[PC] Mass Effect 3 (2012) Activation Error

[Icarus64]

I was able to get it to run on my laptop, but not on my PC.  I tried uninstalling Mass Effect and EA app and removing all evidence of Mass Effect folders. I also removed some Mass Effect registry entries with no success.   The errors also also happened to Crysis 2 and Crysis 3 but a reinstall of those games fixed the problem.  No such luck for Mass Effect 3.

[Icarus64 · Accepted solution]

I fixed it on my PC.  I deleted the Mass Effect 3 licence in the ProgramData>Electronic arts>EA Services>license folder.  Then it loaded and put a new license in the folder.

[EA_Shepard]

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@Icarus64 wrote:

I fixed it on my PC.  I deleted the Mass Effect 3 licence in the ProgramData>Electronic arts>EA Services>license folder.  Then it loaded and put a new license in the folder.

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Happy to hear that this was fixed for you! Let us know if it happens again!

Cheers!

[FCGrizzlyAdams]

I keep trying periodically but no change on mine yet, still getting the error.

[fiendishtiara]

Hello,

I tried @Icarus64 's trick in post #22. That fixed it for me too. I shut down the EA App (make sure it's not in the background), then I moved the license file elsewhere for backup and when I tried to restart the game, a new license file was generated and the game proceeded. I guess the license file got corrupted somehow?

Thanks @Icarus64 !

[EA_Shepard]

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@fiendishtiara wrote:

Hello,

I tried @Icarus64 's trick in post #22. That fixed it for me too. I shut down the EA App (make sure it's not in the background), then I moved the license file elsewhere for backup and when I tried to restart the game, a new license file was generated and the game proceeded. I guess the license file got corrupted somehow?

Thanks @Icarus64 !

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Glad to see this worked. You can straight up just delete the folder or the files in it. The moment you launch the game it creates a new one anyways. It's only for older titles as well, newer games don't do this.

[EA_Shepard]

Hey, All

This issue has been sent up to the team as it is affecting more than one title. Currently, the way to resolve this is by deleting all files within the license folder. Make sure that all hidden files and folders are active as well.

Once they have an update on this we will post that update here!

Cheers!

[FCGrizzlyAdams]

@EA_Shepard I'm not sure how but a reply above got marked as a solution. This has not been resolved yet from what I can tell. I am still periodically trying to delete/move the License folder as well as the specific license to ME3 but no success yet.

[EA_Shepard]

@FCGrizzlyAdams If a solution works for someone, anyone can mark it as so because it's a step or set of steps that got it to work.

The initial issue with the activation is still under investigation because it is affecting more titles than this one.

If deleting the license folder does not work, and none of the other steps work, the only other solution at the moment is to have live support replace the game which we are trying to avoid doing because that does not resolve the issue for all games that run into that specific error.

[ensignkt]

I was told to post here after chatting with tech support--returning to play Mass Effect 3 after a few months away, upon starting I got a "We Could Not Activate Mass Effect 3 on this Computer using the Origin Account you provided", please enter the Product Key notice.  When I try to do so, it inaccurately says I'm offline.

I didn't change anything on my end, so I'm assuming this is an EA app error.  This Mass Effect 3 was an original disc 2012 purchase, though it's been downloaded since.  I've searched and found the suggestion about deleting the License folder, but even with view hidden items on all I have under Electronic Arts is EA Desktop and no License folder to be found anywhere.  I've also cleared the cache and reinstalled both the game and the EA app but still get the same problem.

The only other thing I can think of is that might be related is that I keep getting a notice in my EA library that games have been removed, though everything looks the same--it says quest_item was removed 11/6/23 for an unlisted reason. 

Any suggestions?