Posted in: Games, Video Games | Tagged: G2A, Gearbox, tinyBuild

The Feud Between tinyBuild And G2A Reignites As Reboot Develop Books A G2A Staffer

Published Sat, 15 Apr 2017 16:45:31 -0500

In a post on their blog, indie developer tinyBuild has decided to throw their hat back in the ring against controversial game key seller G2A. The market platform started a fight with the developer back during GDC. During G2A's recent falling out with Gearbox and heightened media attention, tinyBuild has remained silent. And then, tinyBuild's Alex Nichiporchik looked at the speakers list for Reboot Develop and found the name Mario Mirek among the list of guest speakers. Mirek is a senior account manager at G2A, and is also the one to start throwing accusations at GDC. So now tinyBuild has decided to fire back. While they haven't quite taken over defending Gearbox, they have added their voice to the growing tide of anti-G2A sentiment in the community.

For the backstory on G2A and tinyBuild's mutual disdain, you can check out this PC Gamer article on the accusations.

After seeing Mirek's booking, Nichiporchik took to the developer's blog to express his feelings on seeing Mirek's name on the guest list.

"I'm sure by now you've heard about the recent Gearbox/G2A situation. I'm not going to get into details, as that's not what the post is about. TotalBiscuit did a good summary in this video. What kept on baffling me for a while is how a situation like that could come to be. After last year's events when we ousted G2A as a shady marketplace that facilitates a fraud-fueled economy [here's a good summary], it felt like everyone understood the situation and we haven't bothered with it much since," he wrote.

Mirek's speaker profile specifically went on to describe how he got in line at a tinyBuild panel at GDC to call out Nichiporchik over tinyBuild's prior accusations against the key reseller. So it sounds like there's a grudge on both sides, and Nichiporchik agrees, "You're probably reading this and thinking I'm upset about the description — which I am," he admitted. Not that Nichiporchik's post isn't riddled with the kind of bitter hatred you'd expect of the situation, but he still raises some incredible points about just how trustworthy G2A might seem to the uneducated – or the deliberately misled.

But his primary concern? He wants to stop a situation like the Gearbox fallout from happening again. "Game conferences are the face of our industry, and I believe it's important for them to take responsibility for who represents it — potentially preventing situations as described with Gearbox."

You can read Nichiporchik's full post on the tinyBuild blog here.

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