As we reported earlier today, Metro Exodus is the latest PC game to sign a timed exclusivity agreement with the Epic Games Store (the game will come to other storefronts in 2020). Metro Exodus is far from the first game to give Steam the cold shoulder – in recent months other high-profile games like The Walking Dead: The Final Season, The Division 2, and Supergiant Games’ Hades have also made the jump, but, until now, Valve has remained silent on the issue. Well, it seems Epic has finally elicited a response from the world’s most popular PC platform.
Following the Metro Exodus news, Valve posted the following message to the game’s soon-to-be-defunct Steam page…
Related Metro Exodus Goes Epic Games Store Exclusive, Resulting in a Price Cut
“Later today, sales of Metro Exodus will be 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.”
Looks like Valve is no longer just shrugging off Epic’s aggressive moves. It’s pretty clear a nerve has been struck. The question is, how will Valve respond? Y’know, aside from leaving grumpy messages on defectors’ Steam pages? It might be time for them to bite the bullet and start sharing more profits with publishers, or sweetening the pot in some other way. How do you think Valve should approach the new competition?
Metro Exodus arrives on PC, Xbox One, and PS4 on February 15.
