Key distribution platform Rokky has debuted a free browser plugin for publishers and builders to watch if distributed Steam keys have been used. The agency described it as a tool for “accomplice reconciliation and gross sales forecasting” and “protected post-bundle verification”.
The Steam Key Checker plugin, which has not been developed with or authorised by Valve, works by asking customers to add a CSV of issued keys that are then checked in opposition to the consumer’s Steam accomplice account. Rokky CEO Vadim Andreev suggests to GamesIndustry.biz that the tool might be most helpful to publishers who must handle keys en masse, after producing massive numbers of keys to be included in bundles or distributed to press or influencers. “A number of publishers do that, particularly indie and AA builders, and so many have no thought what occurs to those keys as soon as they’re despatched off,” he says.
“Steam does allow you to observe each key generated, however truly doing so in apply may be very time consuming and can get fairly complicated. Particularly if you are a writer enterprise many advertising and marketing or distribution campaigns , and so are producing tons of to hundreds of sport keys to be despatched globally.”
“For instance, if an influencer doesn’t cowl a sport, the writer might use this tool to truly examine if the influencer redeemed the code and if they did however weren’t protecting it, the writer might look into why. It’s a tool designed to supply extra knowledge to publishers and assist their distribution methods.”
“It is a function that a variety of publishers have informed us they want Steam had. We made this Steam Key Checker free as we hope it serves as a short lived resolution to this drawback, one which Steam themselves will finally clear up.”
Andreev says the agency has not labored with Valve on the tool, and there was a threat that it’s going to replace the Steam platform in a manner that will forestall it from working. He additionally admits there’s a threat that publishers might use the tool to allow them to revoke keys that had been issued in bundles however not used. “I might severely advise in opposition to doing that,” he says. “It’s not meant to be a tool to punish clients.”