In another update on the battle between game developers and G2A, a marketplace for game keys, one developer tweeted out an email that shows his frustration with G2A.
Monomi Park developer Nick Popovich was asked by G2A if Slime Rancher wanted to be included in a July bundle (similar to Steam bundles, where you could buy a bunch of games together at a discounted price but instead you buy the key for the game).
G2A in the past has been criticized by game developers because individuals can sell extra copies of a game on G2A for a discounted price, and none of the money could go to the developers of the game, according to Kotaku. The controversy blew up and caused game developers to call them out and several big partners (from YouTube and Twitch) to end their partnership with G2A.
Instead, Popovich declined to work with G2A, defending other game developers in his email to G2A.
“Thanks, but after careful consideration, I’ll have to pass on working with you and your incredibly shady company that’s terrible for devs and consumers alike,” said Popovich in his email to G2A. “I really hope awareness of the garbage fire that is your business continues to grow and I’ll be sure to pass along a warning to me [fellow] devs about the thinly-veiled grasp at legitimacy that is your bundle program.”
Popovich’s tweet that shows the email currently has 568 retweets and 2,000 likes, so it seems to be making its way around Twitter.
In June, G2A won the Business Insider ‘Innovation Award’ despite the controversy surrounding the company letting individuals sell their own Steam keys, according to PCGamesN. They are also partnered with 100 developers and publishers including the developers of World of Tanks and SUPERHOT back in March of this year, according to Yahoo! Finance.
Other developers, like Gearbox Software, have put pressure on G2A to change its business model to allow developers be involved in the process of protecting buyers from fraudulent keys and for G2A to be more involved with protecting all users, according to gameindustry.biz. G2A didn’t follow through with the change and as a result, Gearbox Software decided to remove their games from the G2A catalogue permanently.
“But have no fear! I’m sure Slime Rancher keys will find their way to your site’s claws whether I like it or not,” said Popovich in his email to G2A.
Popovich is an artist currently working on Slime Rancher, an early access game where you corral cute slimes and use their droppings (called plorts) as a form of currency to upgrade your character, Beatrix (includes a jetpack, more inventory, etc.) or your farm. Players can also explore the Far, Far Range, the setting of the game that has many different areas to explore and discover treasure or find one of the many slimes available in the game.
Slime Rancher will be coming out of early access in August and become a full game after being in early access since January of last year, according to Rock Paper Shotgun.
“This is the last major Slime Rancher update before v1.0.0, which will mark the end of Early Access on PC and Game Preview on Xbox,” said Popovich on Monomi Park’s official forum. “Slime Rancher v1.0.0 will be a much smaller update, focusing on fixes, concluding Adventure Mode, and a couple other surprises.”
Slime Rancher is available on Steam as an early access title for $19.99 (although since it’s the Steam Summer Sale, it’s 33 percent off and costs $13.39). Hopefully, G2A does more to help out the developers (especially indie developers) so that these issues can end.
Featured image via G2A
