Yes, even with the retail disc version, Steam is required to activate and play the game. The game will install Steam if you don't already have it. Steam is NOT required to play the game. It is however required to patch and use the Achievements. Just goto your C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\skyrim (or wherever you have it installed) and use TESV.exe file to run the game. If this is not allowed, could a Mod please delete this? Thank you.