There are two ways to pay less for games, and they carry very different risks. For most people the safe choice is a Steam sale or a store that sells keys licensed by the publishers, such as Fanatical, Green Man Gaming or GOG. You save less, but refunds are clear. If price comes first, Instant Gaming was the cheapest of the sites we checked for two of three games on October 30, and it sells its own keys. Eneba, Kinguin and G2A can go lower still, but they are marketplaces where a third party makes the sale, and your protection depends on that seller.
One rule shapes the whole decision. Steam refunds games bought on Steam within 14 days if you have played for less than two hours, as our guide on how to refund a Steam game explains. Valve's refund policy also states that it cannot refund purchases made outside Steam, and it names third-party keys as an example. If a key fails or you change your mind, the store you paid is the one you deal with.
What a game key is and why it can cost less
A key is a string of letters and numbers that unlocks a game on your Steam, Epic, GOG, PlayStation, Xbox or Nintendo account. Publishers generate keys and hand them to stores and distributors. Once you redeem one, the game sits in your library as if you had bought it there. Either way you are buying a license, which we unpack in what you actually own when you buy a digital game.
Licensed stores get lower prices by negotiating discounts with publishers and by selling bundles. Marketplaces work differently. Kinguin's help center says its sellers source products through regional pricing, promotions, bundles and bulk buying, then compete with each other on price. G2A gives a similar explanation. Neither says where any individual key came from.
Region is the first thing to check. A key meant for another market, such as Latin America or Asia, where publishers often charge less, may refuse to activate on your account. That is why listings carry labels like "North America", "USA & Canada" or "Global". Keys also tend to sit hidden in your order until you click to reveal them, and several of the refund policies below hinge on that click. If you buy the wrong region and have already revealed the key, Eneba says you will not get a refund.
The second risk is a key that gets cancelled later. Steam's developer documentation lets publishers revoke keys that were stolen or bought fraudulently, while telling them never to ban keys sold legitimately to customers. If a seller obtained a key with a stolen card, the game can vanish from your library even though you paid in good faith. Nobody publishes figures on how often this happens, which is why the seller matters so much.
A store that owns its stock vs. a marketplace
The biggest protection for your money is knowing who is selling. A store with its own stock buys keys and sells them to you directly, so your contract is with that company and it answers for a dead code. Fanatical, Green Man Gaming and Instant Gaming work this way. A marketplace is a storefront where other businesses list offers. G2A's terms and conditions say it does not buy items from sellers, does not resell them and is not a party to the sale. Kinguin and Eneba also host third-party sellers.
On a marketplace, one product page can hide dozens of sellers at different prices. When a key fails, the seller handles it first and the platform steps in only if you escalate. Before you pay, check who the seller is, how many ratings they have and what share are positive.
How prices compared on October 30
On the morning of October 30 we priced the Steam key for three PC games on each site. We checked from Europe, so dollar prices and stock in the US will differ. Read the figures as the size of the gap against Steam. For Eneba and Kinguin we used the offer each site features, before the fee added at checkout.
- Elden Ring (2022): Fanatical came in about 10% below Steam's full price. Eneba was 27% lower, Kinguin 32% and Instant Gaming 33%.
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (2025): Steam had it 20% off until November 12. Even against that sale price, Eneba was 43% cheaper, Kinguin 44% and Instant Gaming 52%. Fanatical only listed the Deluxe Edition, about 10% below Steam's Deluxe price.
- Hogwarts Legacy (2023): Fanatical was 14% below Steam. Eneba and Kinguin were about 91% below. Instant Gaming was out of stock.
What the gap tells you
Licensed stores shaved a modest amount off Steam. The key sellers cut Elden Ring by about a third and undercut a Clair Obscur that Steam had already discounted. We could not check Green Man Gaming's prices that day, so it is missing from the comparison.
Hogwarts Legacy is the outlier. A 91% discount does not prove anything is wrong, since Steam's own store page has advertised 90% sales on the game. It is, however, the kind of price that should send you to the region label, the seller and their ratings before you pay.
