If you only purchase games directly from Steam, you may miss unmissable offers. There is a whole world outside Steam, consisting of online shops selling game keys at affordable prices. The best Steam key sites now offer a wide range of games, from big titles to indie, to competitive prices and also feature unique features such as curated packages and subscription services.
However, it is important to understand the difference between authorized and unofficial dealers. And if you decide to do business with an unofficial store to get better deals, it is essential to choose the right one.
Authorized vs Unofficial Retailers
Before continuing, we explain what we mean by “authorized trade”, “third-party market” and “third-party trade”.
An authorized dealer gets game keys directly from manufacturers, eliminating any concern for invalid or fraudulent keys. These are the safest places to buy games, as well as official stores. In addition, your money is guaranteed to reach the developer and manufacturer.
Prices in authorized stores are often in line with Steam. However, you will also find discounts and promotional packages on these stores that are not available on Steam, so there is still a chance to get a better deal.
An unofficial retailer (sometimes known as the gray market site) is a third-party store that does not get its keys from game manufacturers. Some third-party stores buy the keys themselves and sell them on their website. Others work as markets, such as eBay or Amazon, providing a platform for external vendors to list their game keys for sale.
The source of third-party keys is where the situation becomes complicated. Most sellers seem to get their products mainly legitimately, such as wholesale and regional sales. This allows games prices in third-party stores to often be much lower than official dealers.
But it is also well documented that some external vendors sometimes use questionable methods, such as stolen credit cards and bypass to get Steam keys. It stands at the control procedures of the keys and sellers of the market, and at the level of their customer service, maintain the quality of their product.
Humble Bundle started in 2010 offering indie games packages without DRM protection with a price model “paghi-ci-che-vuoi” and the possibility to donate part or all the money spent to various beneficial organizations.
Today, Humble Bundle offers both its distinctive packages and a more traditional online store, the Humble Store, launched in 2013. The Humble Store works like most other websites authorized for game keys, offering various games from all the usual stores like Steam and Epic Games Store. The Humble Store also offers an option without DRM protection when available.
The distinctive offers of Humble Bundle are the “paghi-ci-che-vuoi” packages, which work on a layer unlock base. Packages usually start at $1, which gives you at least one game. The first extra level unlocks some extra games and is fixed at the average price paid by other package buyers. There is also an additional final level that gives you some extra games.
In addition to the packages, Humble Bundle also offers a subscription service called Humble Choice with three subscription options. The Lite subscription (4.99 dollars per month) gives you access to the entire indie gaming library without Humble DRM protection. The Base subscription ($14.99 per month) offers you three more games a month and up to 10% discount in the store.
Then there is the full Premium subscription ($19.99 per month), which offers you nine games a month and up to 20% discount on the Humble Store. Note that these games are not related to Humble Choice subscription; you will still keep them even if you cancel your subscription.
Humble Bundle offers a generous 60-day refund period, with each request manually examined by the store support team. They do not specify other conditions that must be met in addition to being in the return period.
GREEN MAN GAMING
Green Man Gaming is a long licensed store in business, focused on PC and Mac games. Steam games dominate the products available on Green Man Gaming, but there is also a good selection of games for Epic and Uplay from Ubisoft, among others.
Green Man Gaming is a fairly standard online retailer, without many interesting advantages or bonus features. However, Steam veterans will appreciate the store's lightning offerings, which offer much deeper discounts on games compared to periods without sales.
It should be noted that most of these games may not be made up of big name AAA titles, but if you want to get some indie games or budget lower at really affordable prices, these sales deserve attention.
Green Man Gaming occasionally offers 10% discount codes that can be used when buying a full price game. It’s not a huge sum, but still save compared to buying on Steam. So it's something to consider if you're looking for a new AAA game.
Green Man Gaming offers a standard refund period. The store gives you the opportunity to get your refund within seven days of purchase, provided you have not downloaded the game or revealed the key on GMG’s website.
However, the store’s refund policy also states that you may have 14 days if you live in the European Union. This is in line with the regulations on consumer protection (Sale at Distance) of 2000 of the territory.
FANATICAL
Fanatical was launched in 2012 as Bundle Stars, focused on affordable games packages on Steam. In 2017, the site was renamed Fanatical and became a fully licensed digital retailer, similar to Green Man Gaming.
Given the origins of Fanatical, it is not surprising that the game packages are one of the distinctive features of the store. Packages are usually solid, with some fantastic titles included.
You can even create your packages, with the list of available games that regularly changes. You can choose two games for $6.99, three for $9.99 or five for $14.99. Fanatical packages are a great way to add a series of solid games to your Steam account at an affordable price.
Fanatical also offers “Star Deals”, which are deep discounts available for a limited period or until the site exhausts the keys available.
Fanatical offers a standard 14-day refund period for unrevealed keys and unenabled games. They also treat refunds for redeemed games if unresolved technical problems occur. However, keep in mind that not meeting system requirements or buying a game for the wrong operating system does not count as “technical issues”, according to their Terms and Conditions.
ENEBA
Eneba is a relatively new name, having been launched only in 2018. Eneba is a third-party market, similar to its most famous competitors such as Kinguin and G2A. However, Eneba tries to do things a little differently than those sites.
They have a strict selection process before sellers can advertise their products on the site. According to an employee of Eneba, this leads to a “very low single-digit acceptance rate” for new sellers. Approved sellers get their keys from legitimate sources, including seasonal and wholesale sales.
Another factor that differentiates Eneba from other third-party markets is its official partnership with publishers such as Konami, Daedalic Entertainment and Team17.
An advantage of a market like Eneba is a much wider selection of games, including those for Xbox and PlayStation. EA’s Origin games are also available if you prefer to activate your games there. On Eneba, Xbox Live, PS Plus and Nintendo Switch Online are also sold.
However, you must be aware of the locked keys regionally. There is nothing I lodge here, since the site will list the region of the key in the title of the advertisement and will notify you if it cannot be activated on the product page.
It is not a significant problem, especially because there is a “global” filter that will hide all games blocked regionally. However, if you are used only to official stores and authorized retailers, it is something you must be aware of.
Eneba does not explicitly provide a refund policy. Since the keys are sold by individual sellers, any refunds will probably happen by chance.
Despite the strict selection process declared by Eneba, it is clear that some problematic keys still escape. They are not as common as you could expect on third-party sites, but it is something to be aware of.
Overall, although third-party markets can never match the reliability of an authorized retailer, we believe that Eneba is the best of an unexceptional group. If getting the best price is your main priority, we suggest you take a look at Eneba.
CDKEYS
CDKeys is another third party source for game keys. What differentiates CDKeys from Eneba is that all the keys they sell are acquired by their internal team. Here, you will not choose between various vendors looking for the best offer or the one with the best reviews.
Instead, the experience is very similar to buying from one of the authorized stores in our list. Unlike, of course, the keys on the site do not come from the manufacturers. CDKeys states that his keys come from his “network of suppliers and contacts”, although there is no way to be 100% sure of this statement.
Steam keys make up most of the CDKeys offers, but the store also offers much more. You can buy console games, subscriptions and any kind of refills, gift cards and premium currencies.
CDKeys has a section of daily offers, where you can get games and subscriptions to deep discounts. If you're a dirty business seeker, this section will make you feel at home.
Since CDKeys only sells its products, it can offer a 7-day return period for any un redeemed key. It is not the longest return period you will get, but it is decent and comparable to an authorized store like Green Man Gaming.
