Purchasing BC2 Vietnam on Steam vs non-Steam

[Kalms]

Edit: Updated with info regarding gifted Vietnam

There seems to be some confusion regarding purchasing Vietnam. I hope this clears things up.

Any stores that "sell BC2 Vietnam", sell a 16-digit code. This code can be entered into the BC2 game client - any version of the game client. Entering this code unlocks Vietnam for that EA account. No additional download is necessary.


Here are some typical scenarios:

You have bought the base game on Steam, and Vietnam on Steam - this works. If you choose "Battlefield: Bad Company 2" in the Steam client, and select "View game CD key", you will see a list with all BC2-related keys - including the Vietnam key.

You have bought the base game on Steam, and someone gifts you Vietnam on Steam - this works. If you choose "Battlefield: Bad Company 2" in the Steam client, and select "View game CD key", you will see a list with all BC2-related keys - including the Vietnam key.

You have bought the base game on Steam, and Vietnam somewhere else - this works. The Vietnam expansion will not be visible in the Steam client, but you can access it in-game.

You have bought the base game somewhere else, and Vietnam somewhere else - this works.

You have bought the base game somewhere else, and Vietnam on Steam - this is not possible, because Steam will not sell Vietnam to someone who does not have the base game on Steam.
[Initially, it was possible to make this specific purchase - but Steam changed that fairly quickly.]
If you somehow did manage to make such a purchase, please contact Steam support to resolve this.

You have bought the base game on Steam, and someone has gifted you Vietnam on Steam - this works. If you choose "Battlefield: Bad Company 2" in the Steam client, and select "View game CD key", you will see a list with all BC2-related keys - including the Vietnam key.

You have bought the base game somewhere else, and someone has gifted you Vietnam on Steam - well... Long story. Sometimes the Steam client stops him/her from doing the gifting. Sometimes the gifting will succeed; Steam will then know that you have Vietnam, but you will not see it in the Steam client because you do not have the base game. Therefore you will not be able to view the 16-digit code for Vietnam. Contact Steam support to resolve this.


We have been in contact with Steam, and their support department is aware of the above.


The "Vietnam" menu in BC2 will say 'go buy the expansion' until Dec 18th. (It will still say so after you have bought the expansion.) After the 18th, the dialog will change to one where you are asked to enter your code.

[1PuEBlo1]

You have bought the base game somewhere else, and Vietnam on Steam - this is not possible, because Steam will not sell Vietnam to someone who does not have the base game on Steam.
If you somehow did manage to make such a purchase anyway, please contact Steam support.

Won't buy it then...

[Natalie Portman]

Originally Posted by 1PuEBlo1

Won't buy it then...

Because you can't not because you don't want to

[thatswhatisay]

Originally Posted by Natalie Portman

Because you can't not because you don't want to

he can buy it from EA store and it will work if it is a non steam version. READ PEOPLE!

[762mmFMJ]

Originally Posted by thatswhatisay

he can buy it from EA store and it will work if it is a non steam version. READ PEOPLE!

ea store did not worked for me , i tried with 2 credit cards , what i was supposed to do?

[breakd0wn]

Originally Posted by 762mmFMJ

ea store did not worked for me , i tried with 2 credit cards , what i was supposed to do?

Try D2D? Or some other online retailer. I guess you could even find a retail copy of vietnam if you look around properly.

[iRdMoose]

Originally Posted by Kalms

You have bought the base game somewhere else, and someone has gifted you Vietnam on Steam - I don't know yet what will happen in this case. Will update once I get that info.

This is my case. I won a steam copy of BC2:Vietnam on Steam, but I have the retail version of the game. It's too bad Steam can't work out a deal with EA/DICE to allow retail users to activate their BC2 key on Steam. That would solve all of these problems/questions.

I'd even pay $5-$10 to migrate my key over to Steam.

Originally Posted by thatswhatisay

he can buy it from EA store and it will work if it is a non steam version. READ PEOPLE!

Except that the EA's store doesn't work with all the countries. Personally, I'm trying to figure out how the hell I can get my hands on that DLC/expansion considering I live in Serbia (and therefore can't use EA's store) and have a retail version (and thus can't use Steam). Any ideas would be greatly welcome :\

[_Duality_]

Originally Posted by Vrach

Except that the EA's store doesn't work with all the countries. Personally, I'm trying to figure out how the hell I can get my hands on that DLC/expansion considering I live in Serbia (and therefore can't use EA's store) and have a retail version (and thus can't use Steam). Any ideas would be greatly welcome :\

Try D2D?

Originally Posted by _Duality_

Try D2D?

Canada/US only.

[weeschwee]

i have contacted EA about this a few times and have gotten the answer that my digital version of BFBC2 from the EA Store will work with the Steam version of Vietnam. what's the deal? is EA completely wrong? all is that i thought i could play today, but apparently not. i thought buying through Steam was supposed to get you early access too.

[massakre]

So will the CD key we get from steam work in the main menu of a retail copy of the game? I don't care about opening or downloading the game through Steam

Originally Posted by _Duality_

Try D2D?

Ok so there's a UK version of D2D... now if I was to buy the original game, it's available for Serbia (and Montenegro)... but buying Vietnam is a no go, doesn't have the same availability.

Are you familiar with the age old robot saying "does not compute"?!

[762mmFMJ]

Originally Posted by Vrach

Except that the EA's store doesn't work with all the countries. Personally, I'm trying to figure out how the hell I can get my hands on that DLC/expansion considering I live in Serbia (and therefore can't use EA's store) and have a retail version (and thus can't use Steam). Any ideas would be greatly welcome :\

Same as my case , i live in Romania and i can't use EA STORE . Unfortunately i bought Vietnam from steam about 14 days ago .
I didn't found any online retailer web site that i could trust / accept my country . I hope ea and steam make an agreement or give me a refund .

[Satertek]

You have bought the base game somewhere else, and Vietnam on Steam - this is not possible, because Steam will not sell Vietnam to someone who does not have the base game on Steam.
If you somehow did manage to make such a purchase anyway, please contact Steam support.

I did this the first day it was up for pre-order, worked fine. I'm hoping it'll just give me a CD key that will work, if not I'll have to go through the support process I guess.