Free Portal 2 DLC detailed

By Fred Dutton Published 29 April, 2011

New test chambers, challenge mode due.

Acclaimed first-person puzzler Portal 2 gets new DLC "this summer", developer Valve has announced, and you won't have to pay a penny for it.

The pack, referred to only as DLC #1, will include new test chambers, leaderboards, a challenge mode for single and multiplayer "and more".

The pack will be free to download on all platforms – Mac, PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. A nod perhaps to the brouhaha surrounding the day-one paid DLC offered at launch?

Eurogamer's Oli Welsh awarded Valve's sequel a perfect 10/10 when it launched earlier this month, stating "it will no doubt stand as one of the best entertainments in any medium at the end of this year. It's a masterpiece."

Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (49) Latest comment 1 year ago

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

  • TONYgr #1 1 year ago

    Nice!!!

  • MojoDex #2 1 year ago

    I'm making a note here: huge success. it's kind of hard to overstate my satisfaction.

  • CaptainQuint #3 1 year ago

    Excellent!

    Finished this yesterday. GotY so far. An absolute pleasure to play, I loved it.

  • oceanmotion #4 1 year ago

    I guess MS didn't want to be the only platform that charges for this :D Nice.

  • altitude2k #5 1 year ago

    Some knob's bound to moan about how it should have been in at launch.

    Hate haters. Love Valve.

  • captain_Carl #6 1 year ago

    Can't wait.

  • Lexx87 #7 1 year ago

    Microsoft finally allowing free DLC? Well...finally!

    Could have done with you going with that idea for TF2 though, but ah well better late than never.

  • Markusdragon #8 1 year ago

    I just completed Portal and then Portal 2 again in a bid to completely avoid the Royal Wedding. Time well spent, I have to say.

  • Nevflinn #9 1 year ago

    This can't be right. Valve are supposed to be a bunch of petty swindlers who'd charge you to congratulate you on your firstborn! It must be some kind of marketing trick. Metacritic users do not lie, after all!!

  • Trigalis #10 1 year ago

    Nice to see the DLC #1 will be free, it is just a shame that microsoft never allow for more than one free DLC.

  • jag10 #11 1 year ago

    how come portal 1 dlc wasn't free on xbox.

  • Virtual_Entity #12 1 year ago

    WOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!!

    That is all.

  • Mister-Wario #13 1 year ago

    Wow, free on all platforms? Stop the presses.

  • ProtoformX #14 1 year ago

    Really looking forward to this. I completed the single-player portion of Portal 2 today and I found it to be a perfect mix of laugh-out-loud humour and frantic head-scratching. I'd like the PSN to get back up so that I can take on the co-op goodness.

  • TheTingler #15 1 year ago

    @jag10: Because Portal 1 didn't have any DLC.

  • rottingyoda #16 1 year ago

    Feel bad for those who are without online but hey....in valve i trust. The way smaller dlc should be.

  • TheTrueSpin #17 1 year ago

    This SHOULD have been in the game to start with. JOKE!!! God...

    Great news.

  • Ryboy #18 1 year ago

    Perhaps you console fannys might now stop moaning about how your DLC is never free. Wake the fuck up, we've been getting this free shit from Valve for years.

    Fucking amateurs.

  • GitSomE_UK #19 1 year ago

    @Ryboy

    Who on earth pissed on your chips this morning? So much anger.
    Edited by GitSomE_UK at 30/04/11 @ 01:29

  • slickster #20 1 year ago

    Microsoft is just doing this because if there the only one charging for the dlc they might be scared of being hacked.LOL

  • Murton #21 1 year ago

    While it is rare for MS to allow free DLC it is even rarer for them to insist on charging for it if PS3 users are getting it free as it will affect software sales down the line. The situation with L4D and TF2 was very different as these games weren't available on the PS3 and when Orange Box finally did make it to the platform it wasn't supported post launch at all, not even with bugfixes.

  • Jonny5Alive7 #22 1 year ago

    I'm surprised MS are allowing it, they get annoyed when they can't make money out of everything on Xbox Live.

  • ChthonicEcho #23 1 year ago

    @charliechan

    You can't be serious. All I can see in that list are patches, skins and models. Yes, good ol' Microsoft has the heart not to charge for that!

    @TheTingler

    Yes, it did. The community-made The Flash Version, which PC users could simply download, was named Still Alive on the X360, and it had a price tag.

  • gav082 #24 1 year ago

    Microsoft have a policy; if somethings free on the ps then they wont charge. Its the whole reason valve moved to PS. Which is pretty stupid on microsofts part if you ask me. I would have just given valve what ever they wanted, I know quite a few people who bought an xbox just to play left 4 dead, and valve where fans of the xbox.

