A batch of Sniper Elite 3 keys have been cancelled after it emerged that they had been stolen and re-sold to vendors. http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/2014/06/30/sniper-elite-3-customers-left-in-lurch-key/1
I would love to believe that this was the entire truth (it may well be as there are some third party retailers that haven't been hit by this) but it does stink a little of "we want you to pay £40 for this game and are annoyed that you've only paid £20 so we'll cancel your key hoping you'll buy a full-price replacement and to soften the blow we'll give you a £6 DLC for free"
That GeorgeK, unfortunately is exactly what it is, but Rebellion are trying to save face by saying that they were stolen. Stolen and then sold to 20+ Distributors and 60+ Retailers worldwide, Sure, Rebellion, we totally believe that. Not.
I always wondered how some sites were so cheap for certain things. Even on the big 2 cd key sellers the prices for brand new pre launch games are rarely half the steam price. Most will get a refund I'd imagine or a new key.
Everyone will be getting refunds, but no one will get a replacement key as there are none to replace them with.
The only site that I've come across (NB - I've not looked that hard) that seems to be unaffected is CJs CD Keys... They must not source their keys in the same way that the rest do... They must be making a killing on people buying replacement keys as theirs are only £20.50 compared to £39.99 on Steam...
I'd be interested to know what kind of numbers we're talking about here. For this to be worth the inevitable PR hit that Rebellion will take (and would have known they would take) from the doubters, the potential lost revenues must have been substantial. Bear in mind that a good proportion of those affected by this will almost certainly take a trip to their favourite torrent index and help themselves to a free copy, so whilst they might feel better knowing that some "lost" potential revenue will have been recouped, they are probably going to lose a substantial chunk more to piracy. Also, t'Internet loves a good run on a company when it falls out of favour, so I suspect a lot of others will pirate the game now just because they can. Even if they don't play it.
Maybe I am lost on this one...would no one bother contacting their credit card company to do a charge back? Seems like you shouldn't have any issues there.
That would assume you buy all your games through a credit card.. Or even that you have a credit card!
Banks aren't legally obliged to pay up with transactions less than £100 (you can't take them to court for example if they don't stump up the money but above £100, and on a credit card, you can apply Section 75 in the UK which is legally binding). I know that some retailers are offering refunds but they don't have to I believe...
This implies that someone stole legit keys, and then multiple retailers all agreed to purchase these codes from the same source/thief. For so many retailers to be accused of purchasing keys from an unofficial source, and these keys were 'stolen' and purchased by unsuspecting customers, and its only now that they've realised and not shortly after they were stolen?? 7,000 keys and >50 retailers. This is a "we dont like you buying keys intended for a different region, so they're stolen" move.
I was thinking more about this yesterday. It could be that a large number of keys was 'sold' to a distributor who then sold them on to GMG, CD Keys etc but then didn't pay the developer and / or Steam and so the keys they bought were then revoked... Unlikely I imagine but could be possible...
Rebellion are just a nasty developer, given they are also trying to re-sue sins of a solar empire developer Ironclad over the use of the world Rebellion from their latest sins game: http://www.pcgamer.com/2014/06/30/s...peaks-out-against-new-rebellion-legal-action/ I hope this new key issue and their current litigation back fire and harms them permanently. given they make such trashy games anyway, it would be no loss if they went out of business
After the crap that was Sniper Elite 1, I'd steered clear of the sequals. CHecking reviews of SE2, seems they didnt fix many of the problems from 1 and added a bunch more. They promised to learn from their mistakes with the previous 2 and do better with 3, but it's a shoddy, broken PoS with only 8 or 9 missions. I'd definitely call this a BS move by Rebellion. I'd bet if all the affected stores asked for a copy of the police report, they never produce one.
They where not much cheaper than the physical versions, the pc version of Sniper Elite 3 can be had on amazon for £25 and the xbox 360 version is £24 on amazon.
That's true, but card companies do go further, i.e. Visa Chargeback, which applies on both debit cards and credit cards and for transactions below £100. Effectively it's a voluntary extension of Section 75, and is barely any different in practise.