Are game key sites like G2A and Eneba legit?

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G2A, Eneba, Kinguin and Loaded each publish a page asking whether they're legit. When a key costs a third of the platform's own price, it's natural to look for the catch.

The short answer is that these are companies that publish their terms and name who runs them, and most of their reviewers are happy: at least seven in ten of each key site's Trustpilot reviews give five stars, though every one of them asks its customers to leave one. But they're different kinds of seller, and when a key fails, who owes you what changes from one to the next. On a marketplace, the site you pay isn't the one selling you the key.

Three kinds of shop, one key

A game key is a code you redeem on Steam, Xbox, PlayStation or another platform. Three kinds of shop sell them.

Stores supplied by publishers. Besides the platforms' own stores, Green Man Gaming, Fanatical and Gamesplanet say their keys come from the publishers themselves.
Key shops that buy stock elsewhere. Loaded buys "keys in bulk from suppliers", and CJS CD Keys uses "established suppliers and distribution channels".
Marketplaces, where other businesses list keys. G2A, for one, says it "is not an online shop but merely an online platform".

Fanatical, which has a stake in the argument, wrote in 2019 that "grey" keys come from cheaper regional stock and boxed copies, and that they "put less money in the hands of game developers". Regional prices are also why some keys won't activate here: in 2021 the European Commission fined Valve and five publishers €7.8 million for geo-blocking Steam keys in eight Central and Eastern European countries.

The bad end is keys bought with stolen cards. Valve lets developers ban keys "stolen or purchased fraudulently", and in 2013 the studio behind Natural Selection 2 deactivated 1,341 after chargebacks cost it about $30,000, telling buyers to ask the seller for a refund. So a game can leave your library weeks after you paid in good faith.

Before the sites themselves, I'd like to know where you buy.

Where do you usually buy game keys? / Reader poll

Is G2A legit?

G2A is a marketplace. Its terms say UK buyers contract with G2A LLC in Carson City, Nevada, and the other companies in its footer are in Hong Kong. G2A says every seller is a registered business it has verified, including "proof of the source of the keys", though its terms also say it "does not verify the veracity and accuracy of data provided by Users or Sellers".

If a key doesn't work, you contact the seller, and G2A's support steps in if they haven't replied in five days. Refunds are the seller's call: "we can't influence their decision," says G2A's help page on wrong-region buys. Its Money Back Guarantee covers keys that are "incorrect, used, or revoked", but needs proof you reported it to a government authority, and pays out at most three times a year. The terms say "The amount charged is listed on the payment selection page", so the total only appears there.

The buy box isn't always the lowest offer. On 24 October 2026, G2A's Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition (GOG) page put a SPONSORED offer there at $45.28 while other offers started at about $36.76, and a search for the game turned up accounts and "Random Keys" alongside keys.

G2A's history with developers is the longest here. In 2016 tinyBuild said G2A had sold about $200,000 of its keys bought with stolen cards. In 2017 Gearbox began pulling Bulletstorm collector's editions from G2A after a backlash over fraud. In 2019 indie developers told players they'd rather be pirated (G2A said only 1% of its transactions were problematic). When Factorio's developer took up G2A's offer to repay ten times proven chargeback losses, an audit found 198 of 321 disputed keys had been sold there, and G2A paid $39,600.

G2A has 4.0 on Trustpilot from 353,015 reviews (24 October 2026), and Which? called it a marketplace "similar to eBay" in 2023, suggesting a mainstream games retailer instead.

Is Eneba legit?

Eneba is a marketplace run since 2018 by UAB Helis play in Vilnius, Lithuania. Its terms call it "not an online shop, but an online place", and its legit page says sellers are "expected to source products from official distributors".

You can ask for a refund within 14 days if you haven't displayed the key or it turns out invalid or already used. Once a key is shown, a wrong-region buy can't be refunded, and the terms leave "the right to resolve such disputes" with the seller. A service fee is added at checkout, and its help page gives no amount.

In October 2026, a hotukdeals commenter says Eneba refunded a code that didn't work within a week, while a Trustpilot reviewer says Steam removed a Borderlands 4 key after a week, and Eneba refused a refund because it had been redeemed. Eneba has 4.4 on Trustpilot from 328,794 reviews (24 October 2026), and I found no public dispute with a developer naming it.

Is Kinguin legit?

