Nvidia Stops Promotional Game Resales By Tying Codes To Hardware (arstechnica.com)

Nvidia is putting a stop to the resale of bundled promotional game keys by tying them to a specific graphics card purchase, according to Ars Technica. Users will now have to redeem codes via the GeForce Experience (GFE) app, which is directly linked to third-party services like Steam and Uplay. Users must also ensure that the requisite graphics card is "installed before redemption." GFE then performs "a hardware verification step to ensure the coupon code is redeemed on the system with the qualifying GPU." From the report: Previously, retailers sent promotional game codes to customers that purchased a qualifying product. Those codes could then be redeemed on Nvidia's website, which spit out the relevant Steam, Uplay, Origin, or Microsoft Store key. Since the promotional game codes were not tied to a specific account, many users took to either gifting spare keys to friends or selling them on eBay in order to offset the cost of the graphics card purchase. [Ars Technica has updated their report with additional information:] Nvidia has confirmed that while GFE checks to ensure a user has installed a qualifying graphics card like a GTX 1070 or GTX 1080, the game itself is not permanently linked to the hardware. GFE's hardware check is based only on the wider product range, and not on a specific serial number. The company has also confirmed that the redemption process permanently adds the game to the appropriate third-party service. For example, if users redeems a promotional game key through to Steam, that game will be useable on any other device, just like normal Steam games. Users can also opt to uninstall GFE, or install a different graphics card, once the promotional code has been redeemed and still retain full ownership of the game. A full set of instructions for redeeming codes is now available on Nvidia's website.

Comments

For now...

[Anonymous Coward]

GFE's hardware check is based only on the wider product range, and not on a specific serial number.

For now...

Re:For now...

[K. S. Kyosuke]

...and don't try to cross-upgrade (to a competing product).

Re:For now...

[cob666]

And then Nvidia will complain when sales start to slump...

Re:For now...

[Penguinisto]

...and don't try to cross-upgrade (to a competing product).

...or replace a busted GFX card.

Yeah, thinking this to be a very bad idea for the consumer.

Why do they care?

[hij]

Why do they care what they do with the supposedly "free" gift that they give me. The only reason to do this is to assert their power over me and make me do what they want. WHen someone gives me something then it no longer belongs to them and is none of their business what I do with it.

Re:Why do they care?

[Lisandro]

They didn't actually "give" you anything. Welcome to the joys of the era of clouds and downloadable content, where convenience matters more than the first sale doctrine.

Re:Why do they care?

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't get it, either, though if I had to guess i'd say it's the game company itself behind this move. I mean, if Nvidia is selling a $1000 graphics card why would they be worried about it.

Re:Why do they care?

[Anonymous Coward]

Why do they care what they do with the supposedly "free" gift that they give me.

I'm guessing they don't but the publishers of the games probably would. "Free" game codes tend to be sold for less than the normal price of the game because the seller doesn't need/want it.

Incidentally, is this the same GeForce experience which requires an email address and account? If so then that's a massive "Nooooope!" from me.

Re:Why do they care?

[91degrees]

We really need to change the way we look at downloads. The "intellectual property" analogy more or less worked when each copy was tied to an actual physical object. Transfer the object, and you transfer the copy. There were still flaws but it largely did what it was intended to do.

Now, when a large proportion of data is sold in an intangible, trivially copyable format, the analogy just falls over. It makes no sense to treat the data this way.

Re:Why do they care?

[supremebob]

I'd think that it's pretty obvious why they care. Game publishers don't like it when someone gives a promotional game download code to a friend, so they can install the game for free. Their suits probably consider that to be a "lost sale", where the person might have otherwise paid 50 bucks get the game themselves if they weren't given a download code.

Of course, most of the games that are bundled with video cards often aren't worth anywhere near their retail prices to purchase. The suits probably wouldn't want to admit to that in public, though.

I'd also imagine that Nvidia also doesn't like the idea of someone using the game download codes that they paid for being used on other systems with AMD and Intel graphics, but this probably doesn't bother them as much as the game publishers. They still got paid for the hardware that got purchased, anyway.

