If you currently want to play a classic from EA such as Crysis or Dead Space 2 on Steam, then you could run into problems. According to forum reports, the games greet you during installation with the message that your license key is invalid.
What is the problem?
As users on Reddit report, older EA titles currently require a new license key to be entered at startup. Existing keys will not be accepted, regardless of whether they come from a digital version or a retail version. This should not only be the case with the recently released Steam versions, but also with those from EA Play.
Speculation about the cause: Reddit suspects that a fix for an exploit of the EA Play subscription on Steam is responsible for the problems. So it was possible to get the subscription cheaply from Steam and then to activate the keys of the games permanently in EA’s Origin client without paying any further for the subscription.
Which titles are affected?
According to a list on Reddit, a total of four games are currently affected.
However, the list does not have to be exhaustive. If you have problems with another title yourself, please let us know in the comments. We will update the listing if necessary.
Is there a solution?
At least for the DLCs of Mass Effect 2 there is a workaround. The official FAQ from EA explains how you can still install the mini add-ons.
In addition, the problem does not seem to affect all users. Some spoke up on Reddit who had no problems installing the titles mentioned. It is currently unknown what exactly is causing this.
Alternatives for Crysis: In the case of Crysis 1, there is the remaster version as a certain detour. However, it has to struggle with many problems and is only partially recommendable.
In addition, GOG offers the original version of Crysis as an alternative. Since this is completely DRM-free, it has no verification system for the keys and can therefore still be installed without any problems.