11 Bit Studios Reacts to Frostpunk 2 Preorder Scam and Warns Players
A pre-order for Frostpunk 2 appeared on one of the websites, but the creators at 11 bit studios strongly denied having anything to do with it and warned against the possibility of fraud.
We recently got the announcement of Frostpunk 2 - the continuation of the well-received strategy/survival game from Polish devs at 11 bit studios, where players battled freezing temperatures. The first trailer was released on August 12, so it came as a big surprise that Kinguin.net, a platform offering pre-orders and game keys, has added Frostpunk 2 to its offer... just a week after the announcement that the game is being made. What's more, the sellers who put up the offer have, by some miracle, quoted a price of 145.89 PLN (around $37), although the official price is not yet known. The same goes for the PEGI rating, but the offer mentions an 18+ restriction.
The matter did not escape the attention of Polish developers, who shared the discovery on Twitter and harshly criticized the scammer:
Platforms such as Kinguin, which offer the opportunity to sell game keys, are extremely popular due to low prices. Unfortunately, this is a double-edged weapon, as it's not uncommon to come across offers from scammers.
As an example, there is an offer from this website that promises the buyer... a key for GTA 6 in "pre-order" for some $50. The seller's description, however, may arouse suspicion:
"This is a PRE-ORDER, the key will be delivered upon the game's release date: 31 Dec, 2022! Bonuses, if included, may differ from offers on other stores!"
We don't know where the author of the offer got this date from, just as we don't know how such an obvious attempt to scam people out of their money is still showing on the website.
When it comes to selling a key to Frostpunk 2, it seemed that the reaction of 11 bit studios had an effect, because the offer was no longer available, but another one appeared after a while and is yet to be taken down. Let's hope that it's only for a while, and Kinguin;s moderation will come to their senses. We will follow how the whole situation develops.
