Steam MW2 locked until Thursday

By Robert Purchese Published 10 November, 2009

But retail PC owners can play now.

Those of you who bought Modern Warfare 2 on Steam will not be able to play until Thursday.

Meanwhile, those buying a PC copy of Modern Warfare 2 from shops today can play immediately.

Both versions use Steam DRM procedures, but Valve has not explained why the Steam-bought copy requires an extra two-day wait to play.

Modern Warfare 2 was released around the world last night. The UK launch took place in London's Leicester Square, overseen by celebrities such as Vernon Kaye and one of the Black Eyed Peas.

Our Modern Warfare 2 review was published moments ago.

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.

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

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Comments (20) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • b00n #1 2 years ago

    That sucks if you just bought the Steam version!

  • chrissieboy #2 2 years ago

    I pre-ordered on Steam at the weekend and have it sitting on my PC awaiting activation. I am mildly disappointed with the decision to lock play until Thursday but it is only 2 days and in the grand scheme of things it's not that big a deal.

    It will however question if I should pre-order from Steam in the future. Wish I'd known about the Sainsbury's console copy deal at the weekend. Still, got to dust off the GTX275 sometime!

  • GamerG #3 2 years ago

    probably to keep retailers happy but seriously honestly surprised this wasn't mentioned before!
    Edited by 1 at 10/11/09 @ 08:43

  • DerFlange #4 2 years ago

    Can Valve give a legitimate reason why, if you buy through Steam , thus giving them money, you then end up playing your game two days after everyone who bought it elsewhere?? I'm all for self flagellation(no I am) but this smacks of the old fuck you effect. Why??

  • Freek #5 2 years ago

    Buy digital, you will get the game instantly..........2 days later then everybody else...

  • booner #6 2 years ago

    Retail FTW, Digital download is the future remember.....

  • UncleLou #7 2 years ago

    Annoying, but it makes sense, I guess. When you buy on Steam, they tell you the exact release date, so you know what you're in for. When you buy a retail copy, you expect to be able to play it immediately. What they've done in the past, namely to tie retail copies to Steam and its release date, is a big problem.

    Maybe it's a reaction to the shitstorm after the Borderlands release, where people were waiting up to a week before their retail copies unlocked.

  • DFawkes #8 2 years ago

    As far as I've read, it was Activision, not Valve, that made the stipulation that Steam bought copies should unlock later. I'm not entirely sure why - I'm not sure if shop bought copies give Activision themselves a bigger cut or not.

    Is a bit annoying though. I really wanted to play today, so did consider getting it on Steam, but the extra few days wait was more than it'd take me to order one online and have it delivered. It is a puzzling decision, but it's not really going to hurt sales much I reckon.

  • Ultra238a #9 2 years ago

    Ha! Retailers given a chance to get some sales on the PC version - don't make me laugh!! Out of the three game retailers in our town none of them now sell PC games or accessories. Steam and the like are the way forward for PC games so stop dicking us PC gamers about!

  • giant_frying_pan #10 2 years ago

    11.12.09! Get ready!!!

  • Byblos1 #11 2 years ago

    I used to love Steam when I could get games at US prices on US release dates. Now it's a total rip-off, any new title can be usually be bought cheaper elsewhere (including their own games like Left 4 Dead).

    Not only that but there's this seemingly arbitrary assignment of release dates, and licensing restrictions which mean that in certain regions of the EU you can't access certain games (the UK had to wait for months to get access to EA's games).

  • sneetch #12 2 years ago

    @DerFlange
    Can Valve give a legitimate reason why, if you buy through Steam , thus giving them money, you then end up playing your game two days after everyone who bought it elsewhere?? I'm all for self flagellation(no I am) but this smacks of the old fuck you effect. Why??

    The release dates and prices are up to Activision, not Valve. I'm sure they did a deal of some sort with the retailers.

  • giant_frying_pan #13 2 years ago

    The release dates and prices are up to Activision, not Valve. I'm sure they did a deal of some sort with the retailers.

    But...but...but...11.10.09! ELEVEN TEN NIIIIINNNNEEEE!!!!111

  • ryandsimmons #14 2 years ago

    "11.12.09! Get Ready!!"

    Why? What happens in December?
    Edited by 1 at 10/11/09 @ 13:15

  • actionfitz #15 2 years ago

    @ ryandsimmons
    /thread winner.

  • Iain815 #16 2 years ago

    I have a retail copy and steam just told me I can't play till Thursday?

    WHAT. THE. FUCK!?
    Edited by 1 at 10/11/09 @ 15:33

  • Wyrm #17 2 years ago

    Assumably people knew this when they bought it though, they must surely have given an unlock date.

  • Chufty #18 2 years ago

    Activision and IW (not Valve, you clueless Internet dickheads) have done everything in their power to piss off the PC gaming community with this game.

    It's a good job the series has turned into a bland console shooter anyway, so it will be no great loss when they don't even bother with a PC version of Call of Duty 2010.

  • Moz #19 2 years ago

    Ouch!!!! -- Someone need their head examining. Download just doesn't seem like a good choice at the moment which is surprising given how badly publisher seem to want to make it the norm! With delays like this a priceing being all over the place retailers have nothing to worry about for a long time!. (Ended up buying boxed copy of Bloodbowl from GAME as it was £25 instead of the £35 for the download!!)

  • Nephirion #20 2 years ago

    I would like to know why the delay? Activision and Valve have said nothing so far, whats the point of purchasing something digitally if its 2 days behind the real world?
    Edited by 1 at 10/11/09 @ 23:27