Re:Why do they care?

[geekmux]

Why do they care what they do with the supposedly "free" gift that they give me. The only reason to do this is to assert their power over me and make me do what they want. WHen someone gives me something then it no longer belongs to them and is none of their business what I do with it.

From TFA:

"retailers sent promotional game codes to customers that purchased a qualifying product."

Hope that clears up any confusion about how this is not a "free" gift.

And in the era of your digital privacy being raped in exchange for "free" apps and social media services, there is no such thing as "none of their business". Humans have become a very valuable product. That would include you, and there's not a damn thing you can do about it, other than living off the grid in a mountain shack somewhere.

Re:Why do they care?

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm guessing NVidia doesn't care about the casual "giving it to a friend" that happens. They probably do care when countries in poorer countries that might be less discriminating with how they sell their cards. They could open each of them, pull out the game code, then sell those as gray market codes for very cheap (CDKeyz, for instance).

Now, you ask, so what? Well, if developers start realizing that instead of promoting their game with the sell of a $400 video card, they are instead eating into their own sales by selling their game without the card and at extremely lower prices than they wanted, might not see the benefit in doing these promotions. So they pull out as well. No free game at all.

Gotta think outside of the "one person" scenario and think of how the exploit could be scaled up by a more devious company.

Re:Why do they care?

[Luthair]

Its not being "abused" - its called first sale doctrine.

Re:Why do they care?

[Lisandro]

Gotta think outside of the "one person" scenario and think of how the exploit could be scaled up by a more devious company.

Sorry, but that's a problem for nVidia, not me. If you sell me a product you cannot expect me to do whatever the hell i please with it - including reselling it.

Re:Why do they care?

[mysidia]

I'd think that it's pretty obvious why they care. Game publishers don't like it when someone gives a promotional game download code to a friend, so they can install the game for free.

Now it changes to.... Hey, bud.... I can give you this Promo game, if you let me know your Steam password.

Re:Why do they care?

[Anonymous Coward]

It was free so not a sale, right?

Re:Why do they care?

[Anonymous Coward]

It is "free" with the purchase of your GFX card so, yes, it is sold as a bundle.

Re:Why do they care?

[Luthair]

It wasn't free, it was part of the product you bought.

Re:Why do they care?

[the_Bionic_lemming]

Because they are looking to see how the card performs on your system with a known set of Hardware and software Parameters.

They want to get user data from your system to see how the card is working, as well as seeing how long you play and how you play that game. It's valuable to them, but if you give that game away, they don't get that data.

Re:Why do they care?

[AmiMoJo]

The codes can only be used once. People sell them because they don't want to use them themselves, perhaps because they already own the game or because they just don't like it. If they can get 20 quid for it, that's effectively 20 quid off the price of the graphics card.

The games companies don't like it because they factor in a certain percentage of buyers not using the code when setting up the promotion. If more codes than expected get used, they think they lost sales.

Effectively, nvidia added whatever the code would sell for to the price of the graphics card. It's the same as blocking DLC code reuse, which just makes the used game worth less and thus the new game have a higher TCO.

Re:Why do they care?

[EvilSS]

Why do they care what they do with the supposedly "free" gift that they give me. The only reason to do this is to assert their power over me and make me do what they want. WHen someone gives me something then it no longer belongs to them and is none of their business what I do with it.

Because people where finding ways to steal them in bulk and reselling them on sites like G2A.

Re: Why do they care?

[Anonymous Coward]

ever see those grfx brand in the begining of a game. its both but the in this case its nvidia promoting aggresively.

Re:Why do they care?

[Anonymous Coward]

And thus why you should just pirate it.

Re:Why do they care?

[Anonymous Coward]

But it's not free, it's part of the card deal. One game code, one install. It doesn't matter where it's used.

Re:Why do they care?

[The-Ixian]

Well, I guess I am just going to be the sucker that pays for your pirate habits. Obviously, the world needs suckers like me otherwise there would be nothing to pirate.

