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User:Moherson/G2A

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G2A.COM
File:G2ALogo2016.jpeg
Type of site
Video game distribution marketplace
Available inEnglish, Dutch, Spanish, French, Czech, Hungarian, Italian, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Taiwanese, Arabic, Romanian, Turkish, German
Area servedWorldwide
Founder(s)
  • Bartosz Skwarczek
  • Dawid Rożek
Employees700 (as of 2016)
URLg2a.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationYes
UsersOver 12 million


G2A.COM Limited (commonly referred to as G2A) is a global digital marketplace specializing in gaming products. Although headquartered in Hong Kong, the company states that it has offices in various countries including Poland, The Netherlands and China. [2] [3] G2A is known as one of the leading marketplaces for games, software and prepaid activation codes. The main product offering found on the marketplace is game cd keys to such platforms as Steam, Origin and Xbox. It states it is the fastest growing global digital gaming marketplace and currently has over 12 million customers, 260,000 sellers, 50,000 digital products and employs over 700 people throughout all locations. [4]

G2A.COM does not purchase or sell any products themselves, it delivers the platform for others to do so, acting as an intermediary by connecting the buyer to the seller. [3] G2A states that it offers a range of systems including G2A Direct, a developer support system, G2A Pay, an international online checkout solution, and G2A Shield, a premium membership service, [5] and has invested over 10 million USD in eSports [6], sponsoring gaming teams such as Cloud9, Natus Vincere, and Virtus Pro. [7]


History

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The company (under the original name Go2Arena) was established in 2010 by Bartosz Skwarczek and Dawid Rożek in Rzeszów, Poland, as an online game retailer. As their main demographic was young gamers with a lack of disposable income, their main objective was to sell video games at the lowest possible price. In order to achieve this goal, Skwarczek said that he had approached many large game developers at various events such as Gamescom, E3 and G-Star with the intention of securing partnership deals in order to become an official seller of their games. Due to a lack of interest from developers however, and together with variations in market trends, a decision was made to change the company’s business model from retailer to marketplace. [8]

Products and Services

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In 2016, the company began focusing on technological innovations by investing into the development of VR technology [9] and 3D printing [10]. It also includes a range of systems amongst its products and services, including G2A Pay, an international online checkout solution, G2A Direct, a developer support system, and G2A Shield, a premium membership service.

VR

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The company states that it launched its flagship VR product, G2A Land, in 2015. Together with MSI, it was first shown during Gamescom 2015. [11] In May 2016, G2A launched Gotham VR [12], which was involved in promoting the film Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.

G2A 3d+ [13]

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G2A 3D+ is a product which utilizes 3D printing technology to offer the consumer figurines based on online gaming characters. Licensed providers of 3D models are able to auction their products which customers can then place orders for. [14]

G2A Pay [15]

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In January 2015, G2A introduced its online payment solution G2A Pay, which, it states, integrates over 150 different global payment methods such as PayPal, Skrill, WebMoney, and financial services companies such as Maestro, Visa, MasterCard and American Express. It also offers a chargeback protection feature which protects customers against illegal refunds (often called Chargeback Fraud because the chargeback process can be abused in order to secure a refund).

G2A Direct [16]

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G2A Direct was launched on 29th July 2016. It is a developer and publisher support system with a range of features including priority placement on G2A Marketplace, fraudulent chargeback protection, developer funding options and global access. It also includes dedicated account managers and dedicated database access, and allows developers to apply fees on third-party sales. [17]

G2A Shield [18]

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G2A states that its paid membership service, G2A Shield, offers additional G2A Marketplace features including free G2A Coin transfers, up to 10% cashback, priority pre-order deliveries, a price match promise, one-contact resolution and access to 24/7 Live Chat.


Marketing activities

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Throughout 2014 and 2015, G2A established partnerships with numerous eSports teams such as Cloud9, Natus Vincere, and Virtus Pro [7] and has invested over 10 million USD in the industry to date [6].

