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up vote 7 down vote favorite

If Civilization 5 was bought from the Mac App Store, would I be able to activate it on Steam, and how could I do so?

It says here that CD keys for Civ 5 are accepted on Steam. Would this still work for if that game was bought on the Mac App Store? Does Apple's DRM allow compatibility with this other system or is there something that the developer of that game does to allow activation of that game on Steam?

I will accept "No" as an answer to this question because I am not sure myself if this is possible.

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I thought Steam had an option to scan for non-steam games on the hard drive? – CyberSkull Sep 4 '12 at 17:32
@CyberSkull You can add shortcuts to non-steam games from within steam, but you can't officially add them to steam (in the sense that steam recognizes it as a game and will handle updates or let you download it or other steam functions) unless they are officially supported and you have a CD-Key. I believe launching a non-steam game does give you the steam overlay, but I'm not 100% sure on that one (especially for the Mac version) – Peter Sep 4 '12 at 19:34

4 Answers

up vote 6 down vote accepted

No, it isn't possible.

To activate a game on Steam that you purchased from a third party, two things need to happen:

  1. You must be provided with a CD key from the third-party retailer.
  2. It must be a game for which Steam accepts third-party CD keys.

When you buy a game (or any other software) on the Mac App Store, you aren't provided with a CD key, since the MAS itself handles product activation. (Apple's requirement is that all software sold on the MAS uses Apple's activation methods. CD keys and the like are disallowed.)

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up vote 8 down vote

After contacting the developer with proof of purchase from the Mac App Store, they gave me a Steam key, allowing me to activate the game on Steam.

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up vote 1 down vote

In the Games menu there should be an option for Activate a product on Steam. Enter the code into there, and it should automagically add the game. source

As pointed out, I am not familiar with the MAS. If you have no CD key, then it appears you have bought the Mac-only "Campaign Edition" version of Civ 5, which can not be linked to Steam. source

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3  
As with the previously deleted answer, it sounds like you're not familiar with the Mac App Store which does not generate a code or product key. – LessPop_MoreFizz Sep 4 '12 at 16:04
up vote 1 down vote

Short answer to original question is 'Yes.' When you purchase through the Mac Games Store, keys are provided. These keys work on Steam. I just tried it.

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Ford Prefect, where do you find this key? – user46780 Apr 11 at 16:21

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