Second Hand Games?

CastorTroy

Was in CEX recently and saw they had some PC games second hand.

Can people purchase and play them second hand if they require Steam to activate? Is the disc not basically an activation key?

Skerries

if they have activated the key they got from the disk then it is locked to the original owners account and can't be used again or another activation bought like on consoles

CastorTroy

So second hand PC games are pretty worthless after a certain year?

Skerries

if it is a Steam, UPlay or Origin activated game then the disk is useless, it is only older or smaller games where the code is entered directly into the game that can be used 2nd hand

TerrorFirmer

Some modern games still use CD-Key only, Max Payne 3 for example had a retail version that wasn't activatable on steam.

Sierra Oscar

If a game requires Steam it will always state it on the games box. Stay well away from second hand games that require Steam - even if the CD Key has miraculously been unlocked, the original owner can still claim that you stole his game and can get your account banned if he has kept proper documentation.

Dravokivich

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Some modern games still use CD-Key only, Max Payne 3 for example had a retail version that wasn't activatable on steam.

Originally UT3 was the same, but became avail to activate on Steam, for the Black Edition.

Can't always go by a logo on the box for that. You'd need to look it up first.