Authentic Issue

[TARKUS]

Just bought the game bundle and installed. When I click play the Ubisoft app opens. When I try to play I get "There was a problem authenticating ownership of this product" It mentions the TNG DLC. Needless to say, I can't play. Any fix?

[ꉓꋪꍟꌗꉓꍟꈤ꓄+☽]

Same problem here. I'm claiming a refund. Not really willing to waste my time dealing with problems that shouldn't exist.

[TARKUS]

I found this but I can't try till I get home from work. If not, I'm also going for a refund. But I was also wondering. Is this issue only because of the DLC?

[ZombieHunter]

I found a temporary fix for this:

• Uncheck the TNG and TNG activation in your Steam DLC and it will uninstall TNG.
  
• Close and exit Steam
  
• Go to Uplay and unlink your Steam account.
  
• Uncheck remind me to link accounts.
  
• Launch the game from UPlay.
  
• Base game bridge crew should launch.
  
• Exit
  
• Close Steam again since UPlay opened it.
  
• Restart Steam and check the TNG and TNG activation to reinstall TNG. You can get to this by selecting the game in your game library. On the right will be a box with checkboxes next to all of your purchased DLC.
  
• Exit Steam
  
• Launch the game from UPlay
  
• If you get authentication error, close UPlay, relaunch it and then launch game
  
• Game should launch fine
  
• From here on out you must close Steam first, then launch the game from UPlay

I have opened a ticket with Ubisoft concerning the issue, provided them with this temporary workaround and showed screenshots to prove I can launch the game from UPlay.

My guess is the TNG activation provided by Ubi to Steam for TNG is not syncing up with UPlay and Steam correctly. So it thinks you don't have TNG activated and tries to reactivate it. Because the game has already been activated you get the message. Keep in mind that stupid UPlay error about authentication is very generic and not specific and used in many cases even if activation is not the true problem.

Proof I can get in this way:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1651152550

If I try to launch from Steam I get the authentication error for TNG.

Note that once you launch from UPlay Steam will launch but it won't try to activate the TNG and it will work. Also Steam overlay and everything works just like you launched it from Steam.

[Woostotmar]

I got the same issue. I bought the main game last year and it worked fine. This week I bought the TNG DLC and got the same authentication issue. The issue is definitely caused by the DLC, but I can't even start the main game without authenticating the DLC first.

[R0AHN]

@ZombieHunter @Woostotmar Now that I look at it, that might be what's going on is TNG is farking up since that's specifically what I'm seeing the activation error during launch. Thanks for the info. I've tried unchecking but it isn't uninstalling; I'm trying a full uninstall and having it not include TNG or its activation.

[ZombieHunter]

Originally posted by R0AHN:

@ZombieHunter @Woostotmar Now that I look at it, that might be what's going on is TNG is farking up since that's specifically what I'm seeing the activation error during launch. Thanks for the info. I've tried unchecking but it isn't uninstalling; I'm trying a full uninstall and having it not include TNG or its activation.

It took me about 4 hours of fiddling with it to get it to work.

The problem, I assume, is the stupid TNG activation included with our Steam purchase of TNG. It isn't working correctly. It is trying to activate it regardless of UPlay database and you can't activate the same product twice on UPlay thus the error.

You can uninstall and reinstall DLC on Steam games by selecting the game in your library. On the right you will see all the DLC installed for it. Use the checkboxes to uninstall / reinstall.

The big problem is also that since TNG won't activate due to the glitch you also won't be able to play base game Bridge Crew from UPlay with Steam open.

So my method just makes sure that everything is installed correctly in Steam and then bypasses Steam and the TNG activation and instead goes right through UPlay which then launches Steam but DOES NOT try to activate the TNG and everything works as it should.

TNG is around 600 mb. Uncheck the box for it and the TNG activation and you will see uninstalled appear. Then check the box and your Steam downloads screen will start a 600 mb or so download for Star Trek Bridge Crew. After it completes, exit Steam completely, go to UPlay and launch and enjoy the game.

[Bitey]

Seriously I was looking forward to play this game. Guess I'll refund it since I can't play a portion of it that I paid for... WFT?

[SofaKing]

same here still no fix

[iRdMoose]

@ZombieHunter Sadly, I tried your solution with no luck. My ticket with Ubisoft has been "escalated to development" so I have little hope of it being resolved quickly.

The base game won't launch. Even with the DLCs unchecked, it still complains about needing to activate TNG. I even tried reinstalling the game to no avail.

[Crankled Larkus]

I also just attempted the fix and it didnt work for me, even unlinking my accounts, it would still just open through steam

[SofaKing]

same here no help

[SofaKing]

and ubisoft just told me to keep checking the forms

[R0AHN]

I tried the method and it launches but gets stuck at the Connecting screen. FFS

Originally posted by SofaKing:

and ubisoft just told me to keep checking the forms

LOLWAT.

If anyone wants their support phone number, it's available online but they're open Mon-Fri. Maybe if we give them a call tomorrow we can get actual help.

[ZombieHunter]

Originally posted by iRdMoose:

@ZombieHunter Sadly, I tried your solution with no luck. My ticket with Ubisoft has been "escalated to development" so I have little hope of it being resolved quickly.

The base game won't launch. Even with the DLCs unchecked, it still complains about needing to activate TNG. I even tried reinstalling the game to no avail.

It did the same for me for a bit. Eventually with Steam closed UPlay worked fine. Steam does not.

You have to make sure UPlay is running on its own with no Steam at all. Then it works. UPlay must launch Steam. If Steam launches UPlay it won't work. They will need to issue a patch to fix that.

It will ALWAYS open through Steam but if Steam is NOT running it won't try to run the activation that attempts to bind TNG to your UPlay account. So when you launch from UPlay, Steam will login and shortly thereafter UPlay will launch the game and you will get the splash screen and at the bottom it will say launching game.

When I say close Steam I mean exit, not just press the X. If you press the X it is still running in SysTray. Exit Steam completely. No icon in the systray, etc.

Right click the Steam icon and click Exit. Launch UPlay. Launch the game from there. It should work fine.

Companies have gotten into the very poor habit of making the X button on the top minimize to SysTray which is super annoying.

What I think is happening:

• From Steam
  
  • Launch
    
  • Launches UPlay
    
  • Tries to run TNG activation
    
  • Fails b/c product is already activated
    
  • UPlay closes the game

• From UPlay with no Steam running
  
  • Launch
    
  • UPlay detects it is a Steam game and launches Steam
    
  • Because you launched from UPlay now UPlay is in control of launch and DOES NOT know about the Steam TNG activation executable and doesn't run it
    
  • UPlay checks the database
    
  • Your Bridge Crew and TNG are noted as activated
    
  • Launches.
    
  • Heavens open, angels sing, you do your first ongoing mission and die at the hands of the Romulans. Good times.

[merk]

@ZombieHunter I tried the fix as well, and also had to totally uninstall and reinstall without DLC as just unchecking the boxes didn't change anything. Followed the order of operations and all that with Steam closed while Uplay handles opening, but the result was the exact same. Couldn't even get the base game to start up. Only time I've gotten it to start was by uninstalling Uplay, but that renders the game unplayable for other reasons.

Thanks for your suggested workaround, though. It was a good theory worth a try