Steam actually ran out of a game this weekend – here’s what happened

By Nick Pino

It’s a problem most of us remember: You go to the game store, eager to pick up this week’s release only to be devastated to learn that the store has utterly sold through all their copes. Disappointment ensues and mom has to buy you an ice cream cone.

This is what a handful of gamers went through this weekend when they tried to purchase Splinter Cell: Blacklist during Steam’s weekend sale where you could get the game for an extremely discounted 75% off.

Potential cyber spies had their dreams cut short when, after downloading the game, Steam failed to provide a key to unlock the download, only to receive an error message that said “Failed to contact key server.” (If you’re wondering why you’d even need a key in the first place, it’s because publishers use download keys as a way to track sales via digital downloads via sites like Steam or GOG.)

That’s right: Steam, a digital download service, ran out of stock.

Now, had you told me that a digital download service like Steam could “run out of copies” I’d tell you that’s ridiculous, and yet here we are.

According to a forum about the problem on Steam’s website, Ubisoft’s …read more

Source:: techradar.com – Gaming