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posted by on Sunday February 05 2017, @01:00AM   Printer-friendly
from the why-should-nvidia-even-care? dept.

Graphics card maker Nvidia is putting a stop to the resale of bundled promotional game keys by tying them to a specific graphics card purchase.

Previously, retailers sent promotional game codes to customers that purchased a qualifying product. Those codes could then be redeemed on Nvidia's website, which spit out the relevant Steam, Uplay, Origin, or Microsoft Store key. Since the promotional game codes were not tied to a specific account, many users took to either gifting spare keys to friends or selling them on eBay in order to offset the cost of the graphics card purchase.

Now, users have to redeem codes via the GeForce Experience (GFE) app, which is directly linked to third-party services like Steam and Uplay. Users must also ensure that the requisite graphics card is "installed before redemption." GFE then performs "a hardware verification step to ensure the coupon code is redeemed on the system with the qualifying GPU."

Update: Nvidia has confirmed that while GFE checks to ensure a user has installed a qualifying graphics card like a GTX 1070 or GTX 1080, the game itself is not permanently linked to the hardware. GFE's hardware check is based only on the wider product range, and not on a specific serial number.

The company has also confirmed that the redemption process permanently adds the game to the appropriate third-party service. For example, if users redeems a promotional game key through to Steam, that game will be useable on any other device, just like normal Steam games. Users can also opt to uninstall GFE, or install a different graphics card, once the promotional code has been redeemed and still retain full ownership of the game. A full set of instructions for redeeming codes is now available on Nvidia's website.

Source:

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/02/nvidia-game-codes-gfe-hardware/


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  • (Score: 2) by opinionated_science on Sunday February 05 2017, @01:21AM

    by opinionated_science (4031) on Sunday February 05 2017, @01:21AM (#462984)

    I have 2xGTX980's I use for molecular dynamics...under GNU/Linux.

    Any games worth trying that would exploit the card tech, under linux of course....?

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  • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 05 2017, @01:43AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 05 2017, @01:43AM (#462988)

    It should be able to handle AisleRiot Solitare if you overclock the *uck out of it.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 05 2017, @01:50AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 05 2017, @01:50AM (#462989)

    I am generations behind but this should help: https://www.reddit.com/r/linux_gaming/comments/3gv4bp/aaa_games_for_linux_on_steamother/ [reddit.com] Tropico 5? They are getting desperate.

    This may help, but you have to filter out crap: https://lgdb.org/games [lgdb.org]

    Anyone tried Stellaris [lgdb.org]?

    But you should play The Dark Mod [lgdb.org]. Newer maps are more resource intensive.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 05 2017, @10:09PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 05 2017, @10:09PM (#463201)

    EVE online works flawlessly under linux, it's not really a game though... It can be fun now and then. :D

    link to client:
    https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=482663&find=unread [eveonline.com]