Warner Bros recently announced that Batman: Arkham Knight was going back for sale on the PC. With the game duly patched, it all mostly works as intended, without the sometimes crippling performance hit seen before the updates.
When it was announced, consumers-types expected that Warner would give away the game’s frankly lacklustre DLC away to PC gamers as some sort of recompense – but they were wrong. That didn’t happen, and people were angry.
Well, PC gamers, your whining wasn’t for naught – buying Arkham Knight on PC now does get you some free stuff. Unfortunately, it’s very probably free stuff you already own.
Anyone buying the Arkham Knight before 16 November (yes, including those of you who bought it when it was first released) will get the entire Arkham series of games added to your Steam libraries. Of course, if you’re buying Arkham Knight, you’re probably invested in the series anyway, and already own them.
Buy Arkham Knight and you’ll own Batman: Arkham Asylum GOTY, Batman: Arkham City GOTY, Batman: Arkham Origins, and Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate. Hooray?
Rocksteady will be also creating a new “Community Challenge Pack” that will be given free to PC gamers who own Arkham Knight. In addition to that, because it is Steam, after all, you’ll also get some Arkham-inspired…Team Fortress 2 items. Yes, Batman hats.
To recap, here’s what Arkham Knight PC owners will get:
- Free digital copies of games from the Batman: Arkham library.
- The “Community Challenge Pack” DLC.
- The Batman: Arkham inspired Team Fortress 2 items created by the Batman: Arkham community.
I’m not sure that’s a suitable olive branch. I think the season pass – laughable as it is – would have been a better freebie. It seems I’m not the only one, because people are still angry.
“Screw you WB,” says one angry batfan. “Your attempt at “compensation” is worse than laughable. Most of us ALREADY have the games you’re trying to give us. How about giving us a DLC season pass instead? It seems like you idiots actively try to piss off your fan base and the people who would happily give you money if you provided a quality product on time that actually works. You keep slapping us in the face. How much longer do you think people will stay loyal? Your’e disgusting.”
It’s one of many such complaints (70 pages worth!) that essentially boil down to the same thing: People who’re buying Arkham Knight already own the rest of the games, so they feel like they’re getting nothing.
What do you think? Is this vitriol warranted, or is it just another example of gamer entitlement?
Last Updated: October 29, 2015
Captain JJ the Goo
October 29, 2015 at 08:08
WB is really trying so hard.
Even if I didn’t own all the previous versions this wouldn’t sell the game to me.
They screwed up big time and I’m not going to support a company that half-asses something in an industry as big and influential as this one.
Hammersteyn
October 29, 2015 at 08:09
They underestimated the power of the refund.
Captain JJ the Goo
October 29, 2015 at 08:10
I kind of wish I’d bought and refunded it. Sounds like it was all the rage for this game.
Grand Admiral Chief SpaceNinja
October 29, 2015 at 08:17
I pictured Palpatine saying this
Hammersteyn
October 29, 2015 at 08:23
jobs done!
Grand Admiral Chief SpaceNinja
October 29, 2015 at 08:24
Have a medium-rare steak for your effort. 500g. You earned it
Hammersteyn
October 29, 2015 at 08:28
Omnomnomnomnom
Greylingad[CNFRMD]
October 29, 2015 at 08:10
Even with them trying as hard as they are, the mistake they made was to not ensure that their contractor was doing it’s job, kind of like the Emperors new clothes… It’s hard to morally justify this, they are trying really hard to get the Arkham fans back, but too little too late….
Captain JJ the Goo
October 29, 2015 at 08:13
That’s why you do tests. Like every other company should, especially in the gaming industry.
So either they just didn’t do proper testing, or they tested it and decided to let it pass with all its problems. Both of those are equally bad.
There’s no excuse for what happened. It’s their name, their responsibility to do QC, and they didn’t.
Where I work we don’t produce our products, we just license and sell them. But if I was to put a Disney stamp on something that falls apart when the kid opens the box I’d be in big shit.
This was WB fault.
Greylingad[CNFRMD]
October 29, 2015 at 08:26
Exactly! I believe that they might have contracted out the whole package for the port to a single company, clearly the biggest mistake they made, you see quality assurance is something that is controlled by a series of standards, so if a company has a rating, for example ISO or otherwise, you would expect them to be good at it, in that case you might as well let them do the QA for you, simply because it’ll be included in your production package, the problem comes in when those standards certifications are bought and your test setup entails a limited range of hardware. Definitely WB’s fault for not doing the QA separately, but if they were mislead, well….
Captain JJ the Goo
October 29, 2015 at 08:29
True also. So it might be as small as a single person not doing their checkup.
Sad really.
Greylingad[CNFRMD]
October 29, 2015 at 08:33
Exactly, but at least they now had the whole gaming community play testing it for them, or at least the three people that didn’t opt for Steam refunds….
Captain JJ the Goo
October 29, 2015 at 08:33
Haha. Early access.
Alien Emperor Trevor
October 29, 2015 at 08:38
Nope. Batman: AO was a buggy port on release, MK:X was a buggy port on release. They weren’t mislead, they just didn’t give a shit.
Captain JJ the Goo
October 29, 2015 at 08:38
I bought AO beginning of this year for $5. Totally worth it for that.
Greylingad[CNFRMD]
October 29, 2015 at 10:52
Hopefully now they’ve decided to not follow the same recipe, you know the not giving a shit one…
Gustav Minnie
October 29, 2015 at 08:16
I’m itching to play this game but I can wait a year and get it on Steam sale.
Grand Admiral Chief SpaceNinja
October 29, 2015 at 08:17
I’d even wait 2 years
Captain JJ the Goo
October 29, 2015 at 08:19
The Steam reviews on this game….
“It seems like Mr. Freeze has won.”
” “Maybe… Nobody will notice?” -WB “
Alien Emperor Trevor
October 29, 2015 at 08:23
At least everyone buying it is getting Blackgate for free. 😉
Captain JJ the Goo
October 29, 2015 at 08:24
I was wondering about that! Hehehe
HairyEwok
October 29, 2015 at 08:32
Sorry my mind is too fixated on Fallout 4 to care about Batman now.
Nikola
October 29, 2015 at 08:50
They really screwed the PC gamers on this one and no compensation will be enough. Game was really good but if I was a PC gamer I would not buy it or support them not cool!!
James Anderton
October 29, 2015 at 09:09
http://www.quickmeme.com/img/8e/8e1528353c706001f9214d785e760d5f0b811e455a57527fdd85223b30f2c1f2.jpg