Bioshock 2 Steam update removes GFWL, gives away Minerva's Den DLC to previous owners

[Pendragon 6]

Today, Bioshock 2 was migrated to Steamworks. All keys, retail and digital, can now be activated on Steam. The Steam version no longer uses Games for Windows Live or SecuROM DRM.

 

The update includes new multiplayer changes, Xbox 360 Controller support, Steam achievements, and removal of GFWL. GFWL saves and achievements do not transfer to the new version.

 

The Steam version includes the DLCs. Anyone who activates an existing key will get Minerva's Den for free; future keys or Steam purchases will not include Minerva's Den. Minerva's Den is now available on Steam for $9.99 USD.

 

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[Andytizer 269]

Fantastic news - I only recently finished the main campaign of BioShock 2, but I was forced to disable GFWL (due to some issues with it logging me in), and I missed out on Minerva's Den which I had heard so many good things about. I look forward to trying it out very soon.

 

I wonder what the implications are for other GFWL titles that are still in high demand, e.g. Fallout 3 and Dark Souls. Will they be getting similar Steam treatment?

[Garrett 219]

For reference I have updated the news post with a couple of fixes, e.g. achievements being incompatible (not just saves).
 

I wonder what the implications are for other GFWL titles that are still in high demand, e.g. Fallout 3 and Dark Souls. Will they be getting similar Steam treatment?

 

Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City are apparently being migrated to Steamworks in the same closed beta manner used for BioShock 2, so they will probably be publicly updated in the near future.

[Pendragon 6]

There's been a lot of talk about the Arkham games for awhile, they've got the Steam achievements in place.  No official word on it, though.  Aside from that, I hear rumors, but nothing solid.  Supposedly, Ultra Street Fighter IV will remove GFWL from the game and will be a paid upgrade, but I can't confirm that, either. 

 

Edit:  I did find confirmation that Ultra SF IV will switch GFWL for Steamworks:  https://twitter.com/haunts/status/367489306631225346

[Garrett 219]

Ultra was always going to be Steamworks (like all other recent Capcom releases), but this still doesn't clarify how original and Arcade versions will be upgraded if at all.

[Nicereddy 109]

I kind of doubt Bethesda will remove GFWL in Fallout 3, they don't tend to care much about properly supporting their games after they've been out for a few years.

[Pendragon 6]

Since we know securom is out, I think the news article should be updated to mention that.  Not sure if I can do that or an admin...

[Pridit 39]

I kind of doubt Bethesda will remove GFWL in Fallout 3, they don't tend to care much about properly supporting their games after they've been out for a few years.

 

That's pretty unfortunate, because of GFWL I just can't return to Fallout 3 because it's so much of a hindrance. The next time I play NV I'll be using the tale of two wastelands mod so I don't have to.

[Garrett 219]

That's pretty unfortunate, because of GFWL I just can't return to Fallout 3 because it's so much of a hindrance. The next time I play NV I'll be using the tale of two wastelands mod so I don't have to.

 

Fallout 3 doesn't actually rely on GFWL (due to being a very early title) so it can be disabled with FOSE or other methods.

 

Also remember that all GFWL games can be played with a local profile except for Bulletstorm, Age of Empires Online and Microsoft Flight; local profiles don't interact with GFWL at all (after the initial online activation of the DRM, if applicable), which cuts out all sorts of potential problems.

 

Since we know securom is out, I think the news article should be updated to mention that.  Not sure if I can do that or an admin...

 

I've reworded it to make it clearer that Steam lacks both GFWL and SecuROM. :)

[Suicide machine 54]

Even though, I knew about GFWL removal from Bioshock 2, this is still one of the coolest things, I've heard company do for a long time. I know, they had to remove GFWL, due to it going down in a (not so) near future, so they could still sell their product on Steam, but I wasn't expecting this. The fact they allowed to register old GFWL keys on Steam is amazing... but to give Minerva's Den with it - this is just beyond words for me.

 

Faith in humanity restored :P

[Nicereddy 109]

Fingers crossed that there'll be some crazy miracle and they get the rights to the OS X version and also port it to Linux in preparation for SteamOS and Steam Machines.

[Dzsono 5]

Excellent. Let's hope this is a taste of things to come!