Key, account or gift: what you actually buy

«Cheap copy of the game» can mean three different purchases, and only one of them leaves you owning the game on your own account.

A key

A code you redeem yourself, on your own account. The game is yours the way it would be if you had bought it in the store. This is what we compare: every offer on this site is a key or a direct purchase in an official store.

An account

Someone sells you the login of an account that already owns the game. You do not own it: the seller can take it back, the password can change, and the platform's own rules on sharing accounts are not on your side. Cheap for a reason. We don't list these.

A gift

The game is sent to your account as a gift from someone else's, often from a country where it costs less. The platform can undo a gift, and gifts bought across regions are restricted for exactly that reason. We don't list these either.

Editions are not the same product

A Deluxe edition, a season pass and a piece of add-on content share the name of the game and cost a fraction of it. Sold under the same title, an add-on looks like a bargain until it turns out to need the game you don't own. We compare editions separately, so a DLC is never shown as the price of the game.

How each offer is checked: how we collect prices.