Licensed stores: smaller savings, clear refunds
Steam. This is the benchmark. Valve sells PC games directly, and its sales can get close to key sites, like the 20% off Clair Obscur running through November 12. Refunds cover 14 days and under two hours of play. Buy here whenever a sale leaves the game within a few dollars of a key.
Epic Games Store. Epic gives away a new game every Thursday on PC and mobile, according to its free games page, as it did with System Shock 2 Remaster in early October. It also hands back 5% of what you spend through its own checkout as Epic Rewards, a balance for future purchases. Epic Rewards paid 20% store-wide until January 8, 2026, and that rate now applies only to Fortnite, Rocket League and Fall Guys. Refunds follow the same 14-day, two-hour rule as Steam. Keep an account even if you buy elsewhere, if only for the freebies.
GOG. Every game on GOG is DRM-free, meaning no copy protection forces you online, so you can play without internet and keep backups of the files. Its refund policy is the most generous here, with 30 days to ask for your money back even after playing, as long as you do not abuse it. It is the natural home for classic games and for anyone who wants to keep their library.
Fanatical. Run by UK-based Focus Multimedia, a Fandom brand, Fanatical sells PC keys for Steam, Epic and GOG from more than 1,900 licensed publishers. It says it only sells new keys sourced directly from the rights holders, and every listing shows where the product activates. You can refund an order yourself within 14 days as long as the key stays hidden. After you reveal it, refunds only cover technical faults the store cannot fix. Savings were small in our check, but it strikes the best balance between price and protection.
Green Man Gaming. The store calls itself an official retailer and says it buys from official publishers and distributors. It sells mostly PC keys, runs payments through Adyen and accepts PayPal. Its refund policy is the strictest in this group. Requests are handled case by case, must come within seven days, and only qualify if you have not downloaded the game or been sent the key by email or on screen. Use it as a second stop to compare against Fanatical.
Key resellers and marketplaces: bigger savings, more fine print
Instant Gaming. The site is run by Aliasing DMCC, a company based in Dubai, while an Irish group company, Transactial Limited, handles payments, customer support and refunds. It is not a marketplace. Under its terms, it sells official keys issued by the publisher or developer itself, though it does not say whom it buys them from. The catalog spans PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo, with separate listings for Europe, North America and other regions. You can cancel within 14 days of the confirmation email if you have not redeemed the code, and a faulty code entitles you to a replacement, a price cut or a refund. It was the cheapest site for Elden Ring and Clair Obscur, and it is our pick for saving money without using a marketplace.
Eneba. Eneba is a marketplace run by Helis play, a company in Vilnius, Lithuania, where independent sellers set their own prices. It says sellers pass onboarding checks and are monitored on delivery and disputes. The catalog covers PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo games, gift cards and top-ups, paid by card, PayPal, Trustly or its own wallet. Product pages warn that the listed price is not final, because fees are added at checkout. Its strength is an instant refund within 14 days as long as you have not displayed the key. Once you do, a refund is generally off the table. It suits buyers who check the region and the seller before paying.
Kinguin. Kinguin is a marketplace registered in Hong Kong as Kinguin Digital Limited, with customer support in Warsaw. Its terms state that it does not control the quality of what third parties sell and that it charges a service fee, calculated from supply, demand and transaction risk, which you see before paying. If you have not uncovered the key, it refunds you automatically for 24 hours, but to your Kinguin balance rather than your card. After that you need to contact support, and if you have seen an unused key it offers to resell it for you. The seller handles faulty keys first, though you can escalate. Priority support comes with King's Pass, a paid subscription. It works best when you already know the seller and their record.
