BioShock 2 PC DLC goes up then down

By Robert Purchese Published 21 February, 2011

"Mistakes happen", admits 2K.

The long-awaited Protector Trials DLC for BioShock 2 on PC has been yanked off the Games for Windows - Live Marketplace because "it's not ready yet".

That's what 2K community bod "2K Elizabeth" wrote on the game's forum after baffled buyers complained that their content - purchased for 400 Microsoft Points and not free as once promised - wouldn't work.

"Wait till my word before you go grab it - it's not ready yet," her post read.

"Mistakes happen - sometimes out of our control. I'm the head of community, so if you feel that you weren't treated well, I'm stepping up and letting you know that's my failing. But in this case, all I can do is apologise and let you know that I wasn't checking the Marketplace or the forums around 10pm last night and so this wasn't caught until my community manager checked the thread.

"Don't blame a 'suit' - in fact, I don't think I've ever seen a person wear a suit in this office and even if you were talking about our lawyer or our COO, I would vehemently say you have the wrong impression of them. They are real workers and if you met them, you'd appreciate them.

"Don't lump us in with all the other companies in the world," she wrote. "I'm not going to pretend that I couldn't have made this entire roll out smoother, but please don't damn us for this error which honestly could not have been predicted."

Owners of BioShock 2 on PS3 and Xbox 360 had both the Protector Trials and Minerva's Den DLC early last autumn. Originally, PC gamers weren't even to get the two add-ons, but community outcry forced a rethink by game-maker 2K.

Eurogamer awarded the Protector Trials 6/10.

15 minutes of Minerva's Den on PC.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (10) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • randompanda #1 1 year ago

    Ignoring pc users for the dlc initially was the bigger mistake.

  • TheTingler #2 1 year ago

    I'm willing to forgive them for this (particularly Elizabeth who's getting a lot of undeserved flak), but I won't be able to forgive 2K if the Protector Trials isn't free. PC gamers have had to face a litany of insults and broken promises from 2K about the Bioshock 2 DLC, and the first crappy DLC pack being free was supposed to soften the blow and apologize for the wait - and most importantly PR-wise to get PC gamers playing Bioshock 2 again so they would actually buy Minerva's Den.

    If that PR apology is not forthcoming, why should anyone bother to buy either? I'm not saying every DLC has to be free, but letting go a piece that doesn't deserve a price (the dull Protector's Trials) as a peace offering is good PR and marketing sense. NO ONE is going to buy Protector's Trials, as everyone has forgotten about Bioshock 2 by now. I was going to buy Minerva's Den and at least play the free DLC, but if 2K break another promise I might not be bothered. Other things to play you know.

  • thewool #3 1 year ago

    So has the PC version of BS2 been patched yet or have I missed something?

  • kinky_mong #4 1 year ago

    The Protector Trials are pretty guff to be honest, just a dull score attack/horde mode based on the worse parts of the main game. Minerva's Den is great though.

  • Darren #5 1 year ago

    @thewool - The PC version has had three 'emergency' patches to fix major bugs hence the reason why despite still showing as v1.0 on the title screen the internal build is actually v1.003.

    2K did promise a full patch to address remaining issues but that never surfaced; hardly surprising considering how apathetic most publishers are to the PC these days. It's not enough that we have to endure buggy console ports that often take months to patch (if we're that lucky!) but we also miss out on a lot of the DLC too.

  • OlMaster #6 1 year ago

    Damn, she's really on the defensive, what were they doing to her on the forums?

  • dwalker109 #7 1 year ago

    ^^^ I imagine it was a bit like what happens when Ellie dares to review something other than Just Dance. Or that time the producer of Bulletstorm cropped up in a video and the comments thread regressed about 60 years.

  • Kanjin #8 1 year ago

    Bioshock 2 DLC seems to have the worst luck and organisation of any game I can remember.

  • TheTingler #9 1 year ago

    The patch is also supposed to be coming.

    Give Elizabeth her due, there have been some really unnecessarily harsh words thrown in her direction. None of this is in any way her fault, she's just on the firing line. Some gamers are just d***s sadly.

  • Mister-Wario #10 1 year ago

    Shame about this. To tell you the truth, though, I think Protector Trials will be worth it on PC. I got it on 360, and it's entertaining enough, but it's simply too hectic for a controller.