Kinguin provides only Steam keys for JYDGE so I bought that one. My GOG copy that I purchased from GOG directly is still missing, support has not responded.

Well that's odd, I thought a blue even reached out to you personally to clear up this ''error''.

The entire matter is just a entire lake of chaos, in the end nothing can be taken serious from this user, so just face it... no use even the deal with.

I just can say... i got me many games... directly on a account (on GOG) or even by using keys (on Steam); so far i never had any game "revoked" because of payment issue, bad key, or whatelse.

As well, some users consider keys the most evil thing on the planet, while some other users consider it "the only way to get a affordable game". It is totally legitimate to have those opinions but it simply will be the personal approach and the personal opinion... NOT a ultimate truth.

Some devs may as well consider any key the most evil thing, and they do not make any difference between illegally or legally gotten keys... it is just pure evil and finish story... If someone want to get some "shared opinions" they will always find someone with the same opinion.... for sure... but this is forced.

There are as well some devs who got no issue with and are even directly providing a key store... more than many people may have in mind.

If any shop got in mind "keys are pure evil", this option would be disabled already... and yes the effect can be huge... so they may regret it. Steam was accepting "the need of keys" due to different reasons... one of them the ability to hand out gifts.... and their success is huge, this is a fact. Another reason is to be able to get "satellite providers" from other sources, who then can use the keys on their shop.

A key is not illegal because "it is a key", it is only illegal in term it has been gotten with "Illegal methods". Indeed, same will count for any "direct payment" as well involving illegal (stolen payment options) methods... even without any key involved.

Conclusion simply is: There is no wrong methods as long as this method is done in a proper way by using proper payment options.

In term some "robbers" was still getting money out of it... okay.... not nice to see but even those "robbers" including pirates may need to live and eat... after all i am still for the human, not a "virtuous executioner" along with many elites which appear to be the most proper earthlings ever... and most of the "lower beings unable to afford something legal"... nothing more than dirty robbers in the form of humans.

So, i do not share those very one sided and anti humanistic views. In the end, what truly matters is if we are able to create... for everyone... the most sophisticated life possible, not if we are just "right or wrong".

We'll speak again, once your first key gets revoked because it got initially purchased with a stolen CC.

And if you think you know a way to tell which of the keys you buy on key-reseller sites are LEGIT - I'm all ears.
As are many others, I'm sure.

The one big disadvantage from using keys is, that they can NOT become reimbursed directly on the game shop used, for obvious reasons... because they have not been paid there.

However... yes i already got me accidentally a "wrong key", actually a MS store key instead of a Steam key and the Key-shop was reimbursing my key in a few days; so it is possible even on a Key-shop, indeed.

On any serious shop, if the key does not work, it could become reimbursed. Sure, perhaps my game got successfully activated on a shop... and the shop is telling me probably 3 days after (because they apparently need a lot of days even to find out the payment option used is not from the owner and it is the shops fault, not the buyer or owners-fault and never the banks-fault) "hey, your key is dirty... some illegal methods involved", in such a case i may contact the Key-shop and inform them about the "dirty key"... and demand either a new key or a reimbursement. Anyway, so far this situation never happened, so i can not tell you if it would become accepted.

Of course, if the key never had been accepted, the situation is way easier to deal with... as i can instantly demand a reimbursement. This is just theory because just as i said... it never happened to me this way (with the exception of a own failure, by buying the wrong key).

Just always remember: Provide sufficient details related to the failure... make a screenshot. Do not make claims without any assurance. This is not only not working on a Key-shop, even GOG may deny claims without any assurance.

So far no losses from buying keys...

Besides: Even Steam is not that "supreme" related to reimbursing stuff. In general, the only method that should work for granted is if:

1. The gametime is lesser than 2 hours
2. The time passed is not more than 14 days

If any of those factors is exceeded... you are at the mercy of Steam, they may not grant a reimburse and it will be done manually. Though, the game is usually DRM and if they "revoke" it, it will be wiped out on a PC forever... not so on GOG.

Ah yes, i actually was trying to refund a Steam game in which 14 days has been passed. This was the answer:

Hello............
We will not be granting a refund at this time. The date of the purchase exceeds 2 weeks (our refund policy maximum).

They seem to be VERY strict to their limited policy, no matter how many DRMs has been attached. I would not expect anything from them, if so.. it is surely luck-based.

I do not feel bad for using keys there... it is the correct solution. Reimbursing is as well a "no brainer" to me on this site... as it is already "way to gamer hostile". On GOG i never did it... i just do not feel good about, considering the DRM free policy.

They did but I have not heard back from them after I provided the information they requested.

TLDR

I understand that you have purchased Steam game keys and they have worked. However, gOg and Steam operate under very different circumstances.

The source of your keys plays a crucial role. For Steam, there are numerous authorized sellers, and many stores are permitted to sell Steam keys. Developers and publishers can also generate their own Steam keys to sell or distribute, which means that quite a lot of Steam keys will be legitimate.

On gOg, however, all keys are generated by gOg itself, and there are very few authorized sellers of gOg keys. This means that keys found outside gOg and the few authorized sellers are likely to be illegitimate.

This discussion focuses solely on grey market key sellers, not on purchasing game keys from authorized stores.

(The refund policy of Steam is completely irrelevant to this discussion.)