When Steinberg originally announced the new Steinberg Licensing system for Cubase 12, their New Steinberg Licensing FAQ explained that you’d be able to deactivate computers you no longer had access to from your MySteinberg account. The following passage was in the FAQ as of November 10, 2021:
Provided you are updating your operating system in place, without reformatting your computer or installing a new hard disk, etc., then your software should remain activated after the OS update. However, it is not impossible for an OS update to make sufficiently large changes to your computer that it may be interpreted as a new computer when you next renew your online activation. In the event that your computer is identified as a new computer, depending on whether you have a current activation on a second computer, you may have to sign in to the licensing portal on the Steinberg web site with your Steinberg ID to release the license on the “old” computer.
That text has since been removed from the FAQ, and indeed, if you go to your MySteinberg Products page, you’ll find your Cubase 12 activations listed there, but there is no way to deactivate them.
So, my question is: What happens if your computer breaks down, or if you format or replace your hard drive without using Steinberg Activation Manager app to deactivate Cubase 12 first?