how can you tell if a product will activate in steam? (or origin)

[Nvidiaguy07]

In the past month, theres been a lot of good sales on games, but unless i already know from another source, i have no idea which games will activate over steam or not.

Right now I see BF2 - which ive never played before for 5 bucks on amazon. I bought many games on amazon, and most activated on steam or origin, except for a few. Battlefield 3 is also $30 right now (which i think NEEDS origin, so i should be able to get from them right?)

I also bought borderlands - retail GOTY version off amazon for like 8 bucks a few weeks ago, because i figured i would be able to activate in steam, and also spend 22 less dollars on it. No dice though.

Some games i bought from amazon activated fine, others dont.
games that activated:
renegade ops
mass effect - activated in origin
ME2 deluxe - origin
metro 2033
darksiders
saints row 2
homefront
redfaction
supreme commander
darkness 2
mx vs atv reflex
all serious sam games
deus ex
maybe a few more

didnt:
bulletstorm
nba 2k12
stalker - chenrobryl

Also gamefly purchases:
COD mw2 did activate in steam
neither batman activated in origin

I want to buy both these games, but i dont want another game manager, and i hate not having the game "backed up" in steam or origin. (not to mention cloud saves and stuff like that.)

 

[AznAnarchy99]

There's no real master list that Ive heard of. I would think a quick google search would do it.

 

[SunnyD]

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7480-WUSF-3601

 

[KaOTiK]

For Steam: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7480-WUSF-3601
There are a few that might not be on the list there, but it is probably 98% complete

For Origin, EA only games, and mostly newer ones (like the last 3-4 years) will activate, but if it doesn't and is an EA game, you can try using their tech support and getting your game activated on to your account that way (this works for some games and not for others from EA).

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

There's no real master list that Ive heard of. I would think a quick google search would do it.

Depends where the game is bought from though. and even then, i was pretty sure borderlands was going to activate in steam, but it didnt for some reason.

games I that activated that arent on the list:
renegade ops
red faction
supreme commander
supreme commander: forged alliance
mx vs atv reflex
all serious sam games except HD (2, BFE, double D, random encounter)

I just hate not activating stuff in steam. Especially now that ill be gaming across 2 pc's, it just makes it that much easier.

And im going to play borderlands, but only have retail cd's now, and who knows if ill keep them 5+ years down the road from now. Kills the chance of me re-playing them. I bought the orange box when it came out, and now i kind of want to re-play all the half-lifes, all i have to do is re-download. If i only had the retail cd's, they might be lost and i might be SOL

 

[StinkyPinky]

For Steam: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7480-WUSF-3601
There are a few that might not be on the list there, but it is probably 98% complete

For Origin, EA only games, and mostly newer ones (like the last 3-4 years) will activate, but if it doesn't and is an EA game, you can try using their tech support and getting your game activated on to your account that way (this works for some games and not for others from EA).

I managed to get my Steam copy of Mass Effect activated on Origin, although it did take a bit of effort. I did that so I have all the ME and Dragon Age games in the same place, not because of any particular love of the client

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

Current list of games that can directly activate on Origin.
http://help.ea.com/article/origin-code-redemption-faq

As for Steam, use the list above or you can look in the forum for the particular game. There's also compilation threads like this for specific vendors.
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2101969. A lot of sites are also mentioning when a game requires Steam now such as Nuuvem, Amazon, GameFly, Get Games. I think GamersGate and Impulse say "third party software required" but don't specifically list Steam. They might have updated that though.

 

[JamesV]

If it doesn't specifically say 'requires Steam' (or Origin), just fire off an email to the support of where you are buying it.

Works every time.

 

[Phokus]

Have to be careful, some games like LA Noire can be either steam friendly or not... I bought LA Noire on sale on amazon.com and the key didn't work on steam (i knew this ahead of time though), while you can also buy LA Noire on steam. Many other games, you can use the game key you get on amazon and it'll work on steam just fine (like DEUS EX:HR)

 

[JujuFish]

Amazon will almost always state if a game requires Steam.

Nearly every EA game released since Mass Effect will register on Origin, if not require it outright.

 

[shingletingle]

In the past month, theres been a lot of good sales on games, but unless i already know from another source, i have no idea which games will activate over steam or not.

Right now I see BF2 - which ive never played before for 5 bucks on amazon. I bought many games on amazon, and most activated on steam or origin, except for a few. Battlefield 3 is also $30 right now (which i think NEEDS origin, so i should be able to get from them right?)

I also bought borderlands - retail GOTY version off amazon for like 8 bucks a few weeks ago, because i figured i would be able to activate in steam, and also spend 22 less dollars on it. No dice though.

Some games i bought from amazon activated fine, others dont.
games that activated:
renegade ops
mass effect - activated in origin
ME2 deluxe - origin
metro 2033
darksiders
saints row 2
homefront
redfaction
supreme commander
darkness 2
mx vs atv reflex
all serious sam games
deus ex
maybe a few more

didnt:
bulletstorm
nba 2k12
stalker - chenrobryl

Also gamefly purchases:
COD mw2 did activate in steam
neither batman activated in origin

I want to buy both these games, but i dont want another game manager, and i hate not having the game "backed up" in steam or origin. (not to mention cloud saves and stuff like that.)

Why did you think Borderlands would activate on Steam?

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

Why did you think Borderlands would activate on Steam?

Multiple reviews from amazon said you could activate it with steam. Im thinking they might have a different retail version than the one i have though.