IGG has sent GDN a statement about the recent sale of Altis Gate Alpha Test Codes on eBay. The company stated that while they welcome the enthusiasm of people wanting to get into the game early, they did not condone the sale of those codes via eBay.

The special Alpha Test release starts January 19th, 2010 at 8:00pmEST (GMT-5). This test is open exclusively to IGG’s various media partners, some seasoned veterans of the MMORPG scene and a few other lucky players. Only 200 activation codes in all will be released for this event. So that should narrow down the field of who sold their codes on eBay if the codes were valid.

The company further stated that they wanted to, "strongly emphasize our distaste for players who do this and advise those looking for activation codes for future tests to contact us through official channels to obtain them. "

All players keen on picking up an AT activation code are encouraged to participate in our official AT activation giveaway event. You can find out more about this event at http://ag.igg.com/event/alphakey/.

Personally, to find that someone would pay that much to get into an alpha version of a game I was working on would be flattering. I’m sure this is not the first time that this has happened and I’m certain it won’t be the last. Is it wrong? I can’t see how aside from the fact that it could inhibit the progress of the game as the keys may go to less experienced people who won’t help the developers squash the bugs, give proper feedback and help make the game better. After all that’s generally what Alpha and Beta tests are for.