Ubisoft has teamed up with digital distribution firm Genba Digital to change its method of selling PC games through third-party stores like Fanatical and Games Republic. The new process is called 'silent key activation' and activates games on platforms like Steam and Uplay automatically rather than giving out codes to retailers and customers. From now on, Ubisoft will only sell games through sites that use SKA.
Instead of giving a retailer a massive list of keys that could theoretically be pinched or resold, no keys actually pass hands. Genba, which also won't have direct access to the keys, sets up a keybank that will distribute keys one-by-one, with each of them being recorded before the next one is sent out, and then the game will be activated on the customer's account.
By removing keys from the equation and giving publishers more control over how their games are distributed, Genba reckons it can kill off the grey market. But it's taken time.
"It's a bit like trying to change the rules—you need everyone to move at the same speed, or move together," Murphy said. "If I could click my fingers and magically get us to a position where this was implemented, then we wouldn't have the issue of the grey market."
Genba is working with ten retailers at the moment, while there are others using their own methods. Murphy believes that all of the big publishers will distribute keys this way within a year, and Genba is already working with another large publisher on another keyless system. >G2A dead >Poorfags dead >Keyresellers dead
>This literally says they want to stop key reselling by getting rid of keys.
Oliver Campbell
Do you guys use G2A?
Tyler Young
I don't use sites run by shady polacks.
Samuel Murphy
The only thing that will come of this absurdly anti-consumer practice is a rise in piracy.
Mason Price
I always buy games a year later during black friday for like 70-90% off, i nabbed persona 5 for ps4 last year for £10, ive been doing this for so long i mentally add a year to game releases
Jason Rivera
Good thing I never purchase Ubisoft games. If there is the rare occasion that they put out a game that's not shit I always pirate from them.
Isaac Turner
but ubisoft games are shit, user
James Johnson
no I use cdkeys
Brody Mitchell
I don't really understand why someone would think that a guy that goes to those shady sites will simply buy the game in the official store then...if it was something aiming at normies it would work, but those people aren't retarded, they don't care spending some time looking for a deal
Julian Sanchez
>Why is this a bad thing? you literally listed why it was a bad thing just before asking why it was a bad thing, retard. destroying legitimate markets in the name of corporate greed is a bad thing.
Eli Wood
I haven't paid for a Ubishit game in literally almost a decade, why would I care about this?
Samuel Walker
HOLY SHIT, UBISOFT IN SHAMBLES!
Gabriel Howard
So my r6 copy from three years ago will be gone with my year 1 pass but my year 2 pass will stay? i bought the game for like 70 shekels with year 1 pass back then, the game is always dirt ass cheap now anyways during sell i can just buy the base game again later on
I got RE:2 and DMCV for nearly 50% off through key sites.
Gabriel Perez
yet again pirates offer the better deal.
Thomas Carter
>Ubisoft is trying to wipe out key reselling with 'games nobody wants'
Brody Young
I haven't bought a ubishit game in years, so whatever.
Ryder Nelson
>tfw bought Minecraft windows 10 edition for 45 cents off some key reseller two years ago >tfw only played it for an hour before getting bored I still feel ripped off.
Ian Brown
I'll be sure to buy Anthem off of a key site now.
Jason Gomez
Oh no, not the third-party sites! What will I do now?!
this. the only ones using shady grey market sites are already a push away from just pirating
Sebastian Thomas
They will only lose money because the people that can't be bothered to buy cheaper will simply pirate instead. Not to mention all the money they lose by investing in setting up this entire bloated infrastructure to begin with.
Lucas Wood
>Kill off the grey market How is this legal?
Mason Scott
things go digital has gone from a good idea to absolutely fucking terrible and is rife with abuse, I mean the whole point was games would be cheaper and easier to get a hold of. now it's this shit and games as old as dirt still go for a full $60.
Leo Cox
>Digital was originally meant to be cheaper >meant to be faster to download and set up >Meant to save space >Digital actually costs more >Saves no space >Takes longer to download
Whether or not you bought them (I didn't) it sets a precedent, a trend. It's a cancer that should be cut out early before it develops.
Juan Nelson
Remember it's only evil when epic does it.
Austin Watson
For me, it Green Man Gaming, the best key site in the planet.
Grayson Reed
Memes aside, doesn't this defacto confirm that the product is resolutely yours? So no matter what either steam or the dev/publisher are legally obligated to keep your definitive product in a legitimate state?
Chase Nguyen
Steam always keeps your product in a legitimate state. What are you talking about?
Juan Barnes
>buying a Jewbisoft product thats a hard pass for me dawg
Logan Turner
this image reminds me of all the CP that's still being passed around on limewire.
Isaiah Ross
Boy I sure am glad I stopped buying new games eight years ago and have absolutely zero incentive to give any of these assholes money any more.
Carter Johnson
not him but the day I'm no longer able to play shit for free or for cents on the dollar is the day I stop playing games altogether. the only people affected by this stuff are buyfags who wouldn't use it anyways. I'm entirely sure that all these DRM measures are made up to appease boomers in corporate board meetings who know shit about the industry, market and targeted audiences. they see estimates of lost revenue and demand measures be taken
Christian Morgan
>Ubisoft thinks I'll pay them full cut >Ubisoft thinks I'll buy their game
Connor Turner
this I haven't bought a ubisoft game in like 5 years and that was through g2a fuck ubisoft
