Is Fanatical Legit?

Yes. Fanatical is a legitimate game key store. It’s publisher authorised, meaning the keys it sells come directly from game developers and publishers, not from grey market resellers. This puts it in a different category from stores like Driffle or Loaded (CDKeys) entirely.

We track Fanatical’s prices on KrakenKeys across thousands of Steam games, and it regularly appears among the cheapest official sources.

What Is Fanatical?

Fanatical was founded in 2013 under the name Bundle Stars. It was founded in the United Kingdom. It quickly became popular as a digital store for Steam games as it curated large lists of games and offered them as bundles. On the 1st November 2017, Bundle Stars official rebranded to Fanatical, and from there it expanded beyond bundles into a full storefront selling individual Steam keys.

Fanatical is owned by Fandom and is headquatered in Manchester, UK. It operates as an official retail partner with hundreds of game publishers, which is the key thing that seperates it from grey market / third party marketplaces.

Where Do Fanatical’s Keys Come From?

Where do they get their keys from, and how are they cheap? Third party marketplaces like Kinguin and Eneba aggregate keys from individual sellers, those keys can come from anywhere: regional arbitrage, bulk giveaways, and even in some cases - stolen cards. The origin is unknown.

Fanatical works differently. They purchase keys directly from publishers and developers and resell them as an authorised retailer. When a developer runs a sale or bundle deal, they often work with Fanatical directly to distribute keys at that price.

Is Fanatical Safe to Buy From?

Yes. Here’s why:

• Keys are valid Steam keys — they activate through Steam in the normal way
• Refund policy exists — limited (keys are non-refundable once revealed, standard for digital keys) but they have a support team
• No personal data scandals — nothing notable in their history
• Established since 2013 — over a decade of operation with no major collapse or scam events

The only real risk with Fanatical is region-locking. Some keys are EU-only or US-only, and they don’t always make this obvious at the listing level. Check the listing carefully before buying if you’re outside the UK/EU/US. KrakenKeys highlights the region, but always double check Fanaticals storefront page before buying.

What Does Trustpilot Say?

Fanatical sits at 4.3/5 on Trustpilot from over 50,000 reviews. Most negative reviews are about region locked keys or keys not working, both edge cases rather than systemic problems. The volume and consistency of positive reviews over 10+ years is a reasonable trust signal.

When Is Fanatical Actually Cheaper Than Steam?

This is where it gets interesting. Fanatical not only meets Steam’s sale prices, it often beats them. It also has deals that Steam just doesn’t have. This is through it’s partnership with the publishers.

A few patterns from tracking their prices on KrakenKeys:

• Publisher sales: When a studio does a sale, Fanatical often gets pricing that matches or undercuts Steam’s official sale.
• Flash sales: Short-window deals (24–48 hours) that sometimes go lower than anything else tracked.

The best way to know if Fanatical has the cheapest price for a specific game is to check it directly. KrakenKeys tracks Fanatical alongside 20+ other stores in real time.

The Data: How Does Fanatical Actually Compare?

Prices accurate as of April 2026, tracked live on KrakenKeys.

We currently track 11,030 Fanatical deals across our catalogue. Here’s what the data shows.

6,052 of those deals are currently cheaper than Steam, including Steam’s own sale prices. The average saving across those games is 42.4%.

For context on where Fanatical sits across the full market: when we include all stores we track (20+, including keyshops), Fanatical comes out cheapest 1,621 times. Among official, publisher-authorised stores only, it comes out cheapest 9,127 times, which makes it the dominant official alternative to buying direct from Steam.

The takeaway: Keyshops can go lower, but if you want a guaranteed legitmate key from a publisher autorised source, Fanatical wins more often than not.

Top 10 Fanatical Deals Right Now

Prices shown in GBP as an example, but we support GBP, EUR, CAD and USD.

Game Name	Fanatical	Steam	Saving %
Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan	£0.39	£14.99	97.4%
Helheim Hassle	£0.61	£16.75	96.4%
Heads Up! Phones Down Edition	£1.67	£33.50	95%
Sid Meier’s Civilization VI	£2.49	£49.99	95%
Caveblazers	£0.45	£8.50	94.7%
Drink More Glurp	£0.51	£8.50	94%
Wordle	£1.69	£27.50	93.9%
Wordle 3	£1.69	£27.50	93.9%
Wordle 2	£1.69	£27.50	93.9%
Brunch Club	£0.64	£9.99	93.6%

These prices were accurate as of 24th April, 2026. Prices change every day, to see every store’s current price for any of these games, always check KrakenKeys before picking up a game, as you may find it cheaper.

Fanatical Pros and Cons

Pros

• Publisher authorised — keys are legitimate and from verified sources
• Strong bundle deals, often the cheapest route for multi-game purchases
• Long track record (10+ years)
• Frequently beats Steam’s own sale prices

Cons

• Region-locking isn’t always clearly displayed
• Refund policy is restrictive (standard for the industry, but worth knowing)
• Individual game prices outside sales aren’t always competitive
• Bundles require you to want most of the included games

Verdict

Fanatical is legitimate, safe, and worth checking before buying on Steam. If there’s a bundle that includes games you want, it’s often the cheapest option available. For individual games, it’s competitive during sales and flash deals.

We track Fanatical’s prices on KrakenKeys, so you can see in one place whether it’s currently the cheapest option for any specific game.

Don’t forget to use our Steam Wishlist Calculator. This shows you your Steam wishlist, and how much money you can save using the stores we track.

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