Free game keys
How it works
Free game keys are a type of item that the user can get without spending virtual or real currency.
Examples of usage:
- You can give away free DLC to users who already own the main game to reward their loyalty.
- You can gift games for a limited time to attract new users.
How to get it
- Create a free game key in one the following ways:
- Set up delivery of free game keys.
Create via Publisher Account
To create a free game key:- Open your project in Publisher Account.
- Click Store in the side menu.
- In the Game key pane, click:
- Connect – if you don’t have game keys
- Configure – if you previously connected game keys
- On the Game keys tab, click New game key package > Create manually.
- Set the basic package settings:
- SKU
- Game title
- Attributes (optional)
- Click Save and continue.
- Select the game distribution platforms and upload a CSV or TXT file with keys.
- If you want to sell the game before its official release, set the Pre-orders toggle to On. You can specify the release date when the game keys will be delivered to users when creating the keys or later.
- Click Save and continue.
- Toggle Free game key. If the game is published on the Steam platform, you can import pricing settings from that platform. To do this, click Import via link and specify the link to your game on Steam.
- You can set a limit for purchasing a game key. To do this, switch the Limit the number of times one user can buy game key toggle to On and specify the number of keys a user can purchase.
Note
The limit will work if purchased for real currency when a payment token is created. The user’s email-address is not considered a unique identifier, so the user will be able to get an unlimited number of free keys.
- Click Save and continue.
To make changes to the created game keys package, select the key on the Game Keys tab, make changes, and save.
Create via API calls
- To create free game keys, use API calls from the Admin subsection in the Game keys method group. When creating or editing an item, pass
is_free = true
in the request body. This setting is located in an array ofunit_items
objects in the request body. - To create an order with free items, call the Create order with specified free item API.
- Get a user’s order status.
Note
This is required if the order contains a bundle that includes a virtual item or currency. If the order contains only free game keys, the step can be skipped.
Set up delivery of free game keys
Fast purchase
If a user uses fast purchase (a user doesn’t use a cart), then call the Create order with specified free item AP to allow them to receive free keys. The delivery of free game keys to the user’s inventory occurs immediately after a successful request to this method (without the need to open the Pay Station payment form).Cart purchase
If the user uses cart purchase:- If the user’s cart contains both paid and free items, call the standard Create order with all items from particular cart and Create order with all items from current cart API for creating orders. Users will make a payment for the order through the Pay Station payment form.
- If the user’s cart contains only free items, call the Create order with free cart and Create order with particular free cart API to get a free cart. In this case, the payment interface will not be used, and payments are processed automatically. A form will open asking the user to provide an email address. After that, the order will be placed, and the user is redirected to the page with the order status.
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