You're welcome.

Re:Why do they care?

[The-Ixian]

I think the last bundled game I actually played was Wipeout XL... in like 1999 or somewhere around there.

Bundled games are crap for the most part.

Re:Why do they care?

[The-Ixian]

Yeah, but the game maker probably paid to have that game bundled.

It's like an advertiser "cracking down" on people who record a broadcast ad and then play it on youtube. You are just shooting yourself in the foot. If I am not going to play the game, wouldn't you rather the game get in front of someone who will play it? That person may then go on to purchase other games you make....

Re: Why do they care?

[Anonymous Coward]

what is "dundled game"

Re:Why do they care?

[Anonymous Coward]

Irrelevant - First Sale doctrine doesn't hinge upon whether it was sold to you or not, but whether legally acquired - if so, you have the right to sell a copyrightedwork you have a copy of (theoretically), but maybe my understanding is at least slightly off.

Re:Why do they care?

[lactose99]

But they can, that's pretty much what they're doing here.

Re: Why do they care?

[hackwrench]

Well gee if there was nothing to pirate people would have to settle for playing all the free and open source games out there, and use operating systems that are likewise. Whatever would we do?

Re:Why do they care?

[phorm]

If it's for an actual friend, just let him/her login to steam once on your system (with the perquisite card) for the initial install/verification. If will kill resales though.

Still a douchy move from NVidia. Also, I'm not sure how this affects the game publisher. I'm pretty sure that Nvidia (or AMD for their promos) is giving some form of kickback to the publisher for the coupons they include with cards. Hell, they aren't even for full games a lot of the time but rather discounts these days.

Re:Why do they care?

[Anonymous Coward]

>games that are bundled with video cards

Can a friend install your vid-card, download game key, then take your temp card out & return their original? Will the game still run?
I would think so... as the key is only validating against the card to activate, (once). Amirite?

Re:Why do they care?

[Anonymous Coward]

Except that now they're going to see a drop in the success of promotional sales.

If someone already owned said game and was looking to buy a video card, they see the promotion and go "hey, I already own that game - I can sell the key and recoup some of my costs."

If AMD keeps promotional game sales going, they'll have a competitive edge over NVIDIA in graphics card sales for the end consumer.
For some, it may make no difference, but to many consumers, a good graphics card is just a good graphics card.

Re:Why do they care?

[spire3661]

More than anything its to force usage of GFE. Nvidia wants its little storefront on PC too.

Re:Why do they care?

[Falos]

It's not yours, nothing is yours. Welcome to the 21st century, where the only property you'll ever have is a license to operate. Welcome to the 21st century, where you must ask permission to use anything. Oh, and you won't be asking a human, you'll be asking an automated system designed with less than zero contingency foresight. Not all are digital, some are simply red tape.

Re:Why do they care?

[Anonymous Coward]

So put it up on ebay and sell it, asshole. We won't stop you. We promise.

Rgrds,

Nvidia

Re: Why do they care?

[Anonymous Coward]

It is a misspelling of 'Dirndled game'. This refers to a game where, in order to localize it, all of the female characters have had their costumes replaced with traditional Bavarian garb.

Re:Why do they care?

[Lisandro]

Only because people don't quite give a shit. I'm pretty sure someone could file a successful lawsuit out of this.

Re:Why do they care?

[HaZardman27]

Often the dev gives Nvidia game codes in exchange for "free" hardware for the studio. If you give n keys to Nvidia, then that's a potential n copies of the game not being sold (in actuality, less than n because not everyone who buys the new GPU would also buy your game). If some of those people go on to sell the key to someone else, that eats further into your possible sales (some people playing your game prefer AMD to Nvidia; they won't have access to a "free" code with a GPU, but now they can get one for cheap instead of buying one from you).

Re:Why do they care?

[HaZardman27]

A product which would have cost exactly the same amount from a different retailer which is not one of Nvidia's partners (e.g. if you buy it from Best Buy then you don't get the free game code).