In August 2016, G2A partnered with Sporting Clube de Portugal, who had previously signed Portuguese FIFA player, Francisco Cruz. [19]

G2A states it collaborates with many YouTubers and streamers such as PewDiePie, Towelliee, Maximus Black and Castro 1021. [7]

Charity

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On 1st December 2015, multiple Twitch.tv streamers, YouTubers, websites and gamers participated in a program dubbed #GamingTuesday [20] in order to raise funds for the charity Save The Children. [21]

G2A, partnered with Bachir “Athene”Boumaaza, the creator of Gaming for Good, and created the Humanitarian Emergency All-Out Response Team (HEART) [22]. Both projects were designed to help and support children, charities and aid in disaster relief. G2A states that it has been working with Gaming for Good since 2013 and had previously partnered with Boumaaza in projects like Gamers got Hearts.

Between 2014-2015, G2A says that it raised over 500,000 USD for SaveTheChildren which was then amplified to five million USD [23]

In January 2016, G2A states that it participated in the Polish charity auction event, The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity Foundation, and bought a 2.5m-tall statue of the character Geralt of Rivia from the game The Witcher. [24]

Awards

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In the first half of 2016, G2A won seven international awards in multiple categories including Customer Service, New Product and Virtual Reality.

Year Award
Stevie Awards For Sales & Customer Service [25]
2016 Customer Service Management Team of the Year
Award for Innovation in Customer Service
Marketing Solution
Global Business Excellence Awards [26]
2016 Outstanding Fast-Growth Business
Outstanding Customer Service Team
Outstanding New Product / Service
UK Financial Services Award SERVICES AWARD [27]
2016 Innovation in Customer Experience

Controversy

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Riot Games sponsorship ban

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Riot Games, developer of League of Legends, banned G2A from sponsoring teams during the 2015 League of Legends World Championship. Riot believed the keys sold on G2A were illegally obtained and made further claims that G2A was selling fully leveled accounts, which breached Riot's terms of service. [28]

G2A replied that it had tried hard to find a “win-win” situation in order to resolve the issues with Riot Games and had banned accounts selling Elo-boosted League of Legends accounts, which was a key factor behind the ban. G2A claimed that Riot did not cooperate with it in its attempts to fix the issue and Riot instead made further demands such as banning the sale of game guides on G2A’s marketplace. [29]

INTZ’s Tockers Gabriel ‘Tockers’ Claumann, was later fined over 1,000 USD at Campeonato Brasileiro de League of Legends (CBLoL) 2016, for wearing a shirt with the G2A website logo on the shoulder. Midway through the game, he was asked to apply masking tape over the logo and later told he would be fined[30]. G2A paid this fine, stating that “no e-sports organization should be punished so severely for wearing a G2A branded T shirt." [31].

tinyBuild allegation

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In June 2016, CEO of tinyBuild, Alex Nichiporchik, accused G2A of allowing key resellers to resell fraudulently-obtained game keys, costing the company 450,000 USD. G2A responded to tinyBuild's claims, stating that it offered to help to identify which keys had been fraudulently purchased as to determine which resellers had committed illegal chargebacks and remove them from G2A. G2A also questioned the 450,000 USD figure arrived at by tinyBuild, noting that its games had either been discounted several times on other sites or given away for free [32] and consequently felt the figure was inflated. tinyBuild added that in communication with G2A, the company felt it was being pressured to participate in G2A's payment platform, which would take some of the sales revenue back to G2A, in exchange for rooting out fraud on its platform. [33].

The official G2A statement went on to say that it “gives full support to developers with prompt communication channels, uses advanced tools (exchanging blacklists, identifying suspicious merchants and auctions and ‘KYC’-Know Your Customers procedures), and offers award-winning protection solutions with G2A Shield.” [34]

Following this debate, G2A announced strengthened front-end verification steps for its marketplace security which included social media profile and phone number verification, with further verification required after 10 or more products have been sold through one account [35] while introducing its developer support system G2A Direct, which among other features, allows developers and publishers to apply to obtain developer fees of up to 10% on all of their products sold through G2A. [36].

