Installation limit

An Installation limit is where the publisher or developer of a video game has, via online activation, limited the amount of times that this activation may be carried out, and therefore, limits the number of installations that can be activated.

This is usually tied to the hardware IDs of physically separate PCs, and does not normally cause a problem, unless the owner of the game goes through a large amount of hardware churn.

Some publishers, such as Electronic Arts, offer a De-Authorization Tool that can de-register a PC from the list of allowed installations.