Re:Why do they care?

[Anonymous Coward]

You don't have a copy of the game until you redeem it, you have a license.

Re:Why do they care?

[Darinbob]

Because they get those games from the publisher at a discount. The publishers have an irrational hatred of game reselling. So Nvidia promises to prevent such game reselling and then they get better deals and more access to better games to promote their own products.

Re:Why do they care?

[Anonymous Coward]

If you sell me a product you cannot expect me NOT to do whatever the hell i please with it - including reselling it.

FTFY: I think this is what you meant to say

Re:Why do they care?

[Anonymous Coward]

Give them your credit card while you're at it, if they're a *real* friend.

Re:Why do they care?

[Anonymous Coward]

That another SKU exists and is overpriced by other sellers doesn't make this one less of a bundle.

Re:Why do they care?

[mysidia]

What about resales where the merchant says upfront, they'll need to temporarily provide your steam password, so we can verify hardware and redeem the promotion?

Re:Why do they care?

[Anonymous Coward]

Careful. You are sounding like Richard Stallman:)

Re: Why do they care?

[Highdude702]

Well we would play Team Fortress 2 on any PC OS we wanted to i guess.. Valve has shown Free to Play games can be golden gems.. TF2 DOTA

Re:Why do they care?

[phorm]

Providing your password to a third-party is dumb (and often a breach of contract) in most cases.

There are Steam API's that allow one to login via an OpenAuth interface however (does not provide the password to the third-party).

This is new?

[Anonymous Coward]

I find it difficult to believe this is just now being done. I would have thought it was always like this.

So I guess then

[Anonymous Coward]

if the game fails or is bugged I can return it for a refund\repair \replacemnt as per the hardware warranty?

Re:So I guess then

[Wootery]

It's an activation requirement. Why would that entitle you to a stronger warranty?

Re:So I guess then

[Anonymous Coward]

well its now tied to the hardware as part of that product.

Why though?

[Anonymous Coward]

Why?

Seriously, nvidia, why do you even fucking care whether I redeem the game or a friend of mine redeems it, possibly because I already have it or don't fancy it?

Of all the petty, moneygrubbing, mean spirited, trivial things I've seen massive companies do lately, this has to rank up there with one of them.

How about I just don't buy anything from you in future, and go to AMD instead?

Re:Why though?

[Anonymous Coward]

Stop acting like retard. You know it makes sense.

Re:Why though?

[thegarbz]

or don't fancy it?

So what you're saying is there's a lost sale. You don't want it so you wouldn't buy it, but someone else does want it and by giving them your code they won't buy it and everyone in the world is a dirty copyright infringer and the industry will make $100tn more if people stopped sharing codes.

But in all seriousness, yes. The fact that you don't fancy it is exactly the reason.

How about I just don't buy anything from you in future, and go to AMD instead?

Do you often buy video cards based on which game comes bundled? It's hard to blame NVIDIA for this when frankly they don't give a shit, this is driven by someone else, I'll give you two guesses who, but you'll only need one.

Re:Why though?

[Anonymous Coward]

Even better, i'm sure it will cut into their sales for sli since getting a useless promotion is actually a disincentive.

Re:Why though?

[ChoGGi]

AMD does verification as well.

https://www.amd4u.com/amdgamep...
"Download the AMD Product Verification Tool and follow the instructions to redeem your game."

Re: Why though?

[jxander]

Grey market.

It's not about what one person might do. It's about unscrupulous retailers buying a bunch of cards with bundled games, and reselling them separately.

Windows only!

[Joe_Dragon]

So Linux and mac gamer don't get the codes or is nvidia ok with them trading the steam codes.

Re:Windows only!

[Gojira Shipi-Taro]

Mac gamers can't even buy/install that hardware anyhow.

Those games don't run on either platform, so what would the point be?

Re:Windows only!