Kinguin is a marketplace run by Kinguin Digital Limited in Hong Kong, trading since 2013. Its terms say it "is not a contracting party" to the sale, that sellers must be businesses that pass ID checks, and that it "cannot undertake to perform quality checks of all Products before they are listed for sale".

The same terms say "The Sellers are liable if the Products do not work". You report a faulty key to the seller with a screenshot or video, and after 12 hours you can escalate to Kinguin, which can order a replacement or a refund. An unclaimed key can be returned within 14 days. Its paid KING's Pass buys priority support, not help with a faulty key. A service fee, "dynamically calculated based on supply and demand", is added at checkout.

As on G2A, the buy box can be paid for: on 24 October 2026, Kinguin's Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition (GOG) page led with a "PROMOTED OFFER" at £25.93, while 23 more offers started from £24.55.

In 2015, Ubisoft's deactivation of Far Cry 4 keys it said were bought with fraudulent cards hit 35 of Kinguin's 3,400 sellers. In January 2024 Boot-Cat Studio's developer found the studio's own game on Kinguin at 55% off, bought a key, redeemed it without trouble and traced it to review keys the studio had given away. Kinguin answered quickly and removed some of the listings, but not all.

Boot-Cat Studio, "I bought my own game from a reseller - Here's what happened." (YouTube, January 2024): an indie developer buys his own game on Kinguin and traces the key to his review copies

Boot-Cat Studio, "I bought my own game from a reseller - Here's what happened." (YouTube, January 2024): an indie developer buys his own game on Kinguin and traces the key to his review copies · Watch on YouTube

In March 2024 the developer of Occupy Mars told a buyer whose Kinguin key was revoked after 135 hours of play that keys given to YouTubers had been resold, writing "Kinguin sells stolen keys." Kinguin has 4.6 on Trustpilot from 124,569 reviews (24 October 2026).

Is Loaded (formerly CDKeys) legit?

CDKeys.com renamed itself Loaded in September 2025, saying the old name was "mistaken for rival stores and marketplaces"; it isn't CJS CD Keys. Loaded sells its own stock: "We buy keys in bulk from suppliers and we sell those keys directly to customers," says its legit page. Its terms name This Game Ltd in Jersey as UK buyers' seller, under UAE law, and Windows Central placed it in "the grey market ecosystem".

Refunds are at Loaded's discretion, within 7 days and only for unredeemed keys. The terms make no promise for a key that doesn't work, and say the seller "does not guarantee the existence, quality, safety, or legality of any Product". They list no checkout fee.

Loaded has 4.7 on Trustpilot from 226,822 reviews (24 October 2026). Revoked keys happen there too: on 23 October a hotukdeals commenter said Steam had revoked a Wardogs key bought from Loaded a few weeks earlier, with the ticket still open.

Is CJS CD Keys legit?

CJS CD Keys says it has traded since November 2009. Its policies name CJS Sales & Services LTD in Belize as the seller, though its 2012 terms named an English company that Companies House still lists as active. It sells its own stock and calls its keys "genuine, licenced cd keys from authorised manufacturers".

Its faulty-key promise is the most specific of the key shops here: a working code or a full refund under a 12-month guarantee, and a refund if the region wasn't clearly stated on the product page. Activated keys aren't refunded, and refunding one you never collected costs £1. It says it charges no payment fees.

In 2014, when Rebellion revoked 7,050 Sniper Elite 3 Steam keys stolen from a distributor and resold, CJS accused it of price fixing; PC Gamer reported that CJS's keys "actually weren't revoked". CJS has 3.9 on Trustpilot from 133,357 reviews (24 October 2026), the lowest score here, with 17% of them one-star.

Is ShopTo legit?

ShopTo is a games retailer whose site dates itself from 2006, run from Bracknell by TradeTo Ltd, a Jersey company. It sells boxed games and consoles as well as codes, all its own stock, and its digital terms say its PlayStation vouchers are issued by Sony and work on UK accounts only.

The trade-off is a strict digital policy: "once you click purchase you will lose your right to cancel and refund", faults have to be reported within 14 days, and a code with no region named counts as UK only, with wrong-region mistakes not refunded. For an activated key, ShopTo says it will ask the publisher to cancel it, and can't refund if the publisher won't. It has 4.3 on Trustpilot from 97,865 reviews (24 October 2026).

What about Keycense?