G2A. G2A acts purely as a middleman. According to its page on how it operates, it accepts only business-verified sellers, including studios, publishers and wholesalers, and allows region-locked keys if the listing says so, with a warning when they do not match your country. If a key is faulty, the seller has 14 days from the moment you open a dispute to refund you or send a replacement. G2A Plus, its membership program, comes in a free tier and a paid tier that adds a monthly game and discounts. It demands the most care, because every purchase depends on a different seller.
How to buy a cheap key without getting burned
These checks apply to every site on the list and take less than a minute.
- Find the region on the listing and make sure it covers the US, and that the platform matches yours.
- Check the edition and languages. Fanatical only had the Deluxe Edition of Clair Obscur, and some Kinguin offers limit the game's languages.
- Buy a key and nothing else. Keys share the page with ready-made accounts, which do not put the game on your own account, and mystery boxes, which hand you a random game.
- Compare the final price, since Eneba and Kinguin add their fee at the last step.
- Do not reveal the key until you are ready to redeem it. Revealing it ends your refund rights at Fanatical, Green Man Gaming and Eneba.
- Redeem it right after revealing it, and if it fails, file a claim the same day with screenshots.
- No key requires your password. If a seller asks for it, refuse and read how to protect your Steam, PSN and Xbox account.
The verdict: where to buy cheap games
For most people, the best mix is Steam during sales, Fanatical or GOG when they undercut it, and an Epic account for the Thursday giveaways. You pay a bit more than at a reseller, but if something goes wrong you know whom to contact and how long you have.
If price is what matters, Instant Gaming is the strongest option because it sells its own keys and was cheapest for two of the three games. Eneba and Kinguin can go lower still, as Hogwarts Legacy showed, but we would only buy from sellers with plenty of ratings, with the right region and without revealing the key early. G2A is for buyers who already know their way around a marketplace. And if the listing is an account, a mystery box or a region that is not yours, the cheapest purchase is the one you skip.
Frequently asked questions
Is Instant Gaming legit?
Instant Gaming is not a marketplace of individual sellers. It sells keys itself, and its terms describe them as official keys issued by the publisher, though it does not disclose where it buys them. You can cancel within 14 days if you have not redeemed the code, and a faulty code can be replaced, discounted or refunded. Always check the region on the listing before paying.
Is it safe to buy games on Eneba, Kinguin or G2A?
They are marketplaces where a third party makes the sale, so safety depends mostly on the seller. All three let you report a faulty key, but the seller who sold it responds first. Buy from sellers with plenty of positive ratings, make sure the key activates in your country and keep it hidden until you redeem it, because displaying it on Eneba ends your refund rights.
Will Steam refund a key I bought on another site?
No. Steam's refund policy says Valve cannot refund purchases made outside Steam and gives third-party keys as an example. If the key fails or you change your mind, you have to go to the site you paid and follow its rules, which usually require that you have not revealed the code.
What happens if I buy a key for the wrong region?
It may not activate on your account. Keys for Latin America, Asia or other markets are often cheaper because publishers charge less there. If you get it wrong and have already displayed the key, Eneba says there is no refund, and other sites work in a similar way. Look for a label that covers the US, such as North America or Global.
Can a game activated with a key be taken away?
Yes, although nobody publishes how often it happens. Steam lets publishers revoke keys that were stolen or bought fraudulently, so the game can disappear from your library even if you paid in good faith. The risk is minimal at licensed stores and higher on marketplaces with unknown sellers or prices far below everyone else.
Which site is cheapest for PC games?
It depends on the game and the day. In our October 30 check, Instant Gaming was cheapest for Elden Ring, about a third below Steam's full price, and for Clair Obscur, about half of Steam's sale price. Kinguin and Eneba listed Hogwarts Legacy roughly 91% below Steam. Licensed stores like Fanatical saved less but offered stronger guarantees.
Where can I get free PC games safely?
Epic Games Store gives away a game every Thursday on PC and mobile, and it stays in your library if you claim it during its free week. GOG and Steam also run occasional giveaways. No legitimate key seller hands out paid games with no strings attached, so be wary of sites that promise free keys in exchange for your personal details or password.
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