G2A.com

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G2A.com

logo
legal form Limited ( corporation )
founding 2010
Seat Hong Kong
management Bartosz Skwarczek (founder)
Dawid Rożek (founder)
Number of employees 750
Branch Virtual marketplace
Website www.g2a.com
Status: 2016

G2A.COM Limited (commonly referred to as G2A ) is a digital marketplace that specializes in providing a platform for the distribution of computer game products. The company is headquartered in Hong Kong and has offices in other countries, including Poland and the Netherlands .

History of the company

The company was founded in 2010 by Bartosz Skwarczek and Dawid Rożek in  Rzeszów , Poland under the original name Go2Arena as an online game retailer. G2A.COM's most important target group were young computer gamers, who mostly do not have a steady income due to their age. Thus it became the declared aim to sell computer games at the lowest possible price. Skwarczek himself said that he had approached many of the big game developers at various events such as Gamescom ,  E3  and  G-Star to offer them a partnership in which they themselves would be the official sellers of their games. Due to the lack of interest on the part of developers and changes in market trends, the company's business model switched from retailer to marketplace.

concept

G2A.COM itself does not buy or sell any digital products, only the platform is operated. According to the website, G2A has more than 12 million customers, 260,000 salespeople, 50,000 digital products and 700 employees across all locations. G2A.COM mainly offers "Game Key Codes", digital product keys for computer games. Software and prepaid activation codes are also traded on the G2A marketplace.

In 2016 the company began to focus on other projects and products outside of its digital market. G2A began to expand into a variety of fields including virtual reality and 3D printing. Other products in the range include G2A Pay, an online payment gateway , G2A Shield, a subscription service for customers, G2A Direct, a partnership program for developers of video games and G2A Gear, an online shop with clothing and accessories, which the pop and gaming culture.

Products and services

In 2015, the company announced that it was launching G2A Land, a virtual reality amusement park. It was presented to the public together with MSI during Gamescom 2015. In May 2016 G2A launched "Gotham VR", which was also used in the context of the promotion of the movie Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice . In December 2016, G2A announced that it was developing a World War II shooter entitled “Blunt Force”, which will be released in several episodes starting in 2017.

G2A 3D is an online marketplace for buying, selling and exchanging 3D designs and models. 3D designers can create their own online store and sell and trade their print-ready 3D designs. Within the 3D marketplace, G2A offers the so-called 3D Plus, which offers the modeling of 3D models, printing and shipping as services for copyright owners.

In January 2015, G2A launched its own online payment gateway, G2A Pay, which includes more than 150 global payment methods such as PayPal ,  Skrill ,  WebMoney and products from financial services companies such as  Visa ,  Mastercard  and  American Express .

G2A Direct is a video game developer and publisher partnership program and was launched on July 29, 2016. G2A Direct offers a number of features for developers, most of which are directly linked to the G2A marketplace. Direct enables the developers to receive a commission on inventory sales and better positioning on the auction pages on G2A.COM.

G2A Shield offers additional features for the G2A marketplace. For example free "coin" transfers, up to 10% cashback, privileges on the delivery of pre-orders, access to 24/7 live chat customer service and other advantages.

G2A Gear was released in December 2016 and is an online shop that sells clothing and accessories with images and slogans from popular games, films, TV shows and comics. According to the company itself, other products are being developed in cooperation with well-known streamers and youtubers.

marketing activities

Over the course of 2014 and 2015, G2A began partnerships with numerous esports teams such as Cloud9 ,  Natus Vincere ,  Virtus Pro  and has invested more than 10 million US dollars in the area to date. In August 2016, G2A started working with the Sporting Clube de Portugal . G2A works with Youtubers and streamers, such as PewDiePie , Towelliee, Maximus Black and Castro 1021.

Charity

On December 1, 2016, several Twitch streamers, YouTubers, websites and gamers took part in the Save The Children charity campaign in coordination with the #GamingTuesday program to collect donations. Together with Bachir "Athene" Boumaaza, the founder of Gaming for Good, G2A founded the "Humanitarian Emergency All-Out Response Team" (HEART). Both projects were started to support charities, children and also disaster relief. G2A has been working with Gaming for Good and Boumaaza since 2013, for example on the “Gamers got Hearts” project. Between 2014 and 2015, G2A said it raised more than $ 500,000 for Save The Children, bringing the total donated to $ 5 million.

