I wouldn't be too surprised if Steam nukes the keys in question shortly after release. They are known to do that.

Bah, i've bought games for people in other countries before and steam allowed them.

As Steam gifts? They can't really block those, since they're verified purchases done at their store, regardless of the region where the giftee lives.

Though they may get the censored version when they activate it, or simply not get it at all (like if they live in Japan...)

Thinking more about the time Valve went and nuked keys from key resellers around the time of MW2's launch than any shenanigans with the gifting system.

Either way steam gets the shaft so I don't see any problem with one over the other.

Thats a dick move. :(

Are there any examples of this other then MW2?

... did no one see my links earlier? THE ORANGE BOX.

No I didn't see it.

If you're going to do everything in your power to screw over developers and save money why not just pirate the damn game? I mean really.

I'm not screwing them over.. it was already bought.. you would just get the CD Key.

The only way these companies can work is either stealing the keys, getting the keys off product sent back for refund or as defective, or buying the product from extremely cheap third-world countries and then selling it overseas.

All of these screw the developers and lower their profit to nothing, or close to nothing. If you want to save money so bad that you can screw over the devs, why not just skip the middleman and pirate the game? Saves everyone a lot of time and effort and at least you would not be supporting the thieves who run these shops.

In any event, Steam is generally pretty good lately about removing games bought through these kinds of sellers, so hopefully they take your game from you.

Or they could just have bought a whole bunch of keys and gotten them on sale.

That's a bit extreme isn't it? How about they are a games company in say Poland or Singapore who get this stuff very cheap they then sell it out of their market. It's a perfectly legal game it's just you have done the same as asking a person in that country to buy the game and send you the CD Key. Are they authorised resellers? No obviously not, is it illegal? Well for you perhaps. By EU law I am entitled to buy a product from any EU member state so essentially there is nothing wrong about me buying from a keyseller in Poland. While I don't use these sites often I do use them when the Euro price is batshit insane and we have all seen just how much Europe is fucked with prices.

It goes back to what I said, if your goal is to fuck over developers and publishers to save money why not just pirate games? I don't see a moral difference.

And prices are different because economies are different. They make $1 a day in many countries, should I demand I pay the same as those people do for food? Clothes? Cars? Rent?