Even physical games have their issues! - DLC Rant!

[CrossBow]

Few years back I bought the 3D Realms release of Ion Fury in big box physical form. Excellent packaging that took me back to the days of actual releases. The game came on a USB drive as a DRM free version to install and use on your computer. As a result it didn't come with a digital redeem code or anything like that to purchase through Steam or GOG..etc. 

And the game is great fun and I still fire it up and play it even though I've managed to beat it a few times. 

Well, early last month, they finally released a new expansion add-on for the game call Aftershock and it looks really cool and has gotten favorable reviews. So what is the issue then?

Well, the issue is that Aftershock only seems to be available currently in digital form through Steam or GOG for PC. However, while I do have Steam and GOG accounts with a lot of games on both, Ion Fury isn't one of them since again, I own the game in physical release outside of those services.

So the issue is that Steam and GOG will NOT allow me to purchase the add-on separately because I don't own the base game digitally through their services!? I was more surprised about GOG because they sell DRM releases. But nope...it lets me add the expansion to my cart, but will NOT let me purchase it stating I don't on the GOG release?!

And the 3D Realms site doesn't seem to offer any information about this? To be fair, they did offer a big box release for Aftershock, but it was way more expensive than I wanted to pay for an add-on when the add-on digitally is a $15 purchase vs the big box releases being nearly a $100. And even then, those big box releases sold out fast! So digital is the only way to purchase it. But now that means I have to double dip and buy the base game again... 

This might be the first time I've seen this take place, but yeah even though I own the game in physical from from 3D Realms directly, there isn't a way for me to purchase and play the new add-on expansion without purchasing the base game again digitally through Steam or GOG as both of those services will not allow you to purchase the new add-on DLC unless you have the base game in their digital form on your accounts with them.

 

[socrates63]

That's a bummer, Jesse. It's unfortunate that 3D Realms doesn't offer an economical solution to get the DLC for folks who bought the base game in physical form.

[CrossBow]

19 hours ago, socrates63 said:

That's a bummer, Jesse. It's unfortunate that 3D Realms doesn't offer an economical solution to get the DLC for folks who bought the base game in physical form.

Well, there is a slight silver lining to this.

I posted about this in a big box PC collectors group on FB and someone there posted that the crazy expensive versions of the game came with a digital download code and they thought the less deluxe boxed version also did. However, they received it as an email from 3D Realms at the time they bought the game physically. So... I did a mass search on my emails for the keyword 3D Realms and sure enough... back in Summer of 2019 when I bought the boxed physical version, they did indeed send me a Steam redeem code for the game digital as well. I'd never used it or paid any attention to it because I had it physically and installed and played it that way. But yeah, apparently they did send digital codes via email years back when it was purchased.

I was able to redeem the code finally after 4 years on my Steam account and then was able to buy the DLC add-on to play. I can kinda see why it was only offered as a big box release and digital in this regard. The DLC changes the entire starting screen and options on the game compared to what it was before. So while the base game is needed, it seems that many aspects of the core engine of the game are replaced out for the new DLC stuff to work and it likely isn't as feasible to offer this as a separate download on its own without having to deal with quite a lot of support headaches. With the digital versions, those core base game has all the needed updates applied so the DLC will work properly.

So yes, I have the add-on and able to play. But if I hadn't been reminded about this possible digital code having been sent years ago, I wouldn't know to look for it. And good thing I haven't updated or done a complete system reload in that time else, that email would have been lost. And... because I bought the game under a guest account through their website, I wouldn't have had a way to refer back to their support for it to try and get another code sent as they require your account with them to refer to the previous store purchases. They changed their web store to a new site and format over this summer so my guest account purchase essentially doesn't exist in their records at this point.

 

Edited November 8, 2023 by CrossBow

[socrates63]

Cool, glad there was a happy resolution, Jesse. It's also great that the code didn't expire after all these years. When I went to active Humble Bundle Steam codes that I bought years ago, I found that some had expired or some had redemption windows that I forgot about and missed.

[CrossBow]

3 minutes ago, socrates63 said:

Cool, glad there was a happy resolution, Jesse. It's also great that the code didn't expire after all these years. When I went to active Humble Bundle Steam codes that I bought years ago, I found that some had expired or some had redemption windows that I forgot about and missed.

Yes, this I've known about with Humble Bundles at least. I wasn't sure about the code still working either, but I opened up my Steam client and went strait to redeem the code and it gave a success and the game just auto installed. At that point, the add-on was still in my cart and I could now purchase it. So it was pretty seamless at that point.

I think Steam codes are basically good forever, but the codes that humble gets might be created by Humble themselves and that is why they have windows for expiration on them.