CD Keys

[BONEAFYKILLER]

I have at least 10 games I originally purchased, the original owner game with original box, CD, CD Key, manual and extras :example Morrow Wind coin from GoTY and non of my Keys are being accepted. Steam is giving me invalid and contacted seller from over 10-20 years ago!? lol

[Start_Running]

YEah because those CD Keys are not Steam keys.

[PaulKrawitz]

Depends on how old the keys are and if they're even still valid.

I believe keys have an "Expiration Date".

Not sure about game keys, but keys for other products usually expire.

[potato]

if they're not steam keys then they can't be redeemed on steam

[C²C^Guyver |NZB|]

Messaggio originale di PaulKrawitz:

Depends on how old the keys are and if they're even still valid.

I believe keys have an "Expiration Date".

If they've never been used, they never stop being valid.

[Seraphita]

They could be keys for actual CDs. Depending on how old they are. Steam have a certain kind of codes. 10-20 years is a looooooong time. We had cd readers on our PC back then.

[PaulKrawitz]

Messaggio originale di Seraphita:

They could be keys for actual CDs. Depending on how old they are. Steam have a certain kind of codes. 10-20 years is a looooooong time. We had cd readers on our PC back then.

20 years ago a lot of people were still using floppy disks. 😂

Even today they're still being used.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Messaggio originale di BONEAFYKILLER:

I have at least 10 games I originally purchased, the original owner game with original box, CD, CD Key, manual and extras :example Morrow Wind coin from GoTY and non of my Keys are being accepted. Steam is giving me invalid and contacted seller from over 10-20 years ago!? lol

If it contains a Steam key, it would tell you on the box that Steam is required.

Only subsequent re-released Morrowind GotY versions contained Steam Keys.

[N3tRunn3r]

Retail CD Keys
Which retail/digital CD Keys are accepted on Steam?
https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/0E71-0971-324A-1161#which

back in the days steam had a list of games which to accept retail cd keys

[Chika Ogiue]

Messaggio originale di C²C^Guyver |NZB|:

If they've never been used, they never stop being valid.

It's been a long time since I've had printed Steam key. But such keys (on other platforms at least) can and do have expiration dates. Some as as short as a year, others as long as a decade. I've got one outlier which is valid until December 31, 2099.

[Malfunctioning Robot]

Messaggio originale di BONEAFYKILLER:

I have at least 10 games I originally purchased, the original owner game with original box, CD, CD Key, manual and extras :example Morrow Wind coin from GoTY and non of my Keys are being accepted. Steam is giving me invalid and contacted seller from over 10-20 years ago!? lol

Original morrowind CD keys are not steam keys, never were.

If you have the boxes as you say, shouldnt take much effort to look at those boxes. If they do not say "requires steam" those keys will not work on steam, simple as that.

You didn't buy them as steam games, so why would they WORK as steam games

[C²C^Guyver |NZB|]

Messaggio originale di Chika Ogiue:

Messaggio originale di C²C^Guyver |NZB|:

If they've never been used, they never stop being valid.

It's been a long time since I've had printed Steam key. But such keys (on other platforms at least) can and do have expiration dates. Some as as short as a year, others as long as a decade. I've got one outlier which is valid until December 31, 2099.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/329610/RBI_Baseball_15/

I brought that in December from Amazon and it was a Steam key. The game has been gone from Steam for years.

Usually, if you buy a key from a legitimate source it's going to last a long time. If it does have an expiration date it will tell you and it those types of situations the key is usually a giveaway. Meaning that you have to activate it on an account before certain date.

[Chika Ogiue]

Messaggio originale di C²C^Guyver |NZB|:

Usually, if you buy a key from a legitimate source it's going to last a long time.

I'll just mention that this depends entirely on region, too. In my region, all such codes (unless explicitly stated otherwise) expire 180 days after purchase. That includes wallet codes, game activation codes, DLC activation codes, even certain consumables purchased directly on Steam have the same limitation.

[PaulKrawitz]

Messaggio originale di Chika Ogiue:

Messaggio originale di C²C^Guyver |NZB|:

Usually, if you buy a key from a legitimate source it's going to last a long time.

I'll just mention that this depends entirely on region, too. In my region, all such codes (unless explicitly stated otherwise) expire 180 days after purchase. That includes wallet codes, game activation codes, DLC activation codes, even certain consumables purchased directly on Steam have the same limitation.

Here in Germany/Berlin some codes expire after just one month, so better be quick! 😂

[C²C^Guyver |NZB|]

Messaggio originale di Chika Ogiue:

Messaggio originale di C²C^Guyver |NZB|:

Usually, if you buy a key from a legitimate source it's going to last a long time.

I'll just mention that this depends entirely on region, too. In my region, all such codes (unless explicitly stated otherwise) expire 180 days after purchase. That includes wallet codes, game activation codes, DLC activation codes, even certain consumables purchased directly on Steam have the same limitation.

I have keys that have not been revealed yet that I've had for years and I've never given one to anyone and have them say that it was invalid.

[TWPanda77]

It might be that the servers used for the key authentication are no longer in operation. I am thinking about services such as Games for Windows LIVE that are not operational now.