Yeah, Paradox…but they just spun it off into its own thing, it wasn’t sold to another company as far as I can find.
My favorite memories of GamersGate are from late nights staying up to see how they’d manage to bungle the change over of daily sales. During one sale I recall them putting up a Bethesda complete pack - not long after Skyrim launched - for something absurd like 25 bucks.
Ah, I see, I was unaware of the distinction but that makes sense. They’re buying keys from legit sources* in bulk.
*Not sure how that works-- from Valve or from the publishers directly?
Good question, and someone who knows the space probably has a definitive answer. I don’t know if they buy keys from publishers up front like how a traditional wholesaler/retailer operation would work…or if they get keys on sort of a consignment basis, where publishers tell GG “We have earmarked you to sell 1,000 keys of this game” and then GG gets whatever their small cut is on every key they sell but then sends the rest on to the publisher.
That is correct. No longer though.
I was lucky enough to snag that pack. Amazing deal.
For the major retail sites like Green Man Gaming, Humble Store, Fanatical, GamersGate, WinGameStore and a few others the most common scenario is that the publisher (or sometimes the developer themselves if it’s a smaller indie title) will generate a set number of keys which are transferred to the retailer. The retailer then sells the keys at an agreed upon price, with one or more levels of discount agreed upon in advance for when the site wants to feature a game (daily deal) or has a site-wide sale.
For each key that is sold, a percentage of the sale is held back as the retailers revenue, and the rest is paid to the publisher. At some point, any unsold keys are also supposed to be returned to the publisher, although in many cases publishers simply allow steeper and steeper discounts and/or bundling in an attempt to have the retailer sell the remaining keys, as the publisher doesn’t really want them back. In cases where a game has been on the market for a long time, the publisher can allow the retailer to simply purchase all remaining keys (or even more keys) at a steep discount, and at that point the retailer can charge whatever they want for the game or include it in any bundle, as all proceeds from those sales remain with the retailer since they “own” the keys at that point.
That’s the simple version. There are usually other factors at play as well, such as exclusive offers, publisher’s sales, special bundles and other elements that can influence the titles a retailer has access to and the prices at which they can sell the keys. A publisher might decide to release a lot of discounted keys for a game into the digital retail market if a sequel is about to be released for example. It is kind of a fascinating business model based on a mostly unlimited supply (of keys) and a finite, ever-decreasing demand for a specific game as time goes on.
Fanatical has a new bundle: $2.99 for One Deck Dungeon, and then 19 other games I’ll probably never bother redeeming.
That’s a good bundle. Also worth a look
Aarklash Legacy
Lovely Planet
Pixeljunk (can’t remember which is good)
Several of the others are junk.
I kind of enjoyed Syberia!
Atomicrops has a big update and $7.5 sale, slightly cheaper elsewhere. Fantastic game.
Eximius: Seize the Frontline has a free weekend.
I loved it. It’s been almost 2 decades now since I played it, but it still sticks with me. I think it speaks to the rhythm of the story-telling in that game. A moody, sad game with an optimistic ending feels better to the soul than a bright optimistic game with a moody, sad ending.
Syberia sucks! Whoop whoop whoop!
Wow, what an argument. Now I am convinced I didn’t like Syberia. Sorry Rock8man!
Guess I should post this here too.
Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition currently free for the PS4.
Nice bundle @ fanatical:
https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/killer-bundle-16
- Blazing Beaks
- Dungeons 3
- Icewind Dale enhanced
- Walking Dead Season 4
- Yoku’s Island Express (great!)
- Yooka Laylee
and Call of Juarez Bound in Blood, the laddergoat game.
If you have an xbox & gamepass it has all the other walking deads.
Just came here to post that Fanatical bundle. Dungeons 3, Icewind Dale EE, Walking Dead Final Season and Yoku’s Island Express at $1 each ($3.99 for the bundle) is a ridiculous deal.
Over at Humble they have a Down to Earth Bundle for Earth Day.
$1 for Steam keys to:
- Figment
- Yono and the Celestial Elephants
BTA of $11.70 currently and receive
- Abzu
- ARIDA : Backland’s Awakening
- Never Alone
Pay $14 and unlock
- Beyond Blue
- Summer in Mara
- Lost Ember
$14 is a historic low for Lost Ember (supposedly a fantastic game) all on it’s own. Toss in some very good titles like Never Alone and Summer in Mara and it’s a great value.
ALSO
Head on over to the Epic Games Store to nab THREE FREE games until Thursday.
- The First Tree
- Deponia : The Complete Journey
- Ken Follett’s : The Pillars of the Earth
On Thursday the freebies will switch to Alien Isolation and Hand of Fate 2!
Wow, thanks for the heads-up!
Actually 5 games. This Deponia version includes the first 3 games.
Fans of point & click adventures should collect these freebies.
I got a PS4 Pro for cheap today. Are there any sites which track the bargains for this console? I’m only interested in deeply discounted games.