[Anonymous Coward]

Linux gamers aren't usually using current high-end graphics cards - since there is no point. No drivers exist or only a partially working free driver for a previous generation device that sort of works is available. So you don't find Linux users buying the latest greatest 1080 graphics card. Similar with Mac users - they only get what Apple has given them in their machines for the most part. So again - neither group is likely to b buying these bundles. Are there outliers who do? Sure - you may even be one. But the vast majority of the 'nix minority aren't the target audience for these latest and greatest devices.

Re:Windows only!

[Anonymous Coward]

External GPU enclosures are going to become more and more commonplace because of thermal design constraints plus it is natively supported now via the connection ports we have in machines USB 3 Type C mode.. whatever... I forget their complicated naming scheme offhand now (but the newest revisions) has DMA and you can (not so easily right now b/c of Apple driver issues, but I expect that to be fixed in the future) plug things like the Razer External GPU enclosure into your machine (be it mac, linux, windows) and gain basically the same benefits as if it was internal.

Enthusiasts have been able to rig up systems like this for years now. But it has reached consumer-feasibility recently

Re:Windows only!

[r1348]

Pure BS, Nvidia releases day 1 support drivers for all their products even on Linux, and AMD will have day 1 support for Vega with their free driver (yes, they finally caught up).

Re:Windows only!

[Anonymous Coward]

Because that is the Apple answer to everything. MORE DONGLES. What a joke.

Re:Windows only!

[spire3661]

eGPU is a super tiny niche. It will never be more than a tiny fraction of the market.

Re:Windows only!

[spire3661]

I would load up SteamOS for Linux VR on my 1080 hybrid in a second if it was available. I also have an i5/970gtx rig just waiting for Steam OS VR.

The GeForce Experience

[Slashvertisment]

The GeForce Experience.... money-grubbing and buggy.

Re:The GeForce Experience

[aliquis]

Nvidia; they way you're meant to be played.

Re:The GeForce Experience

[LVSlushdat]

All of my Linux machines have Nvidia graphics, and I use the proprietary Nvidia "blob" driver, as its FAR better than the clusterfuck that is the opensource driver, but I'll tell you one damn thing.. The day they mandate this bullshit "GeForce Experience" spyware crap on Linux installs is the day I join Linus with his middle-finger "FUCK YOU" gesture to Nvidia and dump Nvidia for good.. They may get away with forcing that shit on naive Windows users (look at those who use Windows 10 for a clue), but most Linux folks are not ANYWHERE near that naive and won't stand for spyware on their otherwise pristine systems...

Screw your customers, just because you can

[geoworthington]

Never sold a 'free' key from a GPU bundle, but would like to think I could if I were so inclined. This just strikes me as an unnecessary shot in their customer's balls by nVidia, who is racking in money hand over fist (anyone seen their stock price this past year?)

it also checks for installation date I was told

[Anonymous Coward]

Remember Linux Torvalds giving Nvidia the bird?

Oh, much better

[Lisandro]

"GFE's hardware check is based only on the wider product range, and not on a specific serial number."

You guys are magnanimous.

What's their contingency?

[kiehlster]

I'd like to see what they plan to do for all those people who get free games with a DOA graphics card.

Re:What's their contingency?

[Anonymous Coward]

Pretty sure you have to return the game also since it's a bundle.

Re:What's their contingency?

[EvilSS]

I'd like to see what they plan to do for all those people who get free games with a DOA graphics card.

And you think those people would keep the game but not return their DOA card for a replacement??? "Well my $600 graphics card doesn't work but I got my free copy of For Honor, that's all I really care about!"

I cant believe Uplay is still a thing

[Anonymous Coward]

It was such a horrible abysmal failure of a gaming network. It didnt update games, it didnt provide any extra info or features, its just an advertising platform.

It was so bad it convinced me to never buy another ubisoft game ever again. And i loved some of their series.

How is Uplay still a thing? Have they fixed it & now its somehow worth using? Or are people just that much in love with assassins creed that theyll install adware on their system to play it?

