You never know if you don't try. Not that I necessarily disagree with your assessment, all things considered (though I've only filed two tickets in seven years on Steam, both of which were resolved in ways I expected).

Shadow of Chernobyl was the third game I ever purchased on Steam and I still have a multiplayer/serial key for it (mine is also invalid according to GOG, but I digress). Any game that required a serial key for validation purposes should have one in Steam, whether you made a purchase in the Steam store or received a redemption code from a bundle site/etc. Valve changing its sub number won't have any effect on the key you're assigned to any such game either, as those numbers are for Valve's database organization more than anything else (I remember going nuts when they changed Super Meat Boy's sub ID, thinking I'd need to buy it again after pre-order).

I think the biggest hurdle is, especially with a game like Shadow of Chernobyl which had multiplayer running through the now deceased GameSpy servers (though I realize the other titles in the series did as well, it's clear from the method of gaining access to their CD/serial keys something was handled differently for whatever reason), having a means of validating the keys issued for it anymore. GameSpy support itself has also gone the way of the dodo, so if a resolution can't be worked out by Steam Support or GOG for people who have allegedly invalid keys (that is assuming it's not currently an issue on GOG's end) then they may simply be SOL when it comes to making use of this offer and will either have to re-buy the games if they wish to have them in their GOG libraries or rely on the kindness of someone else who has redeemed a valid key and doesn't want it for one reason or another.

I doubt Steam would be of any help, the keys are probably valid but my guess is that GOG doesn't have them in their database.

Steam typically won't issue you a new key. I think this is up to GOG to fix.

my results
-S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky = invalid (Steam)
-S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat = invalid (Steam)
-S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl = Invalid (steam Registry)

Thanks guys and gales! This is awesome. I'll do it with my Stalker games. think I lost one though. Ill check. Awesome.

Just tried getting the keys from the steam versions I have.

Shadow of Chernobyl came up invalid. The other two were valid. I double checked the registry and what comes up in the MP menu to confirm the SoC key was the same.

That'll be nice when it extends to games I didn't buy here to begin with.

My results:

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl = accepted (retail key)
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky = accepted (retail key)
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat = accepted (retail key)

Thanks.

I have quite a few games that I need this done for! Games like GTA IV and Batman: Arkham City infact that Batman game is going to be a doozy, that was a gift from Samsung when I bought an SSD years ago. So much has changed and I have rebuilt 4-5 different PC's since then.

A great move. Keep going GOG!

You didn't get charged. As others have noted it just shows you the current value of the game on the receipt / email, you aren't paying that (it is odd as a normal gift code redemption puts down $0 as the value but no matter). If you buy games here regularly you'd know there are more steps to the payment process, so you can't get billed by mistake.

Meanwhile, OnLive is shutting down post haste, leaving a bunch of game "owners" in the lurch. Wonder if there are any plans to migrate those "hahaLOLsucks2BU" customers somewhere like here?

-S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky = Worked (Steam)
-S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat = Invalid (Steam)
-S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl = Invalid (Network/Registry)

Same here, only Clear Sky key has worked, I don't know why.

Never trusted the idea of that OnLive thing. Even Steam at least gives you a game on your PC that you can back up in various ways. OnLive gave you nothing but a bill... and now, a middle finger.


As for this "reclaim" idea, all I can say is that this is damn awesome. I still have my three S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series games as physical copies, and their keys all worked. So yeah, big time thanks, GOG. And I look forward to seeing what else crops up with this.