In January 2016, G2A announced its participation in the Polish charity event “ Great Christmas Aid Orchestra ” and bought a 2.5 meter high statue of the character “Gerald from Rivia” from the game The Witcher .

Awards

In the first half of 2016, G2A won seven international awards in multiple categories, including customer service, new product and virtual reality.

year Award category space
2016 Stevie Awards For Sales & Customer Service Customer Service Management Team of the Year 3rd place
Award for Innovation in Customer Service 3rd place
Marketing Solution 3rd place
2016 Global Business Excellence Awards Outstanding Fast-Growth Business Won
Outstanding customer service team Won
Outstanding New Product / Service Won
2016 UK Financial Services Award SERVICES AWARD Innovation in Customer Experience 2nd place

Controversy

Riot Games - Sponsorship Ban

Riot Games , the developer of League of Legends , banned G2A from sponsoring teams during the League of Legends World Championship 2015 . Riot believed that the product keys sold on G2A were illegally obtained, claiming that G2A is selling fully leveled accounts in violation of Riot's Terms of Service. G2A tried to find solutions to the problems with Riot Games and suspended accounts that League of Legends had sold accounts, which was a major reason for the Riot sponsorship ban. Due to further demands on the part of Riot Games, no agreement was reached.

The player Gabriel "Tockers" Claumann of the esport clan INTZ wore a T-shirt with the G2A logo on his shoulder some time later at the event "Campeonato Brasileiro de League of Legends (CBLoL) 2016". During the game, he was asked to cover the logo with duct tape. He was also fined more than $ 1,000. G2A paid the fine and stated that no e-sports organization should be punished so severely for wearing a T-shirt with the G2A logo.

TinyBuild Games debate

In June 2016, tinyBuild Games CEO Alex Nichiporchik accused G2A of allowing its merchants to resell fraudulently acquired license keys, allegedly causing his company $ 450,000 in damage. G2A offered to help determine the fraudulently purchased product keys, determine which dealers made illegal chargebacks and remove them accordingly from the G2A platform.

However, G2A also questioned the aforementioned damage amount of 450,000 US dollars. Taking into account the fact that games have already been offered at reduced prices or even free of charge on other websites, one would have the impression that the requirement was artificially inflated.

On the part of tinyBuild, it was criticized that they would feel pressured by G2A with the way they communicate. An attempt would be made to enter into a partnership with G2A's payment options platform, which would then transfer part of the sales to G2A in exchange for eliminating the accounts concerned.

