Thanks for sharing your experience and insights! It's good to know that some older Need for Speed titles can still be added to the library with EA's help. However, my experience has been quite the opposite when trying to activate Need for Speed: Carbon Collector's Edition.
I understand that the game's activation rights have been reclaimed by EA, but it’s frustrating that even with a legitimate physical copy and serial key, it’s no longer possible to redeem it. From what I gather, the last time this was even remotely feasible through manual assistance from customer service was years ago—perhaps back in 2014, as you mentioned.
It's encouraging to see that some titles like Carbon, Undercover, and ProStreet can still be added with EA’s help generating new CD keys. I wonder if there’s any chance that NFS: Most Wanted 2005 might eventually be included in this process, even though I understand it wasn’t released during the EA Download Manager era.
That said, it feels like an unnecessary roadblock for players who legally own these games. It would be amazing if EA provided a clearer path to activate or access these classics. Thanks again for your input—it’s great to hear your success story, and I hope we see more solutions for fans of these older games.