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Every now and then, a hardcore gamer, or any gamer for that fact, is looking to get their favorite digital games at discounted prices. Instant Gaming puts a halt to the constant forage for discounted games by selling game keys at implausibly low prices. Often considered a bargain-basement, Instant Gaming, as it exponentially grows, makes people and gamers alike wonder whether it is legit and trustworthy or not.
In this post, we have reviewed the legitimacy of Instant Gaming and thoroughly vetted the gaming site to precision in order to bring you the answer to the most asked question: Is Instant Gaming legit?
What is Instant Gaming?
Instant Gaming is an online store or website that resells digital codes, also known as game keys. These game keys or codes can be used on pre-downloaded games from stores such as Origin, Uplay or Steam.
More than a reselling portal, Instant Gaming is a community that allows individuals and their acquaintances to share their virtual achievements and trophies won through purchasing game keys or CD keys while also viewing each other’s wishlist and buying games for each other.
Why is Instant Gaming called Instant Gaming?
Although the site mentions nothing about why they named the store as they did, here’s our explanation and the widely accepted answer: when you purchase a CD key from the store, you are given instant access to the key along with all relevant information such as specifications, images, etc., hence the name ‘Instant Gaming’.
Is Instant Gaming legit?
Before diving into an explanation, here is the answer: Yes, Instant Gaming is absolutely legit and trustworthy. Besides company claims, the extremely positive reviews on Trustpilot stand to strengthen the site’s reputation by manifold. Unlike G2A and Kinguin, it is more of an online retailer blocking third-party sellers, therefore, gaining better 4.7 stars from ratings of 523,315 users. The egregious or negative reviews are limited to 2% at the most, which allows us to safely conclude that Instant Gaming is a trustworthy and absolutely legit website for acquiring CD keys.
Does Instant Gaming Sell official CD Keys?
Whenever you’re buying a CD key from the website, this is a question that you will surely find yourself asking. Yes, all CD keys sold on Instant Gaming are official, directly purchased in bulk from legit and authorized sellers such as Steam, Ubisoft, NCsoft and Battle.net. This translates to the fact that you are paying for completely legal digital copies of your chosen games.
Instant Gaming does not allow the authority of putting CD keys on sale to anyone unless it’s a legitimate reseller, making it more of an online store than a marketplace.
What are CD Keys, after all?
CD keys are alpha-numerical digital codes of games that are printed inside the game’s case or on the reference card provided with the game. These CD keys can also be available in text format or a scannable format if you have a digital copy of the game.
Is the Instant Gaming Customer Service good?
A good store or site must have good customer service, and Instant Gaming surely lives upto the expectation in this vertical too. If you have an issue with the purchase, or a perplexing question, the efficient customer support operates 24×7 to help you through.
As mentioned in numerous reviews on Trustpilot and the official website itself, the customer service competently aids in resolving your problem – all you have to do is open a ticket, addressing your concerns.
Is it safe to buy games and CD Keys from Instant Gaming?
Yes, Instant Gaming provides a secure and safe pathway via PayPal, Paysafecard, and Hipay. You can either opt for payment through a debit card, credit card, or Skrill.
You will have to go through a two-factor authentication when paying through any of the payment gateways to ensure that it is really you making the purchase on the website. Besides, some payment gateways you opt for, charge a low additional fee to ensure that your privacy is maintained.
Once you have placed the order, Instant Gaming calls you on your registered number to provide a serial number that, when filled in the form, gives you direct access to the code of your game. This code can be redeemed on authorized and legal platforms such as Stream or Ubisoft to download the games that you have accessed with the code.
The in-depth identification of the individual making the purchase, thus, helps ensure that the code is accessed only by the buyer.
Can anyone sell CD/game keys on Instant Gaming?
No, unlike G2A, Kinguin, and another grey ‘marketplace’, not everyone can put up a CD key for sale on Instant Gaming. It is only Instant Gaming that can sell keys on the store, post buying it from authorized sellers.
This makes Instant Gaming a doubly safe place for gaming enthusiasts to make a purchase since Instant Gaming provides the assurance of each key being an official and a working one.
Is a refund possible on Instant Gaming?
Yes, a refund is possible on Instant Gaming. However, not every CD key is refundable, and considering the nature of the key, Instant Gaming will refund the amount. Here are the conditions that apply:
- The request to receive a refund must not exceed 10 days from the date of purchase.
