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

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?

[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?

[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?

[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?

[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).

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?

[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?

[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."

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!

[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).

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?)

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: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...

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.