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Earlier today, Deep Silver and Epic Games announced that the PC version of 4A Games’ Metro Exodus will, after today, be sold exclusively on the Epic Games Store and not on Steam. There are important caveats to that exclusivity: Existing pre-orders through Steam, which have been available for months, will be honored; physical copies will include Steam keys; and the deal is exclusive for one year.
Still, Valve calls the decision to pull Metro Exodus sales from Steam in favor of Epic’s digital store “unfair.” In a statement posted to the game’s Steam store page, Valve alerted potential buyers about the exclusivity arrangement and weighed in on what it means for its customers:
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.
Meanwhile, Deep Silver attempted to calm concerns about the game’s content and