“Installed but Invisible: How macOS Quietly Blocked the Viking Forefathers Pack (and How I Unblocked It)”

I ran into this while testing a fresh macOS setup and figured it was worth writing down while it’s still fresh.

The URL slug points to Viking Forefathers Pack (game), which looks like a DLC or add-on pack rather than a full standalone title. I was installing it alongside the base game on a MacBook Pro with an M1 Pro, running macOS Sonoma 14.2. Everything downloaded fine, no warnings, no errors. And then… nothing. The content just didn’t show up in-game.

This is one of those problems that feels dumb because nothing actually crashes.

What I was trying to do

I had the base game already installed and working. The goal was simple: install the Viking Forefathers Pack and load a save to see the new content. The launcher said the pack was installed. Steam (or the equivalent game client) agreed. macOS was quiet. Too quiet.

I launched the game. No new scenarios. No new assets. No obvious toggle or checkbox. It looked exactly like the DLC wasn’t there at all.

First attempts that didn’t help

My first instinct was the usual stuff:

• Restarted the game (twice).
• Restarted the client.
• Rebooted macOS, because superstition still works sometimes.

Nothing changed. I checked the in-game menu again, thinking I might’ve missed a toggle. Nope.

Then I assumed the download was corrupt. I removed the pack, reinstalled it, and watched the progress bar very carefully like that would make a difference. Same result: “installed,” but functionally invisible.

At this point it felt less like a game issue and more like macOS quietly doing its thing in the background.

What clicked

The giveaway was Console.app. Buried between normal log noise were a few lines about blocked file access inside the game’s container. No crash, no alert, just macOS denying access to a folder where the pack’s assets lived.

This is classic modern macOS behavior. If extra content is dropped into a location the game wasn’t originally notarized for, the system may block access without throwing a user-facing error. Apple documents this behavior pretty clearly, but you only go looking for it after you’re annoyed:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202491

In short: the pack was there, but the game wasn’t allowed to read it.

What actually fixed it

The solution ended up being boring, but precise.

I fully quit the game and the client, then went to System Settings → Privacy & Security and scrolled all the way down. Sure enough, macOS had logged a blocked access attempt from the game binary. Clicking “Allow Anyway” didn’t instantly fix things, but it changed the rules.

After that, I launched the game by right-clicking it in Finder and choosing Open (not double-clicking). This matters because it forces macOS to re-evaluate permissions for that binary. Apple explains why this works here:
https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/open-a-mac-app-from-an-unidentified-developer-mh40616/mac

On the next launch, the pack finally showed up. New content, new assets, no drama. I didn’t have to disable Gatekeeper globally or mess with Terminal, which was a relief.

I also bookmarked this page while cross-checking how macOS handles third-party game content, because it lined up almost exactly with what I was seeing in Sonoma:
https://smohamad.com/game/61831-viking-forefathers-pack.html

Not official documentation, but it helped confirm I wasn’t chasing a phantom bug.

Sanity check after the fix

Once the content appeared, performance was fine. No stutters, no missing textures. I played for about 40 minutes and loaded a couple of older saves to make sure nothing else was broken. Everything held up.

That was the confirmation that this wasn’t a bad download or a broken build—it was purely a permissions issue.

What I’d do immediately next time

If I had to install another pack like this on macOS, I’d skip the guesswork and do this right away:

• Install the DLC, then quit everything.
• Check Privacy & Security for blocked game access.
• Launch the game once via right-click → Open.
• Only then assume the content is actually missing.

macOS doesn’t always tell you when it’s protecting you “for your own good,” and games with modular content are especially good at triggering this silent behavior.

Nothing exotic here, no hacks, no disabling security features. Just understanding how Gatekeeper and runtime permissions interact with add-on content in 2024 macOS.

Once you know that, the problem stops feeling mysterious—and stops wasting your evening.