- The code must not be used.
Is Instant Gaming a Grey Market?
A grey market is a parallel market where goods (in various forms such as shares and products) are sold outside the authority of the official capacity of the company that once owned or still owns the goods.
These markets are not illegal and have a different structure of processing and working.
To answer the question, yes, Instant Gaming is a grey market similar to other game resellers, selling CD keys post buying it from the authorized seller itself. However, unlike other grey market stores, it BUYS the keys from the official sellers instead of imposing chargeback on the developers or using other illegal methods to extract the keys.
It is definitely better than piracy and other stores that impose a chargeback on the developer or extract keys from dubious sources (some that are a scam).
Do Instant Gaming CD keys work?
Yes, all Instānt Gaming CD keys work since they are official CD keys. But, what if, for some reasons, your CD key is not working? In that case, you can raise a ticket to the customer service and they will help diagnose where the problem lies, and in case the key is invalid, they will offer you a replacement free of cost.
How is Instant Gaming so cheap?
Instant Gaming has impressive discounts on an ever-expanding library of games. These discounts can go as high as 70% at times, which saves not only bucks but also cuts down on the wait for sales to be put on the official stores.
You can also find great discounts on pre-order games such as Scarlet Nexus Deluxe with a 28% discount on the standard launch price, Elite Dangerous: Odyssey at 33% discount, and HUMANKIND at an implausible discount of 55%.
Now the question is, how are these games so cheap on Instant Gaming?
What the site says:
Instant Gaming understands how exhausting it is to stand in immeasurably long queues and make a dent in your wallet to pay for your favourite games.
This is why Instant Gaming and their dedicated team of hardcore gaming enthusiasts made it a priority to aid gamers alike to buy games at the best prices. Instant Gaming brings such unbelievably low rates to the table by making the games available in the digitized format while buying them in bulk from authorized sellers. This saves them the cost of distribution and middlemen while also allowing generous savings on the logistics to ship games in the physical format and storing them in warehouses.
Other claims made by users:
Numerous gamers claim that Instant Gaming and other sites similar to Instant Gaming are able to buy game keys at rates lower than the regular retail prices because they buy these keys in different regions where the rates are lower.
Most sellers base the price of the games on a regional basis, and sites such as Instant Gaming buy these keys from regions where the prices are the lowest such as in Asia where the income is not as disposable as the highly developed countries. Gamers claim that the site then makes these game keys accessible to everyone around the globe at the same price, irrespective of the region.
However, Instant Gaming has made no statements that strengthen these claims made by gamers, and it can therefore be considered only an added possibility.
Is it legal to buy CD/game keys from Instant Gaming?
The answer is yes – it is absolutely legal to buy CD keys on Instant Gaming. Instant Gaming is not a piracy website, which means any key you purchase is not claimed through shady methods. Also, Instant Gaming makes a point to buy the keys or the games from authorized official sellers themselves in order to resell them, which is a completely legal method to both acquire and sell CD keys.
How fast will I receive my CD keys from Instant Gaming?
The name says it all – you will receive your key almost instantly post completion of the purchase. The receipt is pretty straightforward, and all you have to do is go through your recent purchases under the ‘My Account’ section to view the latest keys purchased by you.
The scintillating side to it is that these keys have no deadline, and you can use them as many times as you want without having to re-activate them by purchasing a card again.
Are there alternatives for Instant Gaming?
G2A
G2A is an intermediary platform for marketplace sellers and buyers to interact with each other and buy or sell game keys from Steam, Origin, Ubisoft, and other places, while also transacting other digital game accessories such as skins and gifts.
Unlike Instant Gaming, G2A is a marketplace. Think of it as Craigslist- the site itself does not sell any game or CD keys. G2A is a Hong-Kong registered company, mainly operating from Poland, offering discounted games through sellers that usually buy games during sales or from other regions to make marginal profits by selling them later at higher prices.
Kinguin
Similar to G2A, Kinguin allows third-party sellers to sell CD keys on their platform. It too is a marketplace, launched in 2013, with over 4 million customers from around the globe. Kinguin allows the selling of gift cards, CSGO skins, game keys, and many other things such as anti-virus programs and softwares.
