G2A responds to Gearbox and their “defamatory statements”

At the end of last week, Gearbox began terminating their deal the G2A after the latter failed to respond to a list of demands issued by Gearbox over the sale of the Bulletstorm: Full Clip Collector’s Edition.,

G2A has subsequently issued a response to the allegations made by Gearbox and John Bain who highlighted G2A’s business model to Gearbox. The statement starts as follows:

“This last week brought forth a lot of confusion, and caused a lot of inaccurate information to appear on the internet about G2A.COM. Although this saddens us, at the same time we are also glad to have the opportunity to thoroughly explain many of the inaccuracies and misunderstandings tied to G2A.COM.

“It all began with a few negative reactions from some YouTubers, and in particular from John “TotalBiscuit” Bain, to an announcement that G2A.COM is working together with Gearbox Publishing. Our partner, Gearbox Publishing, unfortunately decided to publicly publish a letter with a list of ultimatums, without consulting us about the truth of the allegations made by John Bain. This is an excellent example that rash actions, without full knowledge of the facts, can be harmful to both the developer and the marketplace. Especially since all of the requests made of G2A.COM in the ultimatum have in fact long been part of our marketplace.”

One of the main issues highlighted to Gearbox was the G2A Shield protection system which is supposed to protect buyers from fraud. G2A explained their stance on this:

“We agree that every buyer on the marketplace should be protected – and that is exactly how it is on G2A.COM. We firmly attest that G2A.COM protects and secures both our sellers and buyers far better than most functioning marketplaces. In the very rare cases in which a purchased key does not work properly, each user has the right to issue a complaint, and either receive a different key or a refund.

“The main purpose and function of G2A Shield is to provide buyers with immense convenience and comfort, as well as additional features such as 10% cashback (which actually ensures that the Shield subscription cost and more is refunded to each person that buys games more than once every few months).

“In order to best illustrate this, we will describe exactly how buyer protection works in practice on G2A.COM. Just like on any other marketplace, there are rare cases in which a purchased item does not meet expectations. Therefore, let’s assume that a key bought on G2A.COM from a seller does not work.”

Another complaint was “hidden fees” at G2A.

“G2A.COM has over 13 million clients precisely because it offers attractive terms for both buyers and sellers. We would not have been able to build such a successful marketplace by introducing hidden fees. All fees and rates are clearly and explicitly described in corresponding tables. In addition to the price, VAT is added based on the buyer’s country, and if applicable, a fee depending on the buyer’s chosen payment method. Both of these fees are independent of G2A.COM, and we clearly inform the buyer about them before any purchase is made. No one on our marketplace is unwittingly charged extra fees.

“This, of course, does not mean that we pat ourselves on the back for a job well done and call it day. We are constantly working on bettering the marketplace and regularly make improvements. In fact, some improvements are currently in the final stages of testing and will soon go live.”

G2A then goes on to explain that developers have access to the key database and ends with this summary:

“G2A.COM’s goal is to provide the best possible conditions for both buyers and sellers, while providing the best prices for legal games. We do everything in our power to uphold the best possible relationships with developers and ensure the highest standards in the fight against dishonest sellers.

“At the same time, we respect our critics and believe that they have the good of the industry at heart. Unfortunately, sometimes they do not understand how G2A.COM works and as such this misunderstanding causes them to mislead the public about our company. The best proof of this are the four ultimatums formulated in part by John Bain, which, it turns out that were completely unnecessary as all of the issues raised have long been a part of the G2A.COM marketplace. Most of the allegations levied against us are based on both a lack of knowledge, and a lack of desire to learn the other side of the story. The best example of this is quoting false and defamatory statements while ignoring the facts. This is why we constantly emphasize that we are open to meetings and discussions with anyone who has doubts about how our marketplace works.”

There’s no doubt that G2A have some very strange ideas when it comes to areas such as the G2A Shield and the way in which they want to tackle issues if users do not have a G2A account. It’s understandable why this system could be seen as some kind of protection racket which they see as providing “convenience and comfort”.

It’s clear that G2A has no intention of changing their business model or practices despite pressure over this deal.

The full statement can be found on the G2A site.