BioWare offers free copies of Mass Effect to Black Ops II players
By
Laura Parker, Associate Editor
Company says it will offer a free PC copy of Mass Effect Trilogy to the first 50 players who can prove their retail copy of Black Ops II included a Mass Effect 2 disc.
Earlier today, it was reported that some gamers who purchased a PC retail copy of Call of Duty: Black Ops II also found a copy of Mass Effect 2 inside the box.
Responding to the report, Mass Effect developer BioWare has embraced the mistake, offering the first 50 players who can prove that they were affected by the shipping mistake a free PC copy of Mass Effect Trilogy.
"If you were one of the affected, chances are you thought it was a mistake, but we prefer to think that it was an omen, and when the universe talks, you should listen," BioWare wrote on its official blog.
"If the universe thinks that you should be playing Mass Effect right now, who are we to argue?"
To qualify, players must take a picture of themselves with their copy of Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and send it to BioWare. More details can be found here.
The issue has been reported by users on the official Call of Duty and Steam forums, as well as from gamers on Reddit. The cause of the error is unclear, though it appears to be related to a mistake made on the game's production line.
By
Laura Parker, Associate Editor
Laura Parker is the Associate Editor of GameSpot Australia. She loves adventure games, sparkly stuff, Trivial Pursuit, cake, Master Chief, earthworms, and rhetorical questions. She once stole a sandwich from Peter Molyneux.
168 comments
6 Like @gamefreak215jd I hope you're being facetious. I wasn't able to save a child who stepped on a landmine in the Sudan during a medical relief tour.
This comment has been deleted
@SirJarred @gamefreak215jd Well that is kind of sad.I was just kidding when I said that.I actually meant the biggest regret in my gaming life.As for real life I have bigger regrets and who knows how many more will I have.Besides do you work for the red cross or something,you know out of curiosity?
So we just have to take a photo of the discs,submit it to Bioware and then exchange the discs to get the proper copy,the result:4 games (or as some prefer to say 3 and a half) for the price of one,Best special offer ever!!
Still I like COD for single player so 3 and a half would not be bad.Who wants DLCs any way.
2 Like That's just weird. I just wonder how that happens? I mean I am going to guess that the disks for both CoD BO2 and ME2 are made in the same factory or something and they somehow just got placed in the wrong case. Still that makes me ask another question, I thought Mass Effect 2 was no longer being made outside of the new Trilogy pack so is there just a pile of them somewhere? Still what a strange mistake.
lucky for those 50 pc gamers, who owns those black ops ii, they'll have at lease $120 worth of games if brought at the launch days.
14 Like Activision does nothing, while Bioware offer a "sorry" free game for a game that is not even made by them. Activision you fail so hard
Activision should counter that offer by also giving the first 50 players with this problem a free copy of Black Ops 1, that would make them the luckiest players ever.
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3 Like @Venatorcruiser Great idea but they are gonna have some counter measures And I guess the date of manufacture must also be shown in the photo.
3 Like SCORE , nice dude Bioware... these are things for us to love Bioware !
I love you Bioware >:D<
8 Like So, this "mistake" of including ME2 disc 2 in your PC copy of CoD was not an accident but a totally planned action? Are you saying that a higher power was involved and mere mortals like us had no control over this event? Yeah, right!
Anyway, I consider those 50 people getting ME trilogy are actually winning a lot with this mistake. Good for you.
7 Like Right now a certain person that works for Activision (His first name starts with a B) is pondering if it is possible to charge the gamers who had the above problem some extra cash to receive disc 2 of Black Ops II :P.
1 Like This continues to be one of the most bizarre gaming news items I have heard in awhile.
6 Like It's pretty good of Bioware - seeing the funny side and giving away a few free copies of ME2 - considering it is a rival company that has screwed up.
"We're incompetent, want a free game you either already own or never want to own?" I admit this isn't the worst way to spin a gaffe.
2 Like @strayfies Call of Duty is published by Activision. Mass Effect by EA. Call of Duty: Black Ops II was developed by Treyarch, Mass Effect by BioWare.
I fail to see what you mean.. I just think that this makes BioWare even more awesome. It's not like they had any need to do this, Mass Effect is one of the biggest current franchises lol
8 Like @strayfies Are you kidding? You realize Bioware has NOTHING to do with Call of Duty? They are a rival company....
11 Like
Wait, what? This was the best way to do it. It wasn't their fault that this happened and they still responded in a way that is funny and a smart marketing move.
It's not right, they must show a picture of black ops ii and mass effect 2 in the package to prove it, not just a random black ops ii.
12 Like in my opinion Bioware is one of the bets if not the best non-independent studio of today, my opinion has now been even more reinforced...to the people saying only 50 copies: are you insane in the membrane? a company completely unrelated to your problems is giving you 3 free games and you nag? tell me the last time a company just gave out 150 games for free and not as compensation or such...
12 Like @thorn3000 You're joking right? BioWare went down the pan the moment they were bought by EA.This is the company to accept any form of criticism and regularly bans and ignores fans for their opinions well under the thrall of EA.
@IgotEpixx @thorn3000 I hate it when a company gets bought by another.The sort of shit that happened with halo.
8 Like They responded to the ME3 backlash by changing the endings for the fans (something I personally don't agree with, but they did it).
Regardless of what you think of BioWare, don't you think this was a clever move on their part?
2 Like This is, at the same time, hilarious, a nice gesture from Bioware, and sticking it to Activision.
2 Like How in the hell is this even possible? The two companies aren't even related, in fact, they may be considered each other's arch enemy... This sounds like it was intended by EA, a sabotage of some sorts... Never heard of anything this ridiculous in the industry.
1 Like @scarletsnake It would be great fun to watch this situation develop if this was in fact "sabotage", but i would just like to point out the obvious in stating that the packaging and/or actual production of the discs of the game could have been outsourced and that EA and Activision happened to use the same manufacturer for both games.
@redluigi11 @scarletsnake They must share the same plant, I doubt they both own any real plants.
2 Like @scarletsnake On PC it almost does seem that way true but on console the 360 discs for some got mixed up with Lego Lord of the Rings (a WB Interactive game)! I'm thinking this could have been caused by either intentional sabotage or overzealous employees at the disc pressing centers. Either way, something seriously strange going on with this release, I don't think something like this has ever happened at this scale before.
1 Like @chronocommander @scarletsnake If WB does the same as Bioware/EA did, I'm gonna die laughin.
1 Like @chronocommander Haha didn't know about the LotR discs on 360 versions... This is getting stranger by the second.
@scarletsnake Exactly. That's why I LOLed when I heard it was a different company doin' the actual compensatin' for Activision! LOL
3 Like @June-GS @scarletsnake it's not compensation, it's taking advantage of their mistake.
@TigusVidiks Well, NO DUH! I was OBVIOUSLY being sarcastic. It was a jab AT Activision for NOT makin an actual "compensation"! Jeez... =.='
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