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Mass Effect 2 (2010) > Guides > AbedsBrother's Guides
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Mass Effect 2 DLC Guide - Updated June 2023
By AbedsBrother
How to obtain the DLC that are included with your Steam copy of Mass Effect 2.
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Created by
AbedsBrother
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Category: Modding or Configuration
Languages: English
Posted
Updated
15 Mar, 2018 @ 2:15pm
9 Jun, 2023 @ 5:49pm
21,273 Unique Visitors
530 Current Favorites
Guide Index
Overview
New Changes 
Downloading your DLC 
Installation 
Purchasing Additional DLC 
Comments
New Changes
June 2023: Tidying this guide a bit, as EA have made some major changes.

There are now 2 versions of Mass Effect 2 on Steam (excluding the Legendary Edition):

- Mass Effect 2 (2010)
- Mass Effect 2 (2010) Edition

The first one, Mass Effect 2 (2010), is the version that all us owned for many years. It's the version that this guide was created for. It has now been removed from sale and afaik can no longer be purchased on any storefront (except maybe 3rd-party / grey market keysellers, and those will only last until key stocks are depleted).

In its place is the second version, Mass Effect 2 (2010) Edition. This version includes all of the DLC, and downloads through Steam just like we wanted for so many years.
But but but...
While this second version downloads through Steam, it requires the sh*tty EA Play app.

If you own Mass Effect 2 (2010) on Steam, you got the newer Mass Effect 2 (2010) Edition for free.

But if you want to play Mass Effect 2 entirely through Steam and not have to bother with EA's "launcher", you'll have to use the original Mass Effect 2 (2010) version. If you have this original version of Mass Effect 2 (2010) in your Steam library but never purchased the DLC, you'll have to resort to sailing the high seas to get the DLC to work, as there is no longer a way to acquire additional DLC.

There are ways to sail the high seas that will make the DLC work. They exist. But I will not be detailing the methods here.

I will leave all download links available as long as they continue to work. (Drop a comment if you find any that don't work, and I'll remove the links). I will also leave my own Google Drive links up and intact.
Downloading your DLC
3. Visit https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/origin/origin/download-dlc-for-classic-origin-games/ to download the DLC that you own.

Edit, January 2021: Been getting some complaints & reports from people who are having trouble (browser permissions, anti-virus etc.) accessing the download links. As an alternative, I have backed up the DLC installation files to a cloud drive.

You can find all of them here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1xFzTv6Bo91bTDwjFwlKiGHqBOYPt9j4s

These files are exactly as I downloaded them from EA's website.

Always scan any downloaded files with a good virus scanner!
Installation
4. Run Mass Effect 2 once into the menu. This lets the game create default configuration files. Then exit the game.

5. Install the DLC by double-clicking the installation files you downloaded. Your Mass Effect 2 installation should be automatically detected. The order of installation does not matter.

6. Play the game.

If you try to install DLC that is not registered to your EA account, you will receive an “unable to verify downloadable content” message (or similar) when attempting to play the game.
Purchasing Additional DLC
It is no longer possible to purchase additional DLC for this version of Mass Effect 2.


212 Comments
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Kingcoomson 25 Sep, 2024 @ 1:41pm 
This helped me crack it thankyou, not paying for a game and dlc i've bought twice, weird you like ea so much tho, gl
AbedsBrother  [author] 22 Jun, 2024 @ 7:57am 
@Shuubi play the game. Once the intro section is over and Shepard is free to explore the Normandy, you should get a bunch of on-screen notifications about installed dlc.
Snaxxor 22 Jun, 2024 @ 2:39am 
How do you even verify this DLC?? Being signed into the "cerberus network" or even literally owning it does not allow you verify it.
Leo Arg 3 Jun, 2023 @ 1:49pm 
About the annoying error: "communication with the Mass Effect 2 server was interrupted or has timed out. Please try again later" can be solved by deleting the file "\Documents\BioWare\Mass Effect 2\BIOGame\Profile\Player1.prf". I understand that this file has the connection information to the cerberus network, but once the dlcs are validated it wouldn't be so important.
Leo Arg 3 Jun, 2023 @ 1:49pm 
Looks like I don't need to use the hack after all.

I opened the EA app & ME2 appears there. I installed the DLCs that the app allowed me. I guess it just does a check. Other DLC were listed to be managed by steam.

I tried to run the game with the EA app but it gave an error. Running an installation repair is enough to make it works. Then I logged into the Cerberus network (using my EA app username). When I exited the game, all the DLCs were already listed as installed. Apparently with that step, everything was validated.

However, when I want to run the game on Steam, it only opens the EA app... I solved it by a installation validation (on Steam now, this breaks again installation on EA app). But I understand that now every DLC should be correctly installed and validated.

Well, I haven't played the game yet, so I don't know if all DLCs are really installed, but it seems so. Someone should check it out.
Leo Arg 2 Jun, 2023 @ 8:21pm 
I suppose that the main reason to use it is precisely not having to use the EA app. I understand that the "new" version doesn't work well with steam deck
AbedsBrother  [author] 2 Jun, 2023 @ 8:05pm 
@Leo Arg moot point because the Mass Effect 2 (2010) Edition
- includes all the dlc
- was given for free to anyone who owned the old version of Mass Effect 2 on Steam
- is the only version currently for sale on the Steam store

There is literally ZERO reason to play this old version of the game. If people want to, they are free to do so o/c, but I won't be telling them how. And I plan on deleting this conversation once it is over to remove any references to drm hacks.

I will be editing the guide shortly, and I plan on leaving all the download links available (provided they still work). But I will not provide any tips on bypassing drm.
Leo Arg 2 Jun, 2023 @ 6:36pm 
If I go to the address, https://www.ea.com/games/mass-effect/mass-effect-2 , there is no longer any "Add-ons" tab to buy the DLCs for a $0 price.

All the owners of the classic version have been recived the "2010 edition" in their steam accounts, which has all the DLCs. And you say DLCs for the classic version are free... So if you want to use this classic version you shouldn't have a major ethical dilemma to use masseffect-binkw32, since it is now the only activation option.

Here, https://cs2bus.com/app/24980/discussions/0/1700542968201694297 , You have discussed with another user about the legality of masseffect-binkw32. The discussion makes almost no sense at this point...
trstdgbln 29 Apr, 2023 @ 4:17pm 
My dude, from the bottom of my heart thank you. I am about to start sending my therapy bills directly to EA.
SnobbyCoder60 12 Feb, 2023 @ 2:51pm 
EDIT: I downloaded the Kasumi.exe DLC but when I run the game it says “unable to verify downloadable content”; how can i fix it? Thanks in advance..