It's been a long and bumpy journey, but BioShock 2's The Protector Trials downloadable content finally arrived on PC today and can now be grabbed from the Games for Windows Marketplace. As a bonus, it's free.

The Protector Trials adds a score attack mode built around the Little Sister harvesting sections, with players having to defend the wee girls from attacking splicers. It was released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in August 2010, priced at $5, and a PC release was expected soon after.

However, in October, publisher 2K Games revealed that its plans had changed and that neither Protector Trials nor the thoroughly excellent DLC mini-campaign Minerva's Den would be released on PC. Unsurprisingly, and justly, fans were appalled.

Several weeks later, 2K announced that, following the outcry, the pair would indeed be released on PC after all. 2K's Elizabeth Tobey explained what had gone wrong, saying that there were bugs which proved troublesome to squash. "As with all games, however," she said, "the dev cycle must end and patches and updates must conclude so that the team can move on to other projects."

Over the weekend, in announcing the Protector Trial's release, Tobey also confirmed that Minerva's Den is still on its way. "We're still working on Minerva's Den and I'll be making a similar announcement to this one as we get closer to a firm launch date for that pack," she said.