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Tron: Evolution SecuROM DRM expiration makes game unplayable 9 years after release

Senua

Gold Member
Players trying to launch Tron: Evolution are now met with a message telling them that the 'serial key has expired'. This applies to the retail version as well as the Steam version which is delisted from the store. Players who previously bought the game from Steam cannot play the game, and are met with these messages:


EK26RPOWsAcdnM3.png.758077327272384f0e302594085002bd.png


EK26RPOXsAUkRpy.png.f11023ef5b0350ef6434cdf5f22fe43b.png


The cause of this problem appears to be Disney not renewing their 'subscription' to the SecuROM activation system for this game. This means that even existing owners of the delisted game cannot play it for the foreseeable future.

DRM strikes again.

https://community.pcgamingwiki.com/...-makes-game-unplayable-9-years-after-release/
 

Knch

Member
Surely this should have been long hacked by now...
*checks usual site*
Nowp, no one could be bothered to hack SecuROM 7.
 

badblue

Member
Surely this should have been long hacked by now...
*checks usual site*
Nowp, no one could be bothered to hack SecuROM 7.

I don't know what your usual site is, but a quick Google search tells me that it's been cracked since 2010.
 

Mhmmm 2077

Member
Thanks for posting this here, I made the original post on r/tron and asked a friend to crosspost it to r/pcgaming, since then it showed up also on r/games, r/jimsterling and here, on NeoGAF. I also contacted both SecuROM and Disney about it, one pointed me to the another, while Disney gave me a non-answer. I really hope something can be done about this, because in 10 years Denuvo games might be affected like this too.

Besides, isn't it illegal (at least in EU?) to take away a product from a consumer that they paid for? I know that 9 years passed, but it's very short time for a video game, imo. Anyone has any idea what could be done?
 

Fbh

Member
Piracy harms consumers as well as legitimate developers

And yet big hyped releases like the Witcher 3 as well as smaller scale but beloved franchises like Divinity Original Sin 2 all sold really well on PC despite launching with a DRM free version on GOG.

It's almost as if people that usually pay for their games don't suddenly turn into pirates because a game pops up on thepiratebay on launch day, and people that usually pirate games don't turn into day 1 $60 paying customers because of DRM.
 
Thanks for posting this here, I made the original post on r/tron and asked a friend to crosspost it to r/pcgaming, since then it showed up also on r/games, r/jimsterling and here, on NeoGAF.

so was it you or your friend who lied about that the game got revoked on steam? maybe you or your friend didn't know the difference between a license being revoked and just an unusable game? it was a very clickbaity title on r/pcgaming.
 

nkarafo

Member
DRM was the result of piracy.
A failed result at that. 99,9% of times DRM never does the work it's supposed to and the games get cracked anyway, even day 1. So the only ones affected are the people who buy the games. And even if it worked that wouldn't mean someone who is broke or don't want to pay will magically buy a copy. Maybe DRM isn't the answer to piracy after all. Look at games like the Witcher 3, even though it was released completely DRM free it still became a huge commercial success.
 

Mhmmm 2077

Member
so was it you or your friend who lied about that the game got revoked on steam? maybe you or your friend didn't know the difference between a license being revoked and just an unusable game? it was a very clickbaity title on r/pcgaming.
I personally posted only to r/tron, but please, go ahead and show me where I "lied" about the game getting revoked on Steam?

Here is the original post


And even here, at r/games, I decided to add that game stays in steam library


Besides, I used the word "serial", because that's how it's called in SecuROM activation app. But if you read the whole reddit post and still thought that I meant it got removed from steam libraries (even though I said that you can still reinstall the game), then I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make the post misleading. Anyway, not sure why having an unusable game on Steam would matter, but don't worry, it's still there.
 
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sendit

Member
A failed result at that. 99,9% of times DRM never does the work it's supposed to and the games get cracked anyway, even day 1. So the only ones affected are the people who buy the games. And even if it worked that wouldn't mean someone who is broke or don't want to pay will magically buy a copy. Maybe DRM isn't the answer to piracy after all. Look at games like the Witcher 3, even though it was released completely DRM free it still became a huge commercial success.

Regardless of the outcome or the specifics. Piracy sparked DRM. We don’t live in a world where people don’t lie, cheat, or steal. Businesses have every right to protect their property.
 

Ar¢tos

Member
At least in EU you are fine using a crack, as long as you own a license for the game (a legit copy). It's not really legal, but it's not illegal either. It's grey area that nobody cares about.
 

MacReady13

Member
Players trying to launch Tron: Evolution are now met with a message telling them that the 'serial key has expired'. This applies to the retail version as well as the Steam version which is delisted from the store. Players who previously bought the game from Steam cannot play the game, and are met with these messages:


EK26RPOWsAcdnM3.png.758077327272384f0e302594085002bd.png


EK26RPOXsAUkRpy.png.f11023ef5b0350ef6434cdf5f22fe43b.png


The cause of this problem appears to be Disney not renewing their 'subscription' to the SecuROM activation system for this game. This means that even existing owners of the delisted game cannot play it for the foreseeable future.

