{"rewrite":{"id":"r_65181d426e9790c444f07924","clusterId":"c_fe057f67fc7dae35d4c4f29c","slug":"dev-tells-players-to-pirate-rather-than-buy-from-key-shops","model":"deepseek-v4-flash:free","headline":"Dev Tells Players to Pirate Rather Than Buy From Key Shops","summary":"dicehit games, developer of the deck-building roguelike Runeveil, posted on X on August 11 telling players to pirate its games rather than buy Steam keys from unauthorized resellers. The post followed the discovery that Runeveil keys appear to be sold on a key shop site. The developer said it receives no money either way and prefers piracy over an unknown third party profiting from its work.","whyItMatters":"The developer's blunt stance, telling players to pirate rather than buy from key shops, frames unauthorized key sales as worse for the studio than piracy itself, since the developer sees no revenue from either but key shops turn the game into profit for an unknown third party.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003edicehit games, the studio behind the deck-building roguelike Runeveil, told players on X on August 11 that they should pirate its games rather than buy Steam keys from unauthorized resellers. The post came after the studio found Runeveil keys listed on a key shop site.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe developer said keys distributed to streamers, video posters, and media for promotional purposes are being sold without permission. It added that if a player is going to buy a key from such a site at half the retail price, it would rather they play the pirated version and save money until a sale. In both cases the studio receives no money, but it said it prefers piracy to an unknown third party profiting from its work.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe statement echoes a past comment from Mike Rose, head of indie publisher No More Robots, who said he would rather people pirate games than buy them on G2A.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"dicehit games, the Runeveil dev, says players should pirate its games rather than buy Steam keys from unauthorized key shops. The studio found its own keys listed on one such site and says it gets no money either way.","twitterPost":"Runeveil dev dicehit games tells players to pirate rather than buy from key shops, after finding its own Steam keys listed on one. The studio says it sees no revenue either way.","threadsPost":null,"newsletterBlurb":"The Runeveil developer dicehit games told players on X to pirate its games rather than buy Steam keys from unauthorized resellers. The studio found its own promotional keys listed on a key shop and said it prefers piracy to an unknown third party profiting from its work.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"Automaton\",\"url\":\"https://automaton-media.com/articles/newsjp/20260812-459909/\",\"title\":\"Game developer says 'rather than buying from a key reseller, just pirate it' in anger over unauthorized sale of Steam keys\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":4634,"outputTokens":624,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1786708688,"createdAt":"2026-08-14T11:47:27.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-08-14T11:51:44.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-14T11:47:27.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_fe057f67fc7dae35d4c4f29c","canonicalTitle":"ゲーム開発者が「“鍵屋”で買うぐらいなら海賊版で遊んで」と怒りの表明。善意を踏みにじる、Steamキーの不正販売","representativeArticleId":"a_3c2ecf6e0126e31b0b00e8e4","sourceCount":1,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":true,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[],\"studios\":[\"dicehit games\"],\"people\":[],\"type\":\"news\",\"domain\":\"games\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"news","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-08-12T10:51:17.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-08-12T10:51:17.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-14T11:51:45.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"Automaton","url":"https://automaton-media.com/articles/newsjp/20260812-459909/","title":"ゲーム開発者が「“鍵屋”で買うぐらいなら海賊版で遊んで」と怒りの表明。善意を踏みにじる、Steamキーの不正販売"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":[],"studios":["dicehit games"],"people":[],"type":"news","domain":"games","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":null}