Vampire the Masquerade – Redemption is close to celebrating its 20th anniversary! While the graphics have not aged well, the game is still a franchise favorite among PC gamers. It also means that computer hardware and many other things have undergone a lot of changes within those twenty years.

One such change means that purchasing games on physical discs and validating them with an enclosed CD key is almost entirely obsolete. However, with the popularity of digital distributors like GOG and Steam, game publishers are able to bring these wonderfully old games to new generations of gamers. The downside of this continuance of selling old games is that most are not being supported (as many of the development companies have long since gone out of business). Therefore, getting them to run on modern computers can be somewhat of a challenge… and this can include conflicting registry entries for 64-bit Windows users, as is the case here.

As of this writing, Vampire the Masquerade – Redemption on Steam includes RegisterGame.bat and vampire.reg files inside the game’s main directory folder. The batch (*.bat) file manually imports the CD-Key into the Windows registry, but the problem is that registry entry will only work on 32-bit versions of Windows. If you are running Windows in 64-bit, it will not make use of the Wow6432Node registry redirection.

If your game is asking for a CD-Key, this guide will help you to create a duplicate registry entry that will import the game’s CD-Key values and map it to the corresponding physical location under Wow6432Node.

It is assumed that Vampire the Masquerade – Redemption is being run from a 64-bit version of the Windows operating system.

Disclaimer: This tutorial utilizes advanced knowledge of the Windows OS and the Registry. Anyone attempting to follow this guide does so at his or her own risk and agrees not to hold me liable for any damages caused as the result of user error.

Readers attempting to follow this guide must have proficient working knowledge of Windows operating systems. A high comfort level is necessary when working with the Windows Registry. Administrative privileges to the operating system is also required.

1. Open the Registry Editor.
   
2. Create a backup copy of your registry in case something goes wrong!
   
   • To do this, click on File and Export…, then give your registry file an identifiable name before you save it. (Use Import… if you need to restore your registry.)
3. Click the chevron arrow (in Windows 10) to open the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE hive tree.
   
4. Do the same for the SOFTWARE tree and look for a WON folder:
   
   
   • If the WON folder exists under SOFTWARE, right click on it and click Delete.
5. Navigate to WOW6432Node under SOFTWARE, and look for a WON folder:
   
   
   • If the WON folder is not present, continue to the Preparing & Editing the Game Registry File section and follow the remaining steps.

The following steps will guide you through making the correct registry entry for Redemption on 64-bit versions of Windows.

1. For Steam versions of Vampire the Masquerade – Redemption, right click on the game in your Steam Library, then go to Manage and select Browse local files.
   
   
2. After Windows Explorer opens to your game installation, verify that the RegisterGame.bat and vampire.reg files are both present in the game’s root folder.
   
3. Make a copy of the vampire.reg file.
   
4. Right click on the copied vampire.reg file and select Edit:
   
   • In the location where it says [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WON\CDKeys], change it to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\WON\CDKeys].
     
5. Close and save the file.
   
6. Run the file and reboot the computer.
   
7. After the computer reboots and you’re logged back into Steam, run the game.

Granted issues with the game immediately closing itself because vampire.exe stopped working has nothing to do with fixing the registry in 64-bit versions of Windows, I thought I would address this in case anyone may be experiencing additional problems getting Redemption to run.

1. Right click on the game in your Steam library (or your desktop shortcut) and go to Properties.
   
2. Click the SET LAUNCH OPTIONS... button in Steam and add -window into the field.
   • From the desktop shortcut, add it after vampire.exe" in the Target field.
3. Click the OK and CLOSE buttons (or Apply and OK from the desktop shortcut), then run the game.

To deal with widescreen and HD issues that might crop up, view tips and other resources listed under the Video settings heading at PCGamingWiki[www.pcgamingwiki.com].

As of this writing, I have not tested if the edited registry file will remain after uninstalling the game. As a precaution, I suggest keeping a back up elsewhere on your system (or marking this guide as a favorite so you can find it again easily... just in case!).

If you enjoy playing Vampire the Masquerade – Redemption as I do, I hope you will find this guide useful.


Please rate this guide with a thumbs up if you found it helpful; or a thumbs down if you didn't. Be sure to reserve questions, concerns, suggestions for improvement, or anything else regarding this guide in the comments section below.

For your convenience, here is a list of other guides I have written:

• Run Games from Battlenet Launcher with Steam Overlay
  
• Move Sims 3 Game Saves to Another Location & Improve Performance
  
• How to get the Steam Overlay working with Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR)
  
• Get the Steam Overlay Working with Games on Origin
  
• Auto-Delete Sims 3 Cache and Run it on Origin with the Steam Overlay
  
• Auto-Delete Sims 3 Cache and Run it on Steam
  
• How to Stop Vampire the Masquerade – Redemption from Requesting a CD Key – This guide.
  
• Move the Mabinogi Folder from Documents to Another Location
  
• Auto-Delete Sims 4 Cache and Run it on Steam
  
• How to Fix Fable Anniversary from Causing Motion Sickness
  
• How to Fix EULA Bug in Steam's SWTOR Launcher
  
• Run Games from HoYoPlay Launcher with Steam Overlay

11/30/2024 – Added new guide link.
07/10/2024 – Added new guide link.
10/28/2022 – Added new guide link.
07/08/2020 – Added new guide link.
01/23/2020 – Fixed typo in link.
01/14/2020 – Added new guide link.
11/30/2019 – Expanded Introduction to include more detail about Windows registry and CD-Key conflicts.
11/07/2019 – Added new Fix Black Screen & Game Crashes section.
11/02/2019 – Updated text for clarity; embedded new image.
11/01/2019 – Initial version.