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For those of you who weren't aware, when Torchlight II detects "significant" changes to a user's system, it will require the user to reactivate their copy of the game. Pretty standard practise for DRM, and not terribly invasive on its own; one activation later, and you're ready to game. Unfortunately, something's gone wrong with the process. 

A number of users have been receiving the 'reactivation' message, but without the ability to activate their copy. Essentially, they're being left unable to play a game for which they bought and paid. Understandably, people are getting a little miffed. 

According to Runic Games' founder, Travis Baldree, Windows 8 might be to blame. Specifically, a recent update may have borked the game's authentication system on the platform.

"Normally," Travis wrote, "when reactivation is required, it automatically takes care of itself, and is a non-issue. In the (normally) rarer cases where something goes wrong, we have a couple of tools we send out to resolve the issue. In this case, they appear not to be working - our current suspicion is that something structural has changed in Windows 8 (or during the upgrade process) which fundamentally breaks the license. Windows 8 seems to be the common denominator between the tickets we've received... it isn't a universal problem, which makes it more difficult to isolate." 

Runic will provide Steam keys to anyone currently impacted by the authentication issues while they search for a solution. If you're one of the afflicted, you can send an email to support@runicgames.com with a receipt from your purchase as well as information about your operating system and hardware environment.

Windows 8 has already been publicly condemned by a number of major figures in the games industry. It appears this incident is one more spot of bad press it really doesn't need.

Source: PC Gamer

Nicholas Greene   FollowTech_Light A gamer at heart, Nick started writing when he was a child. He holds a BA in English, works as a freelancer, and loves every minute of it. One day, he hopes to net himself a career in game design - but that's something for the future.

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