I quote "Due to the implementation of a new, more user-friendly licensing system, the release of Cubase 12 has been postponed until 2022. The exact release date is not yet known.
However, the grace period for Cubase 12 begins on November 10th!
This means that as soon as Cubase 12 is released, any license for Cubase 11 acquired after November 9, 2021 can be upgraded to Cubase 12 for free. This applies to Cubase Pro 12, Cubase Artist 12 and Cubase Elements 12. "
that’s not fair
Why not?
To me it sounds more than fair.
because after what it is written that licenses acquired after Nov. 9 will be able to upgrade their cubase to 12
Still sounds pretty fair to me.
What am I missing?
well, why only licenses acquired after november 9th? And the others? It would have been fair if the measure included all Cubase 11 licenses
Because they are a company and they have to make money to pay their employees wages?
A several month grace period, with an announcement of precisely when it started, is fair.
Wouldn’t it be lovely to live in a world where everything is free .
That’s asking for a bit much , the grace period IMO gets used and abused anyway by some users so i think Steinberg are being very reasonable in this respect
I bought the update to 10.5 from 10 but havent activated it yet, and dont plan on doing it now either.
Will I still be updated to the latest version that is out when i activate it? say cubase 12.5 or 13? This used to be the case before, but its unclear how SB would implement the activation of new updates now.
I don’t see how you can abuse this
@anteas38 where did you get that information?
thanks
ok guys, I had an answer to my question, I’m going to post it here so that anyone in my same situation can relate:
Q:
Hi there, I have a - seemingly - intricate question to ask:
I am now on Cubase Pro 10, since years. In 2020, I bought a " Cubase Pro 10.5 Update from Cubase Pro 10 ", but I never activated it. For multiple reasons, I was not able to take benefit for it until this period (been away from production, long story).
I read the article https://helpcenter.steinberg.de/hc/…8020498-Free-Grace-Period-Update-to-Cubase-12 and I was wondering: if I activate the license now, what do I obtain? I’m going to activate the license either for 10.5 or 11 or 12 or xx, but just asking: if I activate this license, will I be eligible for a free Cubase 12 upgrade?
I’m asking this because this is a question so underestimated and misunderstood during the years. And everyone has a difference and individual situation, so I thought I might ask to Steinberg directly.
Let me know for my situation, thank you!
A:
Dear Mr. …,
Thank you for reaching out to us and for your purchase!
If you activated the Cubase license now, you will receive a Cubase Pro 11 license and you will be eligible for a Cubase Pro 12 license upgrade later as well.
Best regards,
Ed Doll
Support Manager
so it seems that anyone that has an update license still not used, can have 12 as a free update later on.
Thank you @Ed_Doll for clarifying this out for us! 
Great!