How to preserve the Steinberg offered Grace Period of eLicenser licenses? (20th of May 2025 in mind)

Cubase
1

As we have been informed, the server will be shut down by the 20th of May 2025. (Out of service on the 21 th or the 20th already?)

I want to know how to preserve the Steinberg offered Grace Period that is attached to eLicensers-Licenses if updated at any time in the future. (If one has bought the updates but has not updated yet or has still new unused eLicenser-licenses (in sealed boxes).) In both cases … before the 20th of May 2025 and thereafter and in both cases, owning the update codes for the old eLicenser based system or the new codes for the new Steinberg Licensing system that are nowadays sold.

(4 use-cases … old activation keys – update an exiting version and a new License (2) and the same with the keys that are for the new Steinberg Licensing system (2))

Are we forced to loose this valuable asset (Grace Period) because we have to update until the 20th of May 2025? I hope / I expect not.

As an owner of still unused eLicenser-license keys I ask myself:

Do I “only” have NOT to activate it IN the new Steinberg Licensing system after I am now forced to input the eLicenser codes in the eLicenser Control Center software? And only activate it at some distant point in the future when needed (and get the THEN current version) and hope not to activate it by accident if not needed yet?

So: Will this be a two-step process? First, I will get the latest eLiceners-Version on the eLicenser after I entered the activation key in the eLicenser Control Center. Then I stop and press the activate button in the new Steinberg Licensing software at some distant point in the future and get the then latest version?

(Example: If I now update from WaveLab 9 to WaveLab 9.5 I imagine to get the license of WaveLab 11 on the eLicenser and in the new Steinberg Licensing system I see an entry for WaveLab 12, that I do not shall activate in case I do choose only to work still with the eLicenser based WaveLab 11 (10,9,8 …) versions. And when WaveLab 13 or 14 is out, I activate the pending WaveLab 12 activation button and get the WaveLab 13 or 14 thank’s to the grace period?)
Same procedure with Dorico, Cubase, Nuendo, Absolute, … for people that have not yet redeemed activation keys.

How to preserve this not activated status (WITH an attached Grace-Period) in case I wish to give this status (old licence + the attached grace-period (license-activation due to an update or a new license)) to someone else?

Until now I could give the eLicenser-license and the code for the update (or the code for the new license) to someone else and he could decide for himself WHEN to use it at a time of her/his choosing.

Could Steinberg please give detailed step by step instruction how to handle this, that one not slips accidently and loses the Grace Period for software, she/he (the new owner) did not wishes to active YET? (Now use cases as a give-to-others version with the attached Grace-Period in mind.)

What to do with new unused eLicensers (bought before the announcement of the new licensing system). Do one loses the so far attached value to them too as they are after the 20th of May 2025 useless as a licensing system if empty? (Some folks may enjoy the pulsing dim red light if connected on a free USB-port. But for that it was too expensive in my opinion.)

How do shops that sell / offer eLicensers handle this? Can they give them back and will they get a refund? (I bought mine shortly before Steinberg announced publically the new system. It’s quite a lot of money if you had bought not only one but bought in mind to have enough to store all the licenses that are still packed on one eLicenser separately to be free in your configuration and the handling in the give-to-someone-else cases.)

Why is switching of a quietly working eLicensers server even necessary? I mean in times of virtualisation on servers and ever faster and / or energy efficient hardware over time. Was there a security breach or is this only to save energy costs? Or what may be behind this? I, as a customer do not see a necessity for this switching off.

Letting it run would spare us so much hassle and headache. I assume, over the time it would become frequented less and less and could therefore reside in memory of a server as a virtual machine. (Denial of service attacks may be a problem but not the Steinberg users with old systems.)

Thank you in advance for clarifying all of this.

2

That’s a question only Steinberg can really answer. And the rest of this has all been explained time and time again.

Once the server is off, there goes any chance you had of activating that code. The license on the physical dongle needs to be verified and updated, and that part has to be done before the server shuts off. If the means to use that code is gone, so is your code.

