So, from what I understand…I can not access my Cubase 11 anymore.
I am trying to install my Cubase 11 onto a new PC and basically…you can’t. eLicenser doesn’t work anymore. And you can’t activate Cubase 11 or earlier.
So Steinberg just did this? So I am out of my DAW and my money?
Anyone else in the same situation??
I am completely speechless. You pay for the software…but they can just take it away anytime they want.
Do you have an eLicenser hardware USB dongle? If so then yes you can install the eLicenser software manually and plug it in and install Cubase 11 on your new PC and it should work.
If you didn’t have an eLicenser hardware dongle and instead used a soft-eLicenser then you might have to upgrade.
Thanks for the reply.
”Might have to upgrade” basically means I HAVE to upgrade. Correct?
Yes, because the old eLicenser server is no longer running so there’s no way to activate licenses based on the soft eLicenser. They were recommending people who used the software eLicenser to move to a hardware USB eLicenser dongle by the deadline for this reason, so that in event of a computer failure or needing to move to a new computer, it would be possible to do so. They sent out a large number of emails to all their customers for a good year and a half prior to the eLicenser server shutdown warning about that.
If one can install the newer versions without a physical dongle…they sure can take care of their older customers. We all know this is just greed and forcing people to upgrade.
I just can’t wrap my mind around things like this. “Our profits last year were $235,000,000. Um….that’s not enough…let’s take some more from our customers.”
To be completely honest….Cubase was THE ONLY software I have ever paid for. Because it was worth it. I recommended it to everyone.
Well…that stops now.
We own nothing.
Nowadays it’s almost our moral obligation to pirate.
I suggest reaching out to them and see if they can do anything for you.
It is not greed and not trying to force people to upgrade. The eLicenser technology was extremely old, and they had to run special servers just for that. When they replaced it, it would not have made business sense to keep those old servers going forever.
You must have had Cubase Artist instead of Cubase Pro, as Cubase Pro never supported the soft eLicenser to begin with, and required the hardware dongle.
I do agree though that the burden of changing the authorization system should not be on the user, it is not their problem that the eLicenser system didn’t scale well. Making the switch to a new system to be a paid update for the users was indeed a business decision, but not a very customer friendly one. I can understand the frustration there.
I do wonder if section 11.2.1 from the license agreement (which interestingly only mentions the elicenser, as far as i can see) applies here:
(I didn’t see any time limit there, but I haven’t read the whole agreement and am surely no legal expert)
They gave warning a year in advance. If you don’t subscribe to emails or visit here then you will never know these things. It’s always best to keep informed.
What version do you have as Cubase pro 11 will work fine with the elicencer if you get the latest elicencer software. Cubase AI can be updated if you contact support (that version is usually free to update) with other versions contact support as they have been quite good with people so far.
Have you tried to contact Steinberg directly to see if they can resolve your situation?
The entire DAW and plugin industry combined did not make this kind of profit, let alone a single company.
In fact, quite a few companies struggle to make a profit at all.
So you want to respond to Steinberg’s completely legal and understandable action by breaking the law?
I think you just lost your right to complain.
Well, Yamaha as a whole does 
but yeah, I often think that people vastly overestimate the size and revenue of companies in the music industry. Sure, some of them, especially in the past years, have been bought up by large conglomerates or investors, but many are small to medium businesses with maybe a couple dozen or at most hundreds employees.
I have no idea where that figure comes from considering Avid made $417,413 profit in software in 2022. Taking out training, maintenance and integrated solutions out of the equation and focusing only on SaaS and perpetual licensing, it comes down to $162,421 net income. But that’s all software. We don’t know how much of that profit is ProTools, but it’s safe to assume most of it comes from their broadcasting software like Maestro, Media Composer and things like that.
This is why I cringe at posts identifying profit margins, development requirements, feature request difficulty levels, or even what year it is as specious (and unnecessary) justifications for their main concern. I feel it’s counter-productive for them - people stop listening to what they asked for and instead focus on the non sequiturs.
In my opinion, these kinds of complains would be far more effective if folks just identified the issue they’re having and asked for potential solutions rather than attaching “corrupt intent” innuendo or corporate malfeasance to their concerns. This thread has already veered off from the OP…
@arman_energy as already pointed out, you should contact SB support from your registered email address and give them all the information you have. Many have reported that SB goes out of their way to take care of their customers. I may suggest you keep the accusatory language to a minimum though - it’s not going to help (in my opinion).
It’s almost 2026 now. Cubase 12 was announced in 2021 and at the same time everyone was told the Elicenser was going away. They then proceeded to keep the servers alive and running until THIS YEAR and gave everyone ample time to take care of their business.
Steinberg owes you nothing. It’s not their fault you didnt listen or pay attention as there were PLENTY of announcements and years to get it sorted out.
It’s admittedly not relevant to the topic, but that statement is not necessarily correct (and tbh I think that such kind of blanket statements are as unhelpful as are those of “corporate greed” etc)
By buying a product, you enter a contract with the vendor, which entails rights and obligation for each party. Those are defined in the EULA, and in local judicature. SB explicitly issues a warranty (see my post above) in their EULA, which is of course limited to some degree, but not specifically time limited, afaics. This is something that probably only lawyers, or in the end, a court case could decide. Contents of EULAs can also be overturned if they don’t adhere to local laws, but it needs someone to sue of course. (Disclaimer: i have no knowledge of law, except that it is complicated and often counterintuitive 
)
Ok, just to prevent that I was talking absolut nonsense, I googled a bit. In Germany, for example, there exists a right to receive updates for digital products, which means that the vendor has to provide updates in order to keep the product secure and working. The catch seems to be the time span, which has been set to two years (same as with physical products). So @Monotremata , you might actually have been right, at least in Germany, with “SB owes you nothing “.
Op….do you still have your cb11 elicenser dongle?
I haven’t noticed anyone (nor you) confirming that you do still have it.
If you do have it, yes, you can use it on the new pc with cb11 after first installing the teeny tiny dongle driver.
I use Win 11 Pro and elicenser. All my cubase 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11 versions work fine. I also own dongle-less cb 12,13,14 and Nuendo.
ALSO…..let’s all keep in mind that Steinberg has an ongoing position re elicenser dongles…contact support and they’ll work with the user. Very up front & fair imo.
So…according to support I don’t get my Cubase back.
No compensation.
Not even a coupon.
And according to one gentleman here “Steinberg owes you nothing.” Excellent.
And yet another says it’s my fault for not subscribing to the newsletters of every piece of software and hardware on my computer and reading the barrage of emails per day….just in case one of them will stop working soon.
Awesome guys.
Let’s consider this thread solved.
Thanks for letting the community know that you contacted sb support directly.
If no-go was the support area’s response after you referred Matthias (Steinberg) comment (2 posts above), then there’s something more up with your situation info that you didn’t originally post here.
So yes, looks like Steinberg has weighed the info you submitted to them and given you their decision.
Nice. 