Games without a steam code

[D_Android]

I bought Oblivion (The Elder Scrolls game) years before Steam even existed, and I want to be able to activate the product onto my account, unfortunately it has no Steam key or a product key of any kind as it did not require one to activate the game nor did Steam exist, so is it possible to activate it by any other means or would I have to buy the game again?

[TirithRR]

No. You can't redeem the key on Steam, if you want it on Steam, you would have to buy it.
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7480-wusf-3601

Good news, Oblivion is on sale quite often, and you can find it for probably less than 5 dollars if you wait.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

U can either re-purchase it through Steam (if u want it on your account officially) or u can simply "Add a non-Steam game" and then link to the Oblivion game .exe file where it is installed on your system and then Oblivion will be available in your Library listing.

[TirithRR]

And also, you couldn't buy Oblivion "years before" Steam even existed. Steam was released in 2003, and Oblivion wasn't released until 2006.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Unless u are thinking of MorrowWind, which was released 2002 (before Steam)

Oblivion was released in March 2006

[D_Android]

I was unaware of the start date of Steam, I thought it was :-/ And thank you, I will buy it when I have enough spare money hangin around.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

If u do end up buying Oblivion, please do search on Steam, as there are two versions (in case u care); one in Standard edition and one is Deluxe edition. The Deluxe is playable in English language only!

[D_Android]

The 'Game Oo The Year' edition is the one I own and I only know English anyway, thanks for the advice!

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Sound like you're all set then. But yea just install it and then if u want linked to your Steam unofficially, click "Add a non-Steam game to My Library" within Steam client. Which is basically just a shortcut to the game .exe, but at least it will list within your Steam Library locally and also be able to tell others on your friends list that you are playing that game (when launches via Steam).

Since u have non-Steam version, be sure to check the official website for any patch updates.