Why is Steam giving me the "Steam is currently in offline mode. For first launch go in online mode." message?

[Nitroband]

I bought the game and installed it through Steam while online, and have opened and played the game through Steam before.

I can understand they want to validate the game is a legitimate copy and that I own the license to it, but shouldn't they be doing that the moment it's added to my account, or during install?

I should be able to install a game and then launch it whether I have connection or not. Am I not allowed to have games installed for play incase I randomly lose internet? (Which is exactly what's happened)

Why is Steam checking at the games launch?

[KriKitBoNeZ]

Originally posted by Nitroband:

I

Why is Steam checking at the games launch?

It's called DRM.

[Nitroband]

Originally posted by KriKitBoNeZ:

Originally posted by Nitroband:

I

Why is Steam checking at the games launch?

It's called DRM.

I understand its a type of DRM, i'm just saying that the system could be better, I should be able to download a bunch of games for Offline play and not have to worry about it.

I literally either:

Bought the game through Steam and Installed it through Steam.Purchased it off of Steam, Redeemed a key that Steam then deemed valid, and then Installed it through Steam.

Steam shouldn't need me to start a game while online, to know that the copy is valid, after having 2 chances to verify that.

[Nitroband]

I dont know why using the list formatting just doesnt work at all

[Ben Lubar]

What specific game is it? Based on the documentation ( https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/0E18-319B-E34B-B2C8 ) it looks like that message happens for games with installscripts, which is not related to DRM.

Edit: Basically what I think is happening is that the game contains a file (such as the ones from Steamworks Common Redistributables) that says "I need you to run this as admin". Stuff like the Visual C++ runtime installer, DirectX, etc.

Steam needs to be online so it can verify that that request hasn't been tampered with; otherwise, there would be a way to get admin access on any computer with Steam installed which would be very dangerous.

[SLG]

If it is about a certain game, you need to ask in the game hub.

[Nitroband]

Originally posted by Ben Lubar:

What specific game is it? Based on the documentation ( https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/0E18-319B-E34B-B2C8 ) it looks like that message happens for games with installscripts, which is not related to DRM.

Edit: Basically what I think is happening is that the game contains a file (such as the ones from Steamworks Common Redistributables) that says "I need you to run this as admin". Stuff like the Visual C++ runtime installer, DirectX, etc.

Steam needs to be online so it can verify that that request hasn't been tampered with; otherwise, there would be a way to get admin access on any computer with Steam installed which would be very dangerous.

I have had it happen with several games, Atomic Heart which I have already played in the past, and Hogwarts Legacy which I hadn't started yet. I did also try Titanfall 2 but Steam launched it and then EA blocked it due to me apparently forgetting to mark keep logged in.

[Ben Lubar]

Originally posted by Nitroband:

Originally posted by Ben Lubar:

What specific game is it? Based on the documentation ( https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/0E18-319B-E34B-B2C8 ) it looks like that message happens for games with installscripts, which is not related to DRM.

Edit: Basically what I think is happening is that the game contains a file (such as the ones from Steamworks Common Redistributables) that says "I need you to run this as admin". Stuff like the Visual C++ runtime installer, DirectX, etc.

Steam needs to be online so it can verify that that request hasn't been tampered with; otherwise, there would be a way to get admin access on any computer with Steam installed which would be very dangerous.

I have had it happen with several games, Atomic Heart which I have already played in the past, and Hogwarts Legacy which I hadn't started yet. I did also try Titanfall 2 but Steam launched it and then EA blocked it due to me apparently forgetting to mark keep logged in.

Yep, both of those have installscript-using depots from Steamworks Common Redistributables:

https://steamdb.info/app/668580/depots/
https://steamdb.info/app/990080/depots/