The code holder might ask for anyone interested to send them a private message and receive the code that way to prevent it being picked up by bots or greedy game collectors who sit and wait on forums for code drops.
They might make a puzzle out of it to make people work harder for it. Other times, people will disguise parts of the code to make it harder for cyber ninjas aka bots to pick up the codes and activate them on the account of the person using them – this is a bit like breaking up publicly visible email addresses to prevent them from being harvested. Usually, those who grab the codes and use them first are the winners. On various websites, you’ll see codes for games being dropped (code drops), as in being copied and pasted on the forum for all to see. That’s why, whether you are developer or a gamer, it’s best to do it with WGN or a similar website seeing as they can regulate it – people sign into WGN using their Steam account, and they can therefore only ever receive one key per game, and if they are caught trading it or selling it, they will be blacklisted and unable to participate in any more Greenlight giveaways. If someone promises Steam keys but doesn’t ask for an email address or some other way or contacting you, then beware.
And likewise, developers can scam people by asking for Greenlight votes and not give people Steam keys. But one essentially needs to have proof that they’ve voted, otherwise people could just scam the developer into giving away free keys without a Greenlight vote.
You can also find these Greenlight requests organised by the developer himself/herself. Once it’s on Steam, your key will be emailed to you. WGN, or often has Greenlight requests on its website, and you just vote “yes” for the game and reserve a key for later. Sort of like Kickstarter but there’s no money involved. But instead, they often appeal to gamers to vote for their game, and in return they are given a free Steam key once the game is on Steam. This is a major step for an indie developer, and no doubt they’ll do anything to get there – even sell their soul to the devil himself. This is a term that has become more commonly used over time, and refers to the act of asking people to visit their game’s space on Steam Greenlight and help them get onto Steam so that they can actually start selling their game on the digital distribution platform. Do Greenlight, Steam, and everyone else a favour by not voting for rubbish, unfinished games. If you participate in Greenlight Bribery, only vote if you actually like the game and would like to own it. By MediaPhoto.Org ( Own work) via Wikimedia Commons