Quoting warreni, reply 21I'm sure there must have been some discussion of this previously, but what the heck was the rationale for creating a hard-copy CE with no CD-key?
Steam is required to play the game, CD-key or not. It goes through Steam, so it needs a Steam key. They can't exactly include a CD-key when the game doesn't even install from a CD, now can they? Unfortunately, I believe I have to inform you that, you have fallen behind with the times, and do have some reading to do on digital-only distribution.
Not really behind the times, I just don't understand your reasoning. Why couldn't Stardock/Ironclad include Steam keys in these boxes? Saints Row 2 does it, Dead Island does it, so do lots of other games that are Steamworks with physical distribution. My understanding of this process is that the publisher actually gives Valve a list of valid keys for a title, which Valve uses as a master list when users enter a key.
