Even my 4-month-old kitten could have predicted that things between Steam and Epic would escalate after the Epic Games Store was launched. Epic is delivering on their promise to give away a free game every two weeks for an entire year. Another way Epic is pulling in more PC gamers is by having exclusives on the Epic Games Store. For example, The Division 2 is skipping Steam for the Epic Games Store already, but now, the war has seriously escalated.
Many PC gamers still prefer Steam and let’s face it, it is a mammoth platform. That isn’t slowing Epic down, however, as Metro Exodus (perfect name for this situation by the way) has been pulled from Steam. Gamers could already pre-order Metro Exodus on Steam but the developer and publisher A4 Games won’t bring their game to Steam anymore.
Valve isn’t happy about the whole situation, as the game was obviously advertised on Steam as well. In a post on the Steam page for Metro Exodus, Valve noted that it is unfair to their users. The only good news is that PC gamers who already pre-ordered Metro Exodus on Steam will have their order fulfilled. Valve explained the situation:
Sales of Metro Exodus have been discontinued on Steam due to a publisher decision to make the game exclusive to another PC store.
The developer and publisher have assured us that all prior sales of the game on Steam will be fulfilled on Steam, and Steam owners will be able to access the game and any future updates or DLC through Steam.
We think the decision to remove the game is unfair to Steam customers, especially after a long pre-sale period. We apologize to Steam customers that were expecting it to be available for sale through the February 15th release date, but we were only recently informed of the decision and given limited time to let everyone know.
Taking initiative to bring exclusives to your platform is okay. However, the Steam and Epic Games Store battle shouldn’t negatively affect gamers, which is what Valve is pointing towards. Right now, Metro Exodus is on the Epic Games Store’s main page and although Valve only said “another PC store” it doesn’t take a genius to figure out which store they are referring too.
What do you make of the fight brewing between Steam and Epic Games Store? Let us know in the comment section below.
