Gaming Auction Site Denies Fraud Over Record-Breaking Sales
2021 has become a year of whopping games sales. You might think that a lot of them would stem from the launch of next-gen consoles last year, with fans clamouring to get their hands on the next biggest thing in gaming and keep up with trends. But as it turns out, fans are turning to buying the classics.
This year so far, someone has paid an extortionate amount for a sealed original copy of Skyrim, and another has made the biggest purchase in gaming history when buying a fresh copy of Super Mario 64 as well.
Fans are seemingly going crazy for old-school gaming at the moment, but now it looks like everything could not be exactly as it seems.
Report Alleges Grading Fraud In Retro Gaming
Journalist Karl Jobst has made an investigation to the grading company Wata Games, and has alleged that the president of the company has been manipulating the gaming market with the co-founder of Heritage Auctions. His whopping 52-minute video investigation suggests that Heritage Auctions has been artificially inflating the value of retro video games for immense profit.
The directors of Wata have been grading games and electing to set prices higher than necessary in order to force the market to follow with them, and supposedly these games sold for incredible prices aren’t being bought by game collectors at all.
Wata Games has responded to these allegations, entirely refuting them.
Wata Games Denies Fraud Accusations
Click to enlargeWata Games have come forward in a statement to VGC to deny the accusations made by Jobst, insisting that the company’s practices are entirely legitimate.
“Wata Games is the trusted leader in collectable video game grading and we’re honoured to play a key role in this booming industry that we are incredibly passionate about”, a spokesperson for the company has said. “We’re humbled by the support of our thousands of customers who tr4ust us to provide accurate and transparent grading.
“The claims in this video are completely baseless and defamatory, and it is unfortunate that Mr. Jobst did not contact us to give us the opportunity to correct him.”
It’ll be interesting to see where these allegations lead, especially as the conversations are still in motion. But keep an eye out when you’re looking to buy your favourite classic game online - you might be getting scammed.
