CJS CD Keys

QuoteRebellion, the developer of Sniper Elite 3 appear to have pulled one of the largest scams that the game industry has ever seen! We have conclusive evidence and proof. More information coming soon!

The sniper elite 3 standard edition keys we are selling are not affected by any problems, but we do have full proof to show that certain pre-order editions bought directly from the publisher have been illegitimately revoked by Rebellion in an effort to force users to buy directly on Steam. Over 60 retailers have been affected. We will have a blog post published shortly with all of the information as it develops.

(The blog post will be posted on this thread shortly. In the meantime we're dedicating time on re-stocking keys and replying to support tickets).

 

All I can say... Wow, Is Steam forcing them to do this? This is happening to more then 60 Retailers...

 

This seems like this could go many ways. If indeed the keys that all 60 plus retailers were "Stolen", this could have a impact on  the 3rd party retailers.

If the keys are legit but Rebellion are revoking them unfairly, I wonder what the community would say.

 

Article .1 http://www.joystiq.com/2014/06/28/psa-rebellion-revoking-stolen-sniper-elite-3-keys/

[LawrenceBarnes2013]

never liked that Game any way, but still i wounldn't want to see something like this happening to CoD Or other Big Titles selling on steam

[Derangel]

Already been posted http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/172833-rebellion-revokes-stolen-sniper-elite-3-keys/