According to ShackNews, gamers that recently bought S.TA.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky and X3: Terran Conflict were temporarily unable to activate and play those games, due to reportedly resolved problems with the TAGES-run authentication servers. Both games utilize TAGES DRM to enforce a 5-machine activation limit, and received a resurgence of attention as they were featured in the Steam Holiday Sale. The promotion saw 10-75% discounts on games sold via the PC digital distribution service. Upon attempting to run either game, first-time players were told that they needed to activate their copy with a serial number. Some attempts were met with a network timeout error, while others, such as Shacker Stucky_101, report they that had no problems. The issues began cropping up en masse between December 26 and 31, going by two separate threads (#1, #2) on the Steam forums. The problem also spawned a lengthy thread over at the offical X3: Terran Conflict forums. The problem was reportedly resolved as of this morning, however, the issues have caused many to question the need for third-party DRM on Steam, which is itself a form of digital rights management as players must sign-in at least once to download and activate their purchase.