Keycense is younger, with a domain from 2021 and a Dubai company as the seller in its terms. It says it sells "official keys, issued by the publisher and/or the developer", which describes the key rather than a deal with the publisher. Refunds are at its discretion within 14 days for a key you haven't revealed, the page says nothing about faulty keys, and some ways to pay add a fee. It has 4.0 on Trustpilot from 629 reviews (24 October 2026).

Stores that say their keys come from publishers

Green Man Gaming, a London company, says "Every key we sell comes directly from game publishers" and that it has contracts with over 1,300 of them. Fanatical, owned by Fandom, says its keys are "all sourced from official publishers", and Gamesplanet in Paris says it has "a contract with each of the game's publishers". In the Sniper Elite 3 case, Rebellion named Green Man Gaming and Gamesplanet's owner Metaboli among its licensed partners.

Loaded's legit page says stores like these are likely to cost more. Their refunds are tight too: Green Man Gaming's are at its discretion within 7 days for a key you haven't seen, Fanatical's within 14 days if you haven't activated it, and Gamesplanet refunds a key that won't activate in your region. Our guide to buying PC games covers them in more depth.

What protects you in the UK

Under the Consumer Rights Act, digital content a trader sells you must be of satisfactory quality and as described, so a key that's already used or won't activate where the listing said breaks those rights. You're owed a repair or replacement, then a price cut that can be the full price. But those rights bind a trader, and on a marketplace that's the seller, not the site. I'd rather chase a company at home, and of the ten sites here, only Green Man Gaming and Fanatical are run by companies registered in England and Wales.

Ticking the box that starts delivery usually ends your 14 days to cancel, which is why most of these sites only refund unrevealed keys, but your rights over a faulty key remain.

Section 75 only covers single items over £100, and Which? says buying through a marketplace breaks the link it needs, so it rarely helps with a key. Chargeback is the realistic route: it covers debit cards too, at any price, and UK Finance says you typically have 120 days, though it isn't a legal right. PayPal's Buyer Protection gives you 30 days from delivery for a not-as-described claim, so it won't help with a key revoked two months later.

The platforms won't step in. Steam's refund page says "Valve cannot provide refunds for purchases made outside of Steam", and Nintendo and Microsoft send you back to the shop that sold the code.

Can a cheap key get your account banned?

No platform terms I read make buying a key elsewhere a reason to close an account, but three things put one at risk. A key that only activates over a VPN breaks Steam's rule against disguising where you live, and Valve can close accounts that break its terms. Sony can suspend accounts that used a "fraudulently obtained" code; one Trustpilot reviewer says their PSN account was banned over a chargeback two days after redeeming PS Plus bought on G2A. And an "account" listing, someone else's login sold on, breaks Steam's, Nintendo's and Microsoft's terms on passing accounts or licences on. On 24 October 2026, the cheapest PC Minecraft I found was someone's account on Kinguin, which I wouldn't buy.

Four checks before you pay

Before paying for a key on any of these sites, I'd want four answers.

The region. The listing should say UK, Europe or Global in words; PlayStation and Nintendo codes only redeem on an account from the same country or region.
The seller. The shop's own stock or a marketplace seller, and a key, not an account or a "random key".
The refund window. Loaded considers requests for 7 days, Eneba and Keycense allow 14, and revealing the key ends most of that.
The total. Fees at G2A, Eneba and Kinguin only show at checkout, and paying by card keeps a chargeback open.

If a key has ever let you down, I'd like to know how it ended.

Has a key you bought ever failed? / Reader poll

Where our comparison helps

Our game price comparison is built around those checks. Each offer shows its seller's kind (official store, key reseller or marketplace), the region in the shop's own words and the fee its shop's feed gives, and keys for regions that leave out the UK aren't listed. It reads ShopTo, CJS CD Keys, Kinguin and Keycense today, not G2A, Eneba or Loaded, and its deals page measures each drop against the same shop's earlier price.

Each card below opens a game's page, offer by offer.

Game prices / 6 games

Six games, shop by shop

Each price counts the fees its shop's feed gives. Some shops add a fee for some ways to pay. Some pay us when you buy through these links, which never changes the order. How that works. Browse every game

So, are they legit?

They're companies with published terms selling keys that mostly work, and what separates them is what happens when one doesn't. For a new release or a game I'd hate to lose, I'd pay the platform or a store that buys from the publisher. For an older game where a key shop saves real money, I'd pick one whose terms cover a faulty key, and pay by card. On a marketplace I'd treat the listing as the seller's, not the site's: a named seller, a key rather than an account, and a look past the promoted offer.

BallparkA daily price game