Re:I cant believe Uplay is still a thing

[Luthair]

I believe even games purchased on steam from Ubisoft force you to create an account. I'd hazard that both Origin and Uplay probably hurt PC game sales for those publishers, I'm sure I'm not alone in not being interested in using multiple services and dealing with multiple friends lists etc.

Re:I cant believe Uplay is still a thing

[BlueMonk]

Some games are only available on UPlay; that's the only reason I use it. I think I got some Humble Bundle games that required UPlay. Also, they gave away something like 7 games in 7 months last year. I now have the following games for free (guess there were some I didn't even bother claiming):

• Assassins Creed III
• Beyond Good & Evil
• Rayman Origins
• The Crew

I actually haven't played any of them since getting them on UPlay, but I intend to play some of them.

If you love some of their series, the lack of updates, extra information and features shouldn't stop you from using UPlay since, before we had gaming services like this, all we had were discs, which lacked the same things, although I'm not sure exactly what "extra information" you're referring to. Obviously information is not hard to come by any more; there are plenty of links from UPlay to game-related info.

I don't know if UPlay points-based features were missing when you last used UPlay, but there are extra features in at least some games now. For example, Heroes of Might and Magic VI will let you collect U points in the game. I think these are shared across all games, but I have only been playing this game, so I used them for the same game. With them I buy in-game portraits and power ups in the UPlay UI, and you can also accessorize your system with other point-based purchases like wallpapers.

Re:I cant believe Uplay is still a thing

[BlueMonk]

If someone could make a service that is an umbrella for all of these, I bet it would be popular. "MetaPlay"... although it would be nice to have something similar for social networking too, not just games. Combine my Facebook, Google and LinkedIn networks... maybe under the same umbrella as Steam and UPlay. I imagine it could turn out really crappy, but if they did a really good job, maybe even linking contacts across networks if they were the same person, I'd be interested. Of course then I'd want more control over my circles so I'm not trying to play MMOs with my professional contacts.

That would probably violate patent and copyright law left and right, though.

Re:I cant believe Uplay is still a thing

[guises]

I'm sure I'm not alone in not being interested in using multiple services and dealing with multiple friends lists etc.

This is a universal problem. There are only two ways to around it: give a monopoly to a single company, thereby allowing them to charge whatever they want and set any rules they like on which games they'll allow to be sold. Or second: do the same thing but with a nonprofit consortium, who will handle all of the distribution for the for-profit publishers. This second option shuts out independent developers, allowing the companies which control the consortium to charge whatever they want to those too small to be members. It also has the problem of not making buckets of money for the gatekeeper company like the first option does, so... no one wants to do it. Instead, they all want to fight for a piece of that walled garden pie.

Or, there's a third way: stop tying your purchases to your friends list. Handle your communications through a third party platform or service, and just use these stupid distribution programs for your games. If you buy DRM free games, you don't even have to worry about the stupid distribution programs - you can just keep the install files on disc and quit screwing around with this crap.

Re:I cant believe Uplay is still a thing

[Anonymous Coward]

I made the mistake of purchasing Silent hunter V

Uplay didnt install updates, which was odd since it saves your games on their server, but it cant check its own version number? You have to dig around into progfiles/ubisoft/game/etc/etc to find a GU.exe to get updates. It didnt even mention that there were updates.. which would have helped a lot, the game is basically unplayable in its original state. I had to go googling around on 3rd party websites to find out that there even was a patch available.

There's no system for mods or anything of the like. You said something about upoints, but i dont give a damn about virtual-e-cyber-collector cards or that sort of crap.

As far as i can tell, theres nothing at all in Uplay except ads for their other games. Its adware. pure & simple. It adds absolutely nothing to your game, just wants to shove ads for assasins creed in your face.... oh also it dumps you out of your game every time you lose internet connectivity (or when their servers go down)... so not only does it not -add- anything to the game, it actually -takes away- from gameplay.

Why on earth would you treat paying customers like this?

Sorry Ubisoft, i loved AC & Farcry & silent hunter. Those are great games, but i avoid all your games like the plague now. You couldnt pay me to install anything from ubisoft.

