Update: there is currently a VPN workaround (basically a network hack to fool Steam into thinking that you’re an American customer) that will enable you to play the game on Steam immediately. You can view the steps of the workaround here. Do this at your own risk.
Original: For those of you who have pre-purchased Borderlands on Steam: congratulations, you’ve just been royally screwed by 2K Games, the publishers for Borderlands.
The Steam release date for Borderlands in Singapore was pushed back at the eleventh hour to 30 October (Singapore time).
The North American Steam release of Borderlands is unaffected. The reason for this sudden delay for the rest of the world? According to 2K Games, it was due to miscommunication about the intended release dates for the different regions.
Originally Posted by alden
Sorry for the confusion, guys. There was a slight mix-up with the release dates. North America will be releasing in an hour or so while Europe, Australia, etc. will be releasing 12:01am GMT on the 30th.The count-down you see on the page now should be accurate.
The last time I checked the Steam store page (at 1am on Tuesday morning, 27 October), the game was due to be unlocked in about two hours.
So imagine my horror when I woke up six hours later to discover that the game was still locked. Naturally, I can understand the huge uproar from non-American consumers who have pre-purchased the game.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present Frustrated Steam-Borderlands Consumers vs Dumbass Employees at 2k Games:
Image posted by Nor, taken from this Steam forum post.
Originally Posted by KaL_YoshiKaYes I wouldn’t mind so much if the release date was changed sometime before the 27th but changing it 1 hour before release it’s just in poor taste. We have to assume that someone was aware at Steam HQ of the *proper* release dates – perhaps they received an eleventh hour communication from 2k Games but I doubt it. Now in this digital age despite the fact that the files are on my computer and not just my console brothers but also now my American ones are enjoying the game I wait an extra 3 days because of arbitrary location distribution, thanks guys I certainly feel appreciated as a consumer.
You can read the rest of the Steam-Valve-America bashing here at this Steam forum thread.
Singaporean gamers have also responded, with an epic flame war brewing at these GameAxis forum threads:
http://forums.gameaxis.com/showthread.php?t=1528502
http://forums.gameaxis.com/showthread.php?t=1526111&page=10
Anyone out there who has purchased the retail version of Borderlands? Please tell us if the retail game is playable, or if it is still “locked” like the Steam version.
So much for rushing to find a group of four friends to pre-purchase the Borderlands 4-pack. Thank goodness I didn’t stay up late for the game to be unlocked… or you can start seeing another round of Fop’s Great Justice.
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