  • uknortherner2000 #25 1 year ago

    @ChthonicEcho: "Yes, it did. The community-made The Flash Version, which PC users could simply download, was named Still Alive on the X360, and it had a price tag."

    That's not really DLC in the truest sense though, is it? You don't need Portal to play it, for instance. Still sucks for Xbox users of course, but it's not as though PS3 even had a version and the thing's available for free on PC anyway, so why not play it on that?

  • orangpelupa #26 1 year ago

    Wow free DLC!!!

    awesome! now i just need to keep waiting waiting and waiting my Portal 2 PC come to my home....

  • OrangesJoel #27 1 year ago

    "A nod perhaps to the brouhaha surrounding the day-one paid DLC offered at launch?"

    Valve in some way still come out bad because of this? Gabe Newell an evil reptile from space? Question mark used to bypass any need for journalistic integrity? Fred Dutton an idiot. Sorry. An idiot?

    Or, heaven forbid, the thing Valve usually do with DLC?

  • ChthonicEcho #28 1 year ago

    @uknortherner2000

    Neither are the microtransactions in TF2 and Portal 2, but people also call that DLC, regardless. The term 'downloadable content' has become muddled and murky over the years.
    Edited by ChthonicEcho at 30/04/11 @ 12:34

  • bratmandu #29 1 year ago

    I clocked the single player in two days - but I was flat out at it (bout 9 hours total). Still got most of the co-op to do. This is good news, Valve are a gamers company - they do quality and know how to keep their customers happy.

    I could play more test chambers forever, even if there's no more story stuff. Stick a few new test chambers up every week and I'd part with my ms points. They could pick the cream of the crop from custom made maps when the pc tools come out.

  • Softie2k #30 1 year ago

    Don't know why Portal 2 is such a masterpiece as Eurogamer claim. It was cut and pasted Portal 1 with a less interesting storyline. The middle section of the game was a borefest.

  • mukki #31 1 year ago

    More excellent news... Still waiting for my uk order to get here.

  • Lukree #32 1 year ago

    ^ Also still waiting for the delivery... Why our ancestors saw it as a great idea to move so far north?

  • The_Inquisitor #33 1 year ago

    This is great, I loved the tests and humour, but I hope these new DLC are more challenging. The game was great though a little on the easy side.

  • natashaspice #34 1 year ago

    imagine if this game was on xbox only no free dlc.

  • ShiroBen #35 1 year ago

    So you release one of the best games ever. And then you give us more for free. Yep, you're pure evil, Valve. Pure evil.

  • metalangel #36 1 year ago

    I love the fanboy logic here... Valve release one DLC free and immediately they're your bestest friends again, all previous transgressions forgiven, would you like a blowjob Gabe, etc.

  • ChthonicEcho #37 1 year ago

    @metalangel

    You're an idiot. Valve have been offering free DLC since the day... well, since the day they started releasing it. The hats and whatnot are microtransactions. If you wish to argue that, you're welcome. Not sure how a wrong move of a company can prevent me from appreciating a good move, or in what way that is "fanboy logic".

    @charliechan

    Well, the fact that I have to scour thirty pages sort of doesn't help your case. I'm also amused that you flung the word 'nerd', after arduously defending a video game console in a comments section on the Internet. Either way, I'll concede. Do those map packs and whatnot have achievements? I vaguely remember Valve saying that Microsoft charges for DLC with achievements attached, although I don't know how true that is.

  • metalangel #38 1 year ago

    @CthonicEcho: You have a short memory. The Potato Sack "pay to *maybe* unlock Portal 2 earlier" thing wasn't universally loved.

    Likewise the controversial release of Left4Shit2 instead of more free missions for the original. The mood swings of the Valve fanbase (who are especially rabid) are amazing to watch.

  • ChthonicEcho #39 1 year ago

    @metalangel

    You added the word 'one' before 'free DLC', therefore if either of us have a short memory, it'd be you.

    Short memory is the least of your concerns, though. "Pay to maybe unlock Portal 2 earlier"? Not only was it clear from the very start (to anyone capable of rational thought) that it wouldn't unlock drastically earlier, playing games accelerated progress, not buying them. If you didn't have any of the games already, you had the choice to purchase the pack, or any one game from the pack for 50% off.