Re:I cant believe Uplay is still a thing

[Anonymous Coward]

"I'd hazard that both Origin and Uplay probably hurt PC game sales for those publishers,"

Yeah, its certainly stopped me from buying their games. & i loved Far Cry, would really love to play the latest version, it looks great... Anno was a really good series too. But im not installing that crap just to play a game.

Maybe someday i'll go out & pirate them just to see what i missed.

GeForce Experience is a spyware

[sinij]

This is another misguided attempt to push GeForce Experience spyware down our throats.

Allow me to be the fisrt one to say...

[r1348]

Fuck you, Nvidia!

Re:Allow me to be the fisrt one to say...

[alantus]

I have on good authority that you are not the first.

I thought Windows Live was dead?

[drewmoney]

Apparently, it's been renamed 'Nvidia GeForce Experience'. Nvidia should sue.

hmm

[Anonymous Coward]

it will get cracked. basically unless its streaming and/or file verification(take more cracking) it can be cracked if anyone cares and added to game resources.

Re: hmm

[Anonymous Coward]

remember the days of no-cd cracking days when you had the lagit cd's.

Most disappointing GFE ever

[CresCoJeff]

What I expected didn't happen. On the plus side, it was all about Greek

"gifting" - there is no such word.

[Anonymous Coward]

I think the author means "giving", but then, he is an American, isn't he...

Can't remember the correct word? Make one up, and thus ruin your own language! Well done!

Re:"gifting" - there is no such word.

[Zero__Kelvin]

Gift can be a verb, and gifting is indeed one of the conjugations of said verb. If you are going to be snide, at least be correct.

Fuck and I just bought a Shield

[future assassin]

yesterday to use as a GPS device when 4x4'ing If I saw this I would have bought something else. Can you get any more petty?

So now I can't upgrade my graphics card

[HalAtWork]

So if I want to keep playing my game I can't upgrade my GPU.

Re:So now I can't upgrade my graphics card

[cmseagle]

Try reading the summary next time.

The company has also confirmed that the redemption process permanently adds the game to the appropriate third-party service. For example, if users redeems a promotional game key through to Steam, that game will be useable on any other device, just like normal Steam games. Users can also opt to uninstall GFE, or install a different graphics card, once the promotional code has been redeemed and still retain full ownership of the game.

Re:So now I can't upgrade my graphics card

[JohnFen]

and still retain full ownership of the game.

Ownership? I think not. The AAA game companies have been quite clear that you don't own shit. You're only renting.

Re:So now I can't upgrade my graphics card

[HalAtWork]

I see, my bad. Assumed that this was like back in the day when my copy of Game X flat out refused to start if there was no nVidia GeForce 2 driver detected.

Correction appreciated

Hmm...

[Anonymous Coward]

When you say they're offering the GFE, it's not video cards that come to mind...

Asus and Messiah

[Anonymous Coward]

I believe I had an Asus card that came with a game-disk for Messiah (great game!), butit was bound to the card. If I wanted to sell the disk, I'd have to give the card away too. Really ticked me off when I upgraded my graphics card and the game stopped working

FoSS drivers versus proprietary

[phorm]

"Nvidia releases day 1 support drivers even on Linux"

Yes and no. They may release drivers but it doesn't necessarily mean it will work on your kernel or Xorg version. The biggest issue I've had with the closed-source drivers is not when the cards come out, but rather when there's a change to the kernel or X which causes the driver to no longer compile the stub correctly. It's one of the reasons I went with an AMD card this round as the in-kernel driver seems to do nicely since they started contributing to development and is more likely to survive through upgrade cycles.

This is a problem on windows too, however, especially with Microsoft pimping Win10 and pushing vendors to no longer support the older OS versions.
I don't just want a card that will work on Day 1. I want a card that will work 2-5 years from now, even if it's not the fastest one around.

