Capcom has announced that the time for Dead Rising 2 and Dead Rising 2: Off the Record to move to Steamworks is (almost) now upon us. Both games will be making the jump tomorrow.
The handy FAQ in the link above explains the ins and outs of the process, but the basics are as follows.
If you purchased Dead Rising 2 and/or Off the Record through Steam (or a Steam key through another retailer) to begin with, you don’t have to do anything except wait for tomorrow’s patch. This will automatically remove Games for Windows Live from the games and turn them into Steamworks versions.
For those who bought a boxed/retailer GfWL version of either game, “you can use the GFWL activation code and redeem it on Steam to get a free copy of the full Steamworks-enabled version.”
The only people who are out of luck are those who bought a digital version of Dead Rising 2 or Off the Record through the GfWL digital marketplace. Sadly, Capcom say they “cannot accommodate a Steamworks transfer for these folks as there is no authentication option available.” However, they do confirm that they’ll be maintaining functionality with those versions. So they won’t stop working or anything.
DLC purchased directly from the GfWL digital marketplace can’t be transferred over either. “Those who wish to play the game with their DLC can continue to do so with the GFWL version of the game installation and under the GFWL service.”
A tool for carrying over saved game and achievement progress has been integrated into both titles, but “will be ready shortly after launch.” When it is available, it’ll require that you sign in to GfWL one more time to authenticate and get the data moved across. This is optional, so if you just want to start again from scratch you can do that too.
The introduction of Steamworks means Dead Rising 2 and Off the Record will be getting the usual bundle of Steam stuff, including matchmaking, achievements, leaderboards, cloud saves and (again at “a later date”) trading cards.
