NBA 2K9 fouls PC players

For the NBA 2K series debut on the PC, Take-Two Interactive teamed with Valve Software's downloadable game service Steam to put an antipiracy measure in place. Unfortunately, with the game on store shelves now, pirates aren't the only ones being thwarted.

As seen on the game's official forums, a number of gamers who purchased NBA 2K9 in stores have found their copies of the title did not include the necessary activation code to play the game. Part of 2K Games' end user license stipulates that anyone wishing to play the PC version of the game must use Steam to activate the product.

With the forum thread 13 pages long and packed full with angry comments, 2K representatives have yet to weigh in. A handful of the posters offered their own suggestions to gamers, several of which included pirating a cracked version of the game.

Despite the silence in its own community, 2K knows there is a problem. The official NBA 2K9 Web site did post a brief update about the situation earlier today.

"If you recently purchased the NBA 2K9 PC title in North America, 2K Sports is aware of the issues with the Product Keys and is working hard on a solution," the notice said. "Check back here for answers by end of day today. We appreciate your patience."

As of this writing, those answers had not arrived, and 2K Sports representatives had neither addressed the community directly in the forum thread nor returned GameSpot's request for comment on the issue.

[UPDATE]:2K Sports updated its NBA 2K9 page with news of a fix. According to the site, "a solution is forthcoming within the next 24 hours--likely much sooner--to alleviate any installation issues involving a Product Key. This solution will be downloaded automatically and seamlessly when you install your product."