    I can't argue for Left 4 Dead 2, because I myself was (and still am) a firm supporter of the idea that it could have easily been drip-fed DLC, without the need for devising new survivors that are shallow as a mud pool, or rushing campaigns to create a sense of abundance. That said, only childish, sore consumers turn their backs on a company because of one wrong move. I enjoyed Portal 2. According to your stance, I shouldn't, because I hated another game from the same devs? Mmm'kay, then.

    I take it the example of a rabid fanbase is somewhere within your imagination, to help with the delusion of Evil MegaCorp? Really, the only rabid morons in this scenario are people like you, who fail to provide any sound argument, save for the strawman sort.

  • metalangel #40 1 year ago

    @CthonicEcho: Why do you have to be personally insulting when defending a greedy company that doesn't care one jot about you? Still, carry on, but it makes you look like a rabid fanboy and I won't want to debate this any further.

    My point with "one" was that since incurring the wrath of their fans twice (Potato Sack and the cosmetic stuff) they then release a free DLC and the comments are almost universal praise again.

    I'm not sure why you think it's my "stance" to turn my back on companies after "one wrong move". I never advocated that. However, I do believe that Valve seem unassailable and can't see any justification for this. While I haven't enjoyed any of their recent games, I don't hate them. I don't see why their microtransactions aren't as reviled as similar attempts by other publishers, though.

  • ChthonicEcho #41 1 year ago

    It's a bit too late to play victim, don't you think? Considering it was you who waltzed into what was a celebration of comparatively content-heavy free DLC and then started going on about "fanboy logic", even though no one was saluting Gabe, rather the fact this content will be free across all platforms. And why wouldn't they? It's not nearly common enough.

    This news post has nothing to do with Valve's missteps, and this comments section doesn't have a single case of "Valve being unassailable". Again, strawman arguments. I am not defending Valve - I'll be the first to discuss their faults - but neither this news article nor these comments necessitate that.

    You're no less rabid in assailing Valve than fanboys are in defending it.

  • 32768Colours #42 1 year ago

    I touch off topic, but has anyone experienced motion sickness off Portal 2? I only ask because Portal 1 and Half Life 2 were amongst a rare handful of games that made me feel seriously sick after as little as 15 minutes play. I managed to force my way through Portal in short bursts but HL2 was a complete disaster. Read somewhere its to do with Valves FOV settings or something.

    I really want to play a game that everyone's saying is GOTY but don't want to risk more massive headaches and dizziness in the process :\

  • metalangel #43 1 year ago

    @CthonicEcho: You don't decide what get discussed here. Valve are an interesting bunch, and deserving of proper examination in all their twists and turns. I think I expected too much, what with too many comments threads being a pitched battle of the devoted lovers and seething haters. I just can't understand how quickly folks will change back and forth.

  • ChthonicEcho #44 1 year ago

    @32768Colours

    Valve has made a deliberate attempt to reduce such ill effects on the player, although I don't know how successful they have been, if at all. One thing's for sure, there's definitely less of vaulting and flinging yourself all the while trying to place portals in mid-air. I suggest watching some videos. If it's really a FOV issue, though, you can change that via the console.

    @metalangel

    Then let's talk about the weather. Or perhaps food? Or we can discuss politics and the news. While I don't decide what's discussed in each comments section, the news article does; comments may stem to the side, but it'll always be a seamless spiral, rather than disconnected topics. That's what I said in my previous post. Do you have reading problems?

    "I just can't understand how quickly folks will change back and forth."

    Tell you what, quote the post(s) in here that gave you that impression, and we'll call it a day.

  • metalangel #45 1 year ago

    @CthonicEcho: Let's just call it a day now, okay? You're obviously intelligent, so I can't understand why the bad attitude is necessary or has continued.

  • subedii #46 1 year ago

    You have a short memory. The Potato Sack "pay to *maybe* unlock Portal 2 earlier" thing wasn't universally loved.

    Odd. I thought people paid to actually get access to a large batch of really good indie games for a really good price. I don't believe I heard of a case where those games were not provided either.

    Funny how intent some people are on raging that they literally refuse to acknowledge that people who actually bought the Potato pack actually received what they pay for. That's pretty much some impressive double-think right there.

  • TeaFiend #47 1 year ago

    @ChthonicEcho:
    Still Alive was Portal 1 from the Orange Box + challenge modes. It was not a flash game.

  • ChthonicEcho #48 1 year ago

    @TeaFiend

    Never said it was. There first has been a flash game based on Portal, but it was so well-received, We Create Stuff turned it into a map pack for Portal 1, and called it The Flash Version. It later became a part of Still Alive.

  • carlitoswagon #49 1 year ago

    What about the free cake they promised me?