DRM strikes again.

https://community.pcgamingwiki.com/...-makes-game-unplayable-9-years-after-release/

All digital/streaming future... Fuck physical copies, yeah???
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
All digital/streaming future... Fuck physical copies, yeah???
Nothing to do with digital and it's clearly not a streamed game either. Edit; oh, you were "talking about consoles" or whatever... in a thread about securom, which is a DRM product for PC releases. Kay.

The good Tron game remains playable, digital or otherwise.
 
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MacReady13

Member
Nothing to do with digital and it's clearly not a streamed game either.

The good Tron game remains playable, digital or otherwise.

Not in this case, but I defy you to try download a copy of TMNT arcade game on PS3 if you don't already own it...
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
download a copy of TMNT arcade game on PS3 if you don't already own it...
You want me to pirate a PS3 game? What?

Going further off topic, this is about a game people actually bought and are unable to play, not a game they didn't buy then decide they do want to buy it 10 years after release when the console isn't even in the market.
 
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MacReady13

Member
You want me to pirate a PS3 game? What?

Going further off topic, this is about a game people actually bought and are unable to play, not a game they didn't buy then decide they do want to buy it 10 years after release when the console isn't even in the market.

You could have purchased the digital version of TMNT arcade game on PS3 years ago. IF you originally purchased it, deleted the game off your hard drive and go to re-download it, you can still do that. BUT, if you never originally purchased it on their online store, it is now unavailable. If the game was a physical copy, you'd still have it today available to play. How that has anything to do with pirating a game is beyond me...
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
You could have purchased the digital version of TMNT arcade game on PS3 years ago. IF you originally purchased it, deleted the game off your hard drive and go to re-download it, you can still do that. BUT, if you never originally purchased it on their online store, it is now unavailable. If the game was a physical copy, you'd still have it today available to play. How that has anything to do with pirating a game is beyond me...
So, if you didn't buy it digital you can't download to play it, which makes sense (duh), if you bought it physical, you can play it, which also makes sense (duh), if you didn't buy it physical just as you didn't buy it digital in the first case you still can't play it either way, what is even your point lol?

The thread is about a game people bought and can't play due to the DRM scheme on PC, not about potential availability issues when a game you didn't care to buy on its release decade is no longer available for sale digitally (which can happen on physical too depending on rarity anyway, how many people buy Panzer Dragoon Saga these days, just because it's theoretically plausible because some copies exist - in unknown condition - it's hardly a game you can get from amazon or your local store, but again it's not even what the thread is about or a similar scenario or argument).
 
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nkarafo

Member
Regardless of the outcome or the specifics. Piracy sparked DRM. We don’t live in a world where people don’t lie, cheat, or steal. Businesses have every right to protect their property.
Yes. DRM doesn't work though so they have to think of something else.
 

MacReady13

Member
So, if you didn't buy it digital you can't download to play it, which makes sense (duh), if you bought it physical, you can play it, which also makes sense (duh), if you didn't buy it physical just as you didn't buy it digital in the first case you still can't play it either way, what is even your point lol?

The thread is about a game people bought and can't play due to the DRM scheme on PC, not about potential availability issues when a game you didn't care to buy on its release decade is no longer available for sale digitally (which can happen on physical too depending on rarity anyway, how many people buy Panzer Dragoon Saga these days, just because it's theoretically plausible it's hardly a game you can get from amazon or your local store, but again it's not even what the thread is about or a remotely similar scenario or argument on any level).

My point is, if they want to take something off you with a digital purchase (Doom on Xbox backwards compat) they can. Physical can never die (unless it's this peculiar case).
 

sendit

Member
My point is, if they want to take something off you with a digital purchase (Doom on Xbox backwards compat) they can. Physical can never die (unless it's this peculiar case).

Physical mediums are prone to normal wear and tear, abuse, natural disasters, and theft to name a few.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Physical mediums are prone to normal wear and tear, abuse, natural disasters, and theft to name a few.
And digital can be done in such a manner where you can make as many physical digital or cloud backups as you can muster as demonstrated by gog (and any DRM free release on Steam or elsewhere).

Basically it's not a digital is worse than physical situation but a fight for your rights and vote for people who will do so in your stead situation. But he doesn't get it and keeps going off topic with rants about this or that game Microsoft or Sony denied him, but keeps buying their products.
 
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So we can all agree DRM is anti-consumer? Looks like a lot of legitimate owners are now going have to resort into cracking the game

Edit: originally my post sound like a lot of Tron owners was going to resort into drugs lol.
 
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Besides, I used the word "serial", because that's how it's called in SecuROM activation app. But if you read the whole reddit post and still thought that I meant it got removed from steam libraries (even though I said that you can still reinstall the game), then I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make the post misleading. Anyway, not sure why having an unusable game on Steam would matter, but don't worry, it's still there.

Usually a revoked key means your game is gone from your games library, that't the wording we as a community are used to. and please, go ahead and do what you suggested me to do and read the whole r/pcgaming thread and look how many people in fact did understand it as "removed from library". almost everybody. except maybe 3, me included and we tried to stop the misinformation but clickbait is clickbait and people just respond to the op without reading the thread hours later.
And yeah, there is a big difference. You'r right, for now the game is unusable but its's in our libs and as soon as Disney patches SR out we can play it again. A revoked license is a revoked license, nothing we could do in that case.
 
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