As Ubisoft Axes "Stolen" Origin Keys, Reseller Denies Blame

New light has been shed on Ubisoft's crackdown of grey market PC game codes, with the publisher revealing that the games it has deactivated were purchased with fraudulent credit card information.

On Tuesday it emerged that the publisher had begun blocking access to some of its PC games, such as Far Cry 4 and Assassin's Creed Unity, having discovered they were not acquired through official channels. Consumers raised complaints about their games being deactivated on a Ubisoft forum, but the publisher insists this is a legal matter.

Now it emerges that some, or perhaps all, of the game codes in question were bought from EA's Origin store using fraudulent credit card information.

EA is co-operating with Ubisoft and has temporarily removed the games from Origin. Meanwhile, the reseller website believed to have sold these codes online has denied responsibility.

In a statement sent to GameSpot, Ubisoft said: "We have confirmed activation keys were recently purchased from EA's Origin store using fraudulent credit card information and then resold online. These keys may have been deactivated. We strongly recommend that players purchase keys and downloadable games only from the Uplay Store or their trusted retailers."

EA, in turn, has notified customers that "a number of activation keys for Ubisoft products were purchased from Origin using fraudulent credit cards, and then resold online. We identified the unauthorized keys and notified Ubisoft."

It added: "We removed Ubisoft games from Origin to protect against further fraudulent purchases. We don't have an update [for when the games will return], but are working to get them back in the store as soon as possible."

"Not in Any Way Responsible"

Following this clampdown on fraudulent keys, the online vendor now in the spotlight has insisted it is not directly linked to the illegal purchase.

"As some of you may already know, steps have been taken to remove games purchased indirectly from a publisher, via main marketplaces in the web.

"G2A is not in any case responsible for any of these procedures," the corporation wrote in a statement.

The vendor said it "will do everything possible to compensate" for those who have bought the fraudulently purchased keys.

It added: "G2A will make every possible exertion to prevent this kind of procedures in the future and exclude merchants responsible for such incidents from the marketplace."