protonscr

License Key DRM not registering with Steam Linux

steamopen Proton
ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux#12508 · opened 2025-12-01 by AnthonySchliesman · updated 2025-12-01 · 2 comments · github
AAnthonySchliesman 2025-12-01 github

Your system information

  • Steam client version (build number or date):
    Steam Stable: 1763795278
    Steam Beta: 1764106918
  • Distribution (e.g. Ubuntu):
    Arch Linux w/ KDE Wayland
  • Have you checked for system updates?: [Yes/No]
    Yes
  • Steam Logs: [generate by running this command in a terminal tar -zcvf ~/Desktop/steam-logs.tar.gz ~/.steam/steam/logs]

steam-logs.tar.gz

  • GPU: Nvidia/Intel/AMD
    Nvidia

Please describe your issue in as much detail as possible:

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.

Steps for reproducing this issue:

  1. Launch Monster Trucks Nitro with any Proton version.
  2. Witness failed license registration message ("proper host system").
  3. (Optional) Try clicking 'Continue' and 'Activate' to no avail.

steam-16620.log

Image
Kkisak-valve maintainer 2025-12-01 github

Hello @AnthonySchliesman, we're tracking issues with games run with Proton in the Proton issue tracker. Also, we're using one issue report per unofficially supported game title, so I've gone ahead and transferred this issue report to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/issues/9171#issuecomment-3599060624.

AAnthonySchliesman 2025-12-01 github

@kisak-valve I left out a couple of other key details with the original post, for which this could potentially be pulled back to steam-for-linux:

  • The product key works as expected when launching via Windows Steam + Wine.
  • SteamDB seems to suggest that the missing key should be added by Steam: https://steamdb.info/app/16620/info/

Apologies for leaving these details out of the original post!

Upstream links