Today we are with another tricky problem. It is related to an error that you may have seen after the game installation.
Probably after the game installation, you try to open it, an error message with title “Fatal Error” and body as “Steam must be running to play this game.” will prompt out.
This error was noticed by Brian Cooper from Nigeria.  Within few hours, our team had found the reason and suggest him the solution. Please have a look at what Brian messaged to us.
Please have a look at what Brian messaged to us.

Hai firstandgeek team,
I am Brian, a game addict from Nigeria. Last day, I had met with an error message with content as “Steam must be running to play this game” while opening Call of Duty – Black Ops 1. The secret is that, it is a cracked version by Skidrow team. I got this from my friend and there is no issue with my friend to play this game. I had reinstalled the game three times and still getting this same Fatal error every time I open the game. I have 4 GB of RAM and 2 GB of Nvidia Graphics card. Please give me a suggestion or solution. I had searched a lot and didn’t get and didn’t got any satisfactory answered. Here I am attaching the screenshot of all the files that I have with the game. I believe nothing is lost or damaged. Looking to hear from you.
Kind Regards,
Brian Cooper

What is Steam game service?

Steam is an online digital distribution platform under the control of Valve Corporation which aims better user experience for game addicts. Steam service is filled with more than 3,500 games, using this service, the user can easily install, update and share their achievements. This service is very useful when you are about to play a game which has online multiplayer supports.
The official website declared that there are nearly 100 million people in the Steam Community among which you can make matches and share achievements. It was initially developed to work with Microsoft Windows platform and later expanded the service to Mac OS, Linux and for gaming consoles.

Steam Fatal Error Solution for games with valid activation

Suppose if you are getting this error for a genuine version of the game, you need to run the steam service as mentioned in the error message. Sometimes normal running of steam service results in this issue. Try to run it with administrator privilege. If you forgot to run the service as the administrator, here is a small tip for you.

• Right-click on Screen Shortcut.
• Choose Properties.
• Click Compatibility.
• The tick the Check box for “Run as administrator”.

This trick had worked for many genuine game players in their original and purchased games.

How to Solve Steam must be running to play this game for Skidrow cracked games?

Here in the above case, for games cracked by Skidrow team, you only need to copy the cracked files to the installation folder of the game. Brian had sent me some screenshots and I am using it below.
Here is the game folder send by Brian.

In that game folder, there is a folder named SKIDROW. Actually, this folder contains the crack files of this game and the patch file to avoid checking steam connection.
You need to copy these files and place it under the Installation folder.
It will prompt for confirmation to replace the existing files or cancel the copy. You need to replace the existing files.
Here are the steps in brief

• Locate the SKIDROW patch files inside your game folder.
• Copy the files and replace it with the files under the installation folder.

If you don’t have the skidrow patches with your game, download it from the internet.
After applying the files to the installation folder, the checking system for Steam will be disabled and you won’t see the “Steam must be running to play this game” anymore.
The solution above still not working?
Here we have one suggestion for you.
Go to Fiverr, search for “computer fix” related service and you will find a lot.
Register a free account on Fiverr and message the seller whether they can help you to fix this issue.
Here is the screenshot of the services related to the computer problem.
There are many computer experts providing excellent service at affordable price.
They might be able to help you in solving your problem, by providing the guide, remote your computer, or through other methods.

Lastly, hope the first solution works for you. If not you might need to try another solution. Good luck!