References

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  1. ^ "g2a.com Site Overview". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  2. ^ "G2A.COM contact details". G2A.COM. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  3. ^ a b Jim Martin. "How does G2A work?". PC Advisor. International Data Group. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  4. ^ Marcin Strzyżewski (7 December 2016). "W sześć lat od pomysłu, do siedmiusetosobowej korporacji – z wizytą w G2A" (in Polish). Onet.pl. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  5. ^ "What is G2A.COM?". G2A.COM. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  6. ^ a b "G2A Approved Fact Sheet". G2A.COM. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  7. ^ a b c "Why G2A - Partners". G2A.COM. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  8. ^ "The Early History of G2A". PR Newswire. 3 January 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  9. ^ Kevin Joice (25 April 2016). "G2A reveal second vr videogame". VR Focus. Gamer Network. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  10. ^ Michael Molitch-Hou (3 February 2016). "3d printing and gaming merge in G2A 3D project". 3D Printing Industry. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  11. ^ Khalija (31 July 2015). "G2A at Gamescom & Showing off G2A Land for Oculus Rift". 3D Printing Industry. Curse,_Inc. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  12. ^ Zeena Al-Obaidi (31 May 2016). "Ride Through the Streets of Gotham City With G2A and MSI's Latest VR App". VR Focus. Gamer Network. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  13. ^ "G2A 3D+". G2A.COM.
  14. ^ Scott J Grunewald (10 February 2016). "The G2A 3D+ Project Brings 3D Printing and Video Games Together". 3DPrint.com. 3DPrint.com. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  15. ^ "G2A Pay". G2A.COM.
  16. ^ "G2A Direct". G2A.COM.
  17. ^ Jon Martindale (5 December 2016). "G2A Direct is proving popular with developers". KitGuru.net. Kitguru Limited. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  18. ^ "G2A Shield". G2A.COM.
  19. ^ Mike Stubbs (21 July 2016). "Sporting Lisbon enters eSports with top Portuguese FIFA player". MCV. MCV. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  20. ^ "Gaming Tuesdays". Save The Children.
  21. ^ "Gamers, Streamers and Vloggers Gear Up for Giving Tuesday to Give Back to Save the Children". Save The Children.
  22. ^ "G2A, Together With Gaming for Good and Save the Children, Activate Gaming Community Avengers for Humanitarian Emergency All-Out Response Team (HEART) in Ethiopia".
  23. ^ "G2A.COM and Gaming for Good Announce: 'Humanitarian Emergency All-Out Response Team' (HEART)". PR Newswire. 3 January 2016.
  24. ^ "The Witcher is at Home in the G2A.COM Office". Yahoo! Finance.
  25. ^ "Stevie Awards For Sales & Customer Service".
  26. ^ "Global Business Excellence Awards".
  27. ^ "UK Financial Services Award".
  28. ^ Charles Pulliam-Moore (7 October 2015). "Riot Games has banned G2A from sponsoring teams in the 2015 League of Legends World Championships". Fusion.net.
  29. ^ Andy Chalk (9 October 2015). "G2A calls League of Legends sponsorship ban "an aggressive attack"". PC Gamer. Future plc. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  30. ^ Mike Kent (19 February 2016). "Brazilian LoL Player Fined For G2A Logo".
  31. ^ "G2A Pays Young Gamer's Fine for Banned Logo at e-sports Campeonato Brasileiro de League of Legends (CBLoL) 2016"". Yahoo! Finance. 15 February 2016.
  32. ^ "The tinyBuild Summer Madness Giveaway". tinyBuild.
  33. ^ Charlie Hall (22 June 2016). "As war of words between indie dev and reseller intensifies, IGDA distances itself". Polygon (website). Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  34. ^ "G2A.COM/tinyBuild STATEMENT". G2A.COM.
  35. ^ Wesley Yin-Poole (8 July 2016). "Game key reseller G2A moves to legitimise its business". Eurogamer. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  36. ^ Wesley Yin-Poole (28 June 2016). "G2A to give developers royalties on third-party auctions". Eurogamer. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
[edit]

Category:Video game distribution Category:Video game websites Category:E-commerce Category:Commerce websites Category:Online payments Category:Electronic funds transfer Category:Payment systems Category:Financial technology companies Category:Digital currencies Category:Online companies Category:Online auction websites Category:Online marketplaces Category:Video game publishers Category:Video game development companies

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