Re:FoSS drivers versus proprietary

[r1348]

I also want the same, that's why I usually go AMD. My HD7850 has been working flawlessly with the open driver since I bought it in 2013. I actually had way more issues with Windows than Linux on it.
But we cannot ignore all the Nvidia users out there, especially if we wish to bring more people to Linux. And it's unfair to say that Nvidia doesn't put effort in keeping its driver up-to-date, even though at this point I wouldn't even touch it with a stick. At least they didn't make a GeForce Experience move on Linux (yet?). And usually people who migrate to Linux end up buying AMD as it's a much better experience, and it guarantees that driver support will never be dropped within the realm of reasonable.

Re:FoSS drivers versus proprietary

[phorm]

people who migrate to Linux end up buying AMD as it's a much better experience

Not 100% sure about this. People who know about drivers might do so, but not that many years ago NVidia was the better choice in many cases because both vendors only offered proprietary drivers for a lot of cards and AMD's were somewhat dodgy compared to NV's.

MEH, GFE lost me

[CreepingDeath]

when it started requiring a login to use it. I could see no reason to create a login just so I have slightly easier drive upgrades and notifications as to new versions.

So instead of creating useless account #3434309 I just said fuck it.

Re:Worst idea ever

[HaZardman27]

Last time I got a bundled game it was The Witcher 3 with my GTX 970, which sold over 20mil copies. The current bundle deal gives you either For Honor or the new Rainbox Six; both expected to sell well. Nvidia typically picks games it knows consumers want. It does this by making deals with the developer, like providing a certain amount of hardware for the studio in return for some game codes to give out and maybe an Nvidia splashscreen.

Same difference

[JohnFen]

As far as I'm concerned, this is the same thing as Nvidia ceasing promotional game distribution altogether.

Why they care and a better alternative

[kaizendojo]

It's not about giving a game to your buddy or trading a key with them for another key. It's people taking this license and then reselling it online that they are trying to stop. And I can't totally disagree with them on that. (You are entitled to your opinion, this is just mine.) But if they want a compromise, then why not just have a form online that allow you to transfer the license to your buddy? You put in the key and your serial number and the recipient's info. They transfer the license and everybody's happy.

Re:Worst idea ever

[Anonymous Coward]

If you think is for any reason other than pressure from the games publishers, well, I've got a bridge to sell...

Circumvention

[fustakrakich]

Emulation?

Re:Let's drink poinsonous water

[Anonymous Coward]

because when the left promises jobs, they always deliver, right?

Seems Reasonable.

[Dishevel]

That is all. They have the right. It is a bonus. Once redeemed it is yours forever, whatever video card you use in the future.

Why do they care?

[Varenthos]

About 6 months back, I built a new gaming rig. I bought two GeForce 1080 cards to run in SLI on it. Each card came with a code for a free copy of Gears of War 4, which was cool. I wouldn't have paid for the game, but for free? Yeah, I'll play it! Only thing is, what would I do with two copies of the game? I only need one. What did I do with the second one? I gave it to a friend. It certainly wouldn't have done me any good.

Magnusson-Moss? Doctrine of First Sale?

[Khyber]

This really does sound like a violation of anti-tying provisions and a nice attempt at violating our right to first sale privileges.

read below for the real reason

[Anonymous Coward]

people were surfing ebay for pictures of cards and using the vissible codes to redeem games

The experience with GF Experience

[Anonymous Coward]

The experience with GF Experience is not a good one. I would not install that garbage on my machine. Therefore the "free gift" is worthless, and not to be considered during the purchase. (Not that I have ever shopped for a graphics card based on the bundled games.)

This means I will be buying fewer games

[Kevin108]

I almost only buy games via codes. For example, I've been looking at the new Doom since before it came out, but $60 for a game is just too damn much to me. Snagged a code on eBay for $24. It was well worth that. I did the same thing with the Arkham series. The Steam store prices are ridiculous.

Re:Let's drink poinsonous water

[minstrelmike]

Two ways to think about economics.
1. Billionaires produce a robust economy (Reagonomics rising tide and standard Libertarian perspective).
2. Billionaires are the product of a robust economy.

Do your own analysis and be prepared to be disappointed.