Dead Space 2 is still $20 on Steam despite using a broken DRM solution that can lock you out forever

Consumer rights activist Louis Rossman has recently given an example of why piracy is “completely justified”. Pointing the finger at Dead Space 2, Rossman highlights an ‘activation limit lockout’ system that can leave players unable to play the game at all if they exceed a five-machine activation cap. The problem is, this machine counter can tick up even when you do a simple hardware upgrade, or “TPM shenanigans,” and there’s no longer any way to manage where the game is activated.

This week might be the most we’ve ever spoken about the topic of piracy in our news coverage. Between the Forza Horizon 6 leak, the Subnautica 2 leak, and the response from Subnautica 2’s design lead, to share his thoughts on the whole pirating situation, there has been a lot to take in as far as dodgy video game sharing goes.

You can be locked out of Dead Space 2 for good

While he started as an electronics repair technician, much of Rossman’s recent content is centered around the topic of consumer rights. In a recent video targeting EA (the publishers of the entire Dead Space series), he discusses why piracy (in this particular case) is “completely justified” due to the game company’s outdated DRM (Digital Rights Management) implementation.

Upon buying Dead Space 2 on Steam – which retails at full price for $19.99 but often goes on sale – you must enter a product key on startup to work, a common practice for some older titles, even if it’s only single-player. CD keys can be managed on Steam by right-clicking the game in your library.

Users could previously manage where their product code is activated through EA’s deauthorization tool. According to customers who contacted EA support, support for this tool was discontinued, and support ended in December 2023. This means that if you exceed the five-machine limit, you can only play your legally bought copy of Dead Space 2 on one of those machines. As we said before, upgrading your hardware can trigger this count, so you may run into trouble further down the road.

EA says the game is no longer supported, but Rossman denies this as a valid excuse for the issue. He says cases like these are “one of the reasons that I think piracy is growing, and above all is returning as a moral and ethical way to get back access to what you bought and paid for”. If you end up locked out of the game, you’d either have to source another key or sail the high seas.

The terms and service for Dead Space 2 are yet to be updated and still point customers to the now-discontinued deauthorization tool. Rossman says EA should provide players with a patch to remove the DRM implementation. He also argues that the current situation “should not be legal,” but for now, take this as a warning if you have a copy of Dead Space 2 on your machine.