@F1ReB4LL looks like the game should be putting the game on the registry, and looks for it when it launches.
With some elbow grease you can get it to work by editing a file in the game's prefix.
At the start of the prefix there's a file called user.reg, this can be edited with a text file editor, and you just add this to an empty line.
[SOFTWARE\\RedLynx\\Monster Trucks Nitro]
"LicenseKey"="YOUR-KEY"
where your key is the license key steam gives you. After making this change, the game should work.
Showed a network error for the first few launches:
But after a couple of tries it activated and works, thanks for the workaround! Hope the 'official' activation procedure will be fixed at some point, though.
License Key DRM not registering with Steam Linux
Issue transferred from https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/12508.
@AnthonySchliesman posted on 2025-12-01T21:36:03:
tar -zcvf ~/Desktop/steam-logs.tar.gz ~/.steam/steam/logs]When launching into Monster Trucks Nitro (16620), the game fails to register the Product Key, resulting in a 'proper host system' error message (see screenshot). This can be remedied by editing the license key into a .reg file/modify registry to: HKEY_CURRENT\_USER\\Software\\RedLynx\\Monster Trucks Nitro\\LicenseKey. This does not need to be done on Windows, as the key is picked up immediately on first launch with a 'successfully activated' message.
Compatibility Report
System Information
I confirm:
Symptoms
DRM issues. Shows the "This version of the game is not properly installed to proper host system, please contact the distibutor." message and doesn't go further.
steam-16620.log
Reproduction
Install and run the game.