The dongle was replaced and Cubase 12 came out over 3 years ago already, its probably time to move on now. Were you waiting for the rapture to finally upgrade or something?

Retailers and shops don’t have anything to do with anything. That product was discontinued 3 years ago now, no retailer will be returning those at this point. If a customer buys one now, hopefully they did their research and really need it, otherwise, that’s nobodies fault they bought one aside from their own.

3

Thank you for the reply.

There’s NEW information out there. This is good news but falls short in answering the pressing issue how to preserve the valuable asset ‘Grace Period’ that is attached to activations.

And it does not address the challenge, that there are two kinds of update-keys. One, that uses the eLicenser Control Center and is applicable only there, the other is only for the new Steinberg Licensing Application, isn’t it? The format of the keys is different or am I mistaken?

The new information:
https://forums.steinberg.net/t/update-on-elicenser-service-ends-in-2025/977248/1

and:

Does this include a eLicener Code for new license in boxes, that are still in sealed? (for example: Absolute 2; Nuendo 10)

I surmise, that in regard of the old keys for the eLiceners Control Center, the information is even misleading and bears the risk for loosing even the update, would someone postpone the forced update for keys for the eLicener Control Center, isn’t it?

Other valuable information I came across in this thread:

https://forums.steinberg.net/t/updated-my-license-from-cubase-9-pro-to-cubase-14-pro-but-received-cubase-11-instead/982361/2?u=ab_01

One solution I imagine: Chaps like me would get only the first license available that is using the new Steinberg Licensing so that they do not have the benefit of the newest version and get an update-code from Steinberg for this version, which they can then redeem on any future point in time of THEIR choosing.
Would that be a solution?

4

Yes, these are two different types of keys as they refer to two different licensing systems.

Yes, this is what this information is about. You can activate a product after 20th May 2025.

What you can’t do after May 20th 2025:
You can’t RE-Activate an eLicenser-based product or move a license from one USB eLicenser to another to consolidate the licenses onto a single USB-eLicenser or move a Soft-eLicenser license to a USB-eLicenser.

If you want to do any of these things you need to do it before May 20th 2025!

5

Yes, that is the crucial point. The update is NOT OF MY DESIRE (at this point in time) but Steinberg tells / told us now, we have to do it now. To be more precise: I was NOT waiting for this point of rupture. Absolutely not. But Steinberg came out with this forced updates, that were not part of the equation in the time people like me bought the licenses and the updates.

Even if there is a solution for preserving the Grace Period in these cases. One loses the zero downtime reassurance for eLicensers anyway. This guarantee was / is also of value and vanishes after the 21th of May 2025 abruptly for eLicense systems. My Sentiments to Steinberg was / (is still) held in high regards for offering all of this (Grace Period, Zero Downtime, hassle less license-transfer) and not charge us extra like some other companies (try to) enrich themselves for these kind of use cases.

My impression is:
It all started with Dorico (1) as more and more users complained as I remember. And now more and more computers (Apple-Laptops !!) do not have (enough suitable) USB-ports. This new Steinberg Licensing system – as nice it may be – should not be of disadvantage for users who are fine with the eLicensers. I am not against the new system but users of the old system should not made disadvantaged because of the desires of others.

In concrete numbers. If I’m (now ?) forced to input my keys against my wish I do have to pay in time 199 Euros for the next Nuendo-Update, 99 Euro for the Cubase-, Dorico-, WaveLab-, Halion-, Absolute-Updates for every license I own that resides unused so far in the drawer, only to be allowed to enter the Steinberg bandwagon again I already was on. If I do not do this, I do lose even bigger as the version devaluates more and more every time a new version will be released. As a Steinberg-fan, I must admit I collected over the years quiet a number of licenses (even double, triple or quadruple) not knowing at these times, that there are sales every now and then and I would be better off waiting for these sails and/or buying them only when I really need them. (Had valuable presents for two other persons in mind too in case it would help them.) For most of these licenses, I bought the appropriate eLicenser update keys. I do not make money by using these tools. Time was missing to learn how to use all of this in depth. Nevertheless, the desire was there and I wanted to be enabled or enable others if … .