Following this debate, G2A announced expanded confirmation steps in the front end to improve security in the marketplace. These include the profiles in the social media and the verification of the telephone number, as well as further checks as soon as more than ten products have been sold via an account. Furthermore, with G2A Direct, a support system for developers was introduced which, among other options, allows developers and publishers to charge developer fees of up to 10% on all products sold by G2A.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ G2A.COM. gamestar.de, April 23, 2017, accessed on May 1, 2017 .
  2. ↑ G2A.COM contact details. Retrieved January 25, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Jim Martin: How does G2A work? In: PC Advisor . ( pcadvisor.co.uk [accessed January 25, 2017]).
  4. ^ The Early History of G2A. January 3, 2016, accessed January 25, 2017 .
  5. ↑ a b Marcin Strzyżewski: W sześć lat od pomysłu, do siedmiusetosobowej korporacji - z wizytą w G2A . In: Onet Gry . December 7, 2016 ( onet.pl [accessed January 25, 2017]).
  6. ↑ Kevin Joice: G2A Reveal Second VR Videogame. In: VRFocus. April 25, 2016. Retrieved January 25, 2017 .
  7. ↑ Michael Molitch-Hou: 3D Printing and Gaming Merge into G2A 3D + Project . In: 3D Printing Industry . April 25, 2016 ( 3dprintingindustry.com [accessed January 25, 2017]).
  8. ↑ Khalija: G2A at Gamescom & Showing off G2A Land for Oculus Rift . July 31, 2015 ( curse.com [accessed January 25, 2017]).
  9. ↑ Zeena Al-Obaidi: Ride Through the Streets of Gotham City With G2A and MSI's Latest VR App | VRFocus . In: VRFocus . May 31, 2016 ( vrfocus.com [accessed January 25, 2017]).
  10. ↑ G2A announces VR title Blunt Force . In: bit-tech . ( bit-tech.net [accessed January 25, 2017]).
  11. ^ Scott J Grunewald: The G2A 3D + Project Brings 3D Printing and Video Games Together | 3DPrint.com. February 10, 2016. Retrieved January 25, 2017 (American English).
  12. ^ Richard Scott-Jones: G2A: How they say they're cleaning up their act . In: PCGamesN . December 27, 2016 ( pcgamesn.com [accessed January 25, 2017]).
  13. ^ G2A Direct. Retrieved January 25, 2017 .
  14. ^ Richard Scott-Jones: G2A unveil game bundles in overhaul of controversial shield service . In: PCGamesN . December 22, 2016 ( pcgamesn.com [accessed January 25, 2017]).
  15. ↑ G2A Approved Fact Sheet. Retrieved January 25, 2017 (English).
  16. ^ Gregory Ibañez: G2A Becomes Title Sponsor for Virtus.Pro and Na'Vi . In: PVP Live . July 22, 2016 ( pvplive.net [accessed January 25, 2017]). G2A Becomes Title Sponsor for Virtus.Pro and Na'Vi ( Memento from November 8, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  17. ↑ Mike Stubbs: Sporting Lisbon enters eSports with top Portuguese FIFA player . In: MCV UK . ( mcvuk.com [accessed January 25, 2017]). Sporting Lisbon enters eSports with top Portuguese FIFA player ( Memento from December 20, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  18. ↑ Why G2A - Partners. Retrieved January 25, 2017 .
  19. ↑ Gaming Tuesday . In: Save the Children . ( savethechildren.org [accessed January 25, 2017]).
  20. ↑ Gamers, Streamers and Vloggers Gear Up for Giving Tuesday to Give Back to Save the Children. Retrieved January 25, 2017 .
  21. ^ G2A, Together With Gaming for Good and Save the Children, Activate Gaming Community Avengers for Humanitarian Emergency All-Out Response Team (HEART) in Ethiopia . In: Medianet . ( com.au [accessed January 25, 2017]).
  22. ↑ G2A.COM and Gaming for Good Announce: 'Humanitarian Emergency All-Out Response Team' (HEART). Retrieved January 25, 2017 (English).
  23. ^ The Witcher is at Home in the G2A.COM Office . ( yahoo.com [accessed January 25, 2017]). The Witcher is at Home in the G2A.COM Office ( Memento from February 2, 2017 in the Internet Archive )
  24. ^ Winners in the 2016 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Retrieved January 25, 2017 (English).
  25. ↑ Global Business Excellence Awards | GBEAs | Awards for business excellence across all sectors, public and private. Retrieved January 25, 2017 .
  26. ↑ Winners and Finalists 2016 - UKFXA 17. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on January 25, 2017 ; Retrieved January 25, 2017 .
  27. ^ Charles Pulliam-Moore: Riot Games Has Banned G2A From Sponsoring Teams in the 2015 League of Legends World Championships . In: Fusion . October 7, 2015 ( fusion.net [accessed January 25, 2017]).
  28. ^ Andy Chalk: G2A calls League of Legends sponsorship ban 'an aggressive attack' . In: pcgamer . October 9, 2015 ( pcgamer.com [accessed January 25, 2017]).
  29. ↑ Mike Kent: Brazilian LoL Player Fined For G2A Logo . In: Dexerto . February 19, 2016 ( dexerto.com [accessed January 25, 2017]). Brazilian LoL Player Fined For G2A Logo ( Memento from January 25, 2017 in the Internet Archive )
  30. ↑ G2A Pays Young Gamer's Fine for Banned Logo at e-sports Campeonato Brasileiro de League of Legends (CBLoL) 2016 . February 15, 2016 ( yahoo.com [accessed January 25, 2017]). G2A Pays Young Gamer's Fine for Banned Logo at e-sports Campeonato Brasileiro de League of Legends (CBLoL) 2016 ( Memento from November 8, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  31. ↑ The TinyBuild Summer Madness Giveaway. Retrieved January 25, 2017 .
  32. ↑ Charlie Hall: As war of words between indie dev and reseller intensifies, IGDA distances itself. June 22, 2016. Retrieved January 25, 2017 .
  33. ↑ Wesley Yin-Poole: Game key reseller G2A moves to legitimize its business. In: Eurogamer. July 8, 2016. Retrieved January 25, 2017 (UK English).
  34. ↑ Wesley Yin-Poole: G2A to give developers royalties on third-party auctions. In: Eurogamer. Retrieved June 28, 2016, January 25, 2017 (UK English).