Although Kinguin may not sell games on its official portal, it does sell them under different domains such as G2PLAY.NET and a few other platforms.
Green Man Gaming
Green Man Gaming is a UK-based eclectic mix of extensive game libraries that launched in 2009, almost a decade ago. It distributes PC games and games specific to consoles in about 190+ countries, housing the newest releases, pre-order games, and bestsellers at heavily discounted rates.
The frequent, flexible discounts and the legitimacy of the website make it an equally good option in comparison to Instant Gaming, if not better. The previous controversy regarding the illegal authorization of keys has all been cleared by Green Man Gaming that now includes sourcing details for every game being sold on the website.
MMOGA
Initially launched in 2006 as a place to buy virtual currencies, MMOGA has now expanded its horizon to become one of the biggest CD keys resellers, pioneering the field for over 14 years. Massive Multiplayer Online Game Association or MMOGA has at least 10% discounts on the basic retail prices offered, with a dedicated support team and catering to an extensive selection of games and game currencies.
Overall, MMOGA received mostly favourable reviews from previous customers. Past customers mostly praised it for the top-notch discount prices that the site usually offers. Even if you head onto the website now, you will see that most of the items on their homepage are at least 10% off of the original price.
Gamo
Essentially considered a marketplace, Gamivo is similar to G2A and Kinguin, where third-party sellers have access to putting game keys on sale. These game keys are valid for numerous stores such as Uplay, GOG, Steam, Battle.net, etc.
Launched about three years ago, Gamivo has over 200,000 visitors per month and secure payment gateways, which make it pretty legit.
Amidst disgruntled reviews and criticizing sellers, Gamivo has a decent reputation, but there are reports of multiple purchases going the wrong direction. However, the customer service is quick to respond, and if you’re a ‘smart customer’, which is an upgrade you need to buy, the service gets much better and faster.
Other Instant Gaming alternatives include:
- Enable
- GamersGate
- Gamo
- GameBillet
- GamesPlanet
- Voidu
- Win Game Store
- Gameflip
What makes Instant Gaming better than most alternatives?
Sure, many Instant Gaming alternatives are equally good or even better; Instant Gaming still tops the game over most others. First and foremost, Instant Gaming is an online store and not a marketplace, which doubles up the assurance that every key is legit, and safe, and working. Besides, it has no customer protection, which rules out the possibility of you getting scammed since all keys will be working and protected against invalidity.
With ragingly glorious reviews and crystal clear reputation, Instānt Gaming is surely a legit website, comparatively better than most of its alternatives.
FAQs
How to buy games from Instant Gaming?
Step 1: Register at the store because it is compulsory to do so. Next, find a game you wish to obtain the CD key for. You can either do this by searching on the top in the Search Bar or surfing through the different sections on the top of the site display within columns such as Nintendo Consoles, PlayStation Consoles, etc.
Step 2: Tap on the game you’d want to buy and tap on the ‘Buy’ button to add the game to your cart. Next, go to your cart to see the payment methods.
Step 3: Once you have the payment methods, you’ll see the order summary of your purchase, including taxes and payment fees, if any.
Step 4: Next, select the payment method from amongst the multiple options such as PayPal, Paysafe, etc.
Step 5: Once you’ve made a purchase, you’ll successfully receive a key which you can view from under the section ‘My Account.
Are Instant Gaming keys globally valid?
Some CD keys are not valid for all regions due to regulatory issues of the official sellers from where the CD keys have been bought by Instant Gaming. Publishers are subjected to national restriction of import/export of games, meaning if a game is banned in your country, the CD key will be invalid.
Therefore, you should look into the restrictions and other information that is available on the page of each game before making a purchase of the CD key belonging to the game.
What are the payment methods offered on Instant Gaming?
There are several payment methods offered on Instant Gaming, including PayPal, debit card, PaySafeCard, Hipay, Sofort, Skrill, iDeal, and other convenient payment methods. Usually, there are no transaction fees on the purchase unless you are using platforms such as PayPal.
How to apply discount and promo codes on Instant Gaming?
To apply a discount or promo code, you will have to add the product to your cart; view the order summary, below which you will have a bar that will say ‘USE PROMO CODE’. Once you’ve entered the code, hit on redeem to now see the discounted price of the CD key. Next, proceed to choose the payment option for making the purchase in order to receive the key at a further discounted price.
