I’m wondering, do games get categorized as Reduced CV only when they’re bundled, or does it also happen after a specific number of copies are given away? Or is it a mix of both?

I tried to look around but wasn’t sure if this was already explained somewhere (so apologies if it's a repeat question!). I figured it’d be good to ask directly since others might be wondering too.

Would appreciate any clarification from folks who are more familiar with how it works!

6 hours ago

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As far as I can tell, reduced or no value can happen for multiple reasons, most prominently is a game becomes more available either through a bundle, or a large public facing giveaway such as Alienware Arena or Pantaloon, there are also low effort games with high value so those reduced because they game the system. Keep in mind all of this happens manually so there might be exceptions because they weren't caught.
The FAQ briefly mentions a game being bundled then getting reduced value shortly afterwards.

6 hours ago
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hmm i see i did read the FAQ but it didnt mention the exact criteria for a game to be reduced cv... Thanks!!

14 minutes ago
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Reduced CV happens when a game gets bundled or heavily discounted in some store, I think 95% off when compared to the base price in the US regardless of in which region (so even if the deep discount is only available in just one country), but I believe it has to be a legit store to count so no grey market resellers.
No CV happens when the game has been free somewhere as long as the number of keys was large enough, can't remember the exact number tho. Games that have only been free directly through Steam don't count since there's no way to gift those.

5 hours ago
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grey market counts.

5 hours ago
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Oh, I legit thought those didn't count since the prices and number of keys are variable, but to be honest I haven't bought from those in so long that my knowledge is probably severely out of date.

5 hours ago
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Not sure how they look at it as you say number of keys are a variable... But they do look (as some would buy it) and also if it's like 93% off on Fanatical good chance it will get reduced CV...

5 hours ago
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Grey markets count for the simple reason that if they didn't count this site would be flooded by GA's from people farming CV with grey site keys.

2 hours ago
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Hmm so for eg on CD Keys this key is extremely cheap rn but the game hasnt been bundled, to my knowledge! So does that mean it will be reduced cv or is it so that it has to be bundled first? Just an example... there are tons of other games like this

View attached image.
10 minutes ago*
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Because of the price if it reaches ~95% off on steam or even in grey markets it will get reduced CV (sometimes it can happen with 90% games I have heard because, for example, Russia has low price even without discount and if some "exploit" it can be reduced).. If the game is given away (at least 1000 I guess copies) it will be marked as no cv probably.
At least these are the things I have heard.

5 hours ago
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I see then what about games that have been bundled once, maybe not on humble/ fanatical but elsewhere, but still cost a decent amount of grey market sites?

5 minutes ago
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Not all bundles have their games put on the reduced CV list. It is determined by the discount of the games. There was never an official set amount and it was up to the discretion of the support member that adds the games to the list, but years ago it was believed to be 95%. If a game was on sale for 95% off or more, it would get put on the reduced CV list, this goes for bundles and regular sales. You also have to take into account foreign currencies after being converted to US dollars. So, a game might be 85 or 90% off, but once you take the Russian discounted price (or any other country) and convert that to US dollars, if that price is at least 95% off the US retail, it will get put on the reduced list. I'm not sure if they are still using 95% or if they have gone a bit less.

As for games being added to the 0 CV list. In the past, only games that were given away for free somewhere were added to that list from the date of the free promotion. It doesn't matter if a game was 99% off, it would only get added to the reduced CV list unless it was actually free somewhere. Now, it seems like a lot of games are being added to the 0 CV list that haven't been free. I'm not sure how this is being determined, but it seems like very highly discounted games are having their CV removed. I know this is done for the fake games that are sold for pennies and then have their price increased to high amounts, like $50-200, which is understandable, but I don't know why this is happening with real games many years after the sales.

5 hours ago
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I wonder if that's what happened to the Oddworld games, I gave away those last year because they were cheap on Fanatical (or at least I think it was fanatical) and then I noticed that all got marked as 0 CV after the fact.

5 hours ago
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For sure it did. Oddworld has been bundled cheaply several times from several (I think) sites in the past.

2 hours ago
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The whole collection has been sold for 1$ish before i think so ig that is valid

3 minutes ago
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Hmm so being bundled isnt necessarily the criteria for reduced cv? Yeah it would make more sense if its based on discount...
The fake games u are talking about is something i feel like are just being created to farm sg value xD

1 minute ago
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