The eLicenser-based licensing service will be closing down on May 20, 2025
and if you have anything that hasn’t been upgraded it is left behind.,
it would be nice to see steinberg offering a solution to this at least the ability to upgrade in the future or a special pricing incentive.
i have halion 6 as part of the absolute series i don’t feel like upgrading to the new absolute series and halion 7 because there aren’t anything compelling for me i already have other FM synths both hardware and software (OK there are a few other nice stuff in there).
So i need to pay 249 euros just to keep the upgrading option alive or abandon it completely
It is almost like blackmail .
Yes. Almost like it. But not blackmail at all.
Its $99 to update from Absolute 5 to Absolute 6.
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And from Absolute 3?
More, I guess.
You bought it 8 years ago.
If you don’t think it’s worth the money, don’t buy it. Your usb elicenser does not need the servers to continue functioning.
In spite of the endless bashing, Steinberg has shown that they are reasonable about things like this. I can’t predict the future, but I think it’s likely that they will do something along the lines of what you refer to in your topic title.
Yes it looks reasonable I’m just asking for the ability to upgrade .
Steinberg has only been talking about this for the last 3-4 years now, its not their fault if people wait until the very last minute and didn’t take advantage of one of the MANY sales and upgrade offers they have offered since Cubase 12 came out (we’re now on 14 in case you missed it).
The folks that come in crying about the price of upgrades, when they haven’t even bothered updating their software in 5-6 years is getting really old and ridiculous. Its YOUR choice not to keep up like the rest of us do, and Steinberg doesn’t owe anyone anything in regard to your own personal choices. Life moves on with or without you, either keep up or get left behind.
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I think this is a fair point. In addition to that I think the “deadline” moved from early this year to the middle of it. So even more time.
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No i’m waiting from you to inform me .
May I quote a 33 year old article which deals with the introduction of the dongle:
Ditch the Dongle
The superfluous item I mentioned is the blasted dongle. If I were judging Cubase as a piece of amateur software that people were going to use in their own homes purely for the sake of amusement then I wouldn’t mind. But Cubase is meant to be serious professional software, and the last thing you need in professional work is a tiny little box that performs no function of its own but which causes serious problems if you lose it — you can’t get your work done, and you have to fork out for a whole new package of dongle, disks and manuals. There are ways and means of discouraging illegitimate use other than by inconveniencing genuine legitimate users.
Sound on Sound April 1992 Full Article
33 years later and we finally get rid of the dongle. I think it was about time and I think a little bit of appreciation would not hurt. Steinberg has put many special offers on the table over the past year and there will be more most likely. Everything else has been said so many times, I am not gonna put this on repeat.
Incentive sale…now?
In May 2025?
In June 2027 when dozens of guys visit, saying “what?..I didn’t know the server shut down two years ago…my dongle’s broken and I only own windowsXp …this is blackmail” 
At any rate, interesting sales regularly pop up and of course, there IS the Steinberg 50th Anniversary sale in 2034 to look forward to.
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I couldn’t agree more. Blackmail is the right word. We could also talk about racketeering. Not everyone needs to have the latest version of Cubase Pro, but everyone should have the right to continue using their version of Cubase Pro.
The least Steinberg could do for its customers (some of them long-standing) would be to offer them a flash sale that would enable them to upgrade their software at a real bargain price.
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@Christophe_D
You are aware of the fact that you can still use your current version for as long as you like, right? No expiration date.
“Blackmail”… really…?
Well Almost is like saying if you don’t upgrade you will loose your ability to upgrade in the future so I’m forcing you kinda but not with a riffle but with a coffee .
I’m pretty sure they mean extortion, and not blackmail, but of course both are ridiculous statements. Users can choose not to upgrade and continue using USB-based eLicenser for as long as they want, even after the servers are decommissioned. Tada!
[I didn’t see the “please wait a day before posting” notice, sorry]
@Reco29
Yes until your USB-based eLicenser breaks. Then you’ll have to buy Cubase Pro again, not at the price of $249, but at full price.
They’ve already given you like 3 something years of chances to upgrade at the reduced cost. Time to move on or don’t, nothing Steinberg has done is unfair in any way, shape, or form.
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You are right. Same applies for an Ipad or all other physical items for that matter. This sucks. I could add that you must be thrilled that this can’t happen anymore with the new licensing system but I better not… Transitions can be difficult no matter how smooth and fair the deals that Steinberg has been offering so far.
He can just make a backup copy of the USB eLicencer. Regardless, none of his posts seem “authentic.” Back in July of 2021 he posted this big, dramatic “hand-to-forehead” dissertation of how he’s “leaving Cubase:”
This seems nothing more than a troll, and this thread no longer has value (not that it had much to begin with).
That is not possible. It’s a licensing device.
If a user comes up next year with a broken elicencer and steinberg refuses to replace it
is this something legally OK? can a user seek legal advice ?
And why is this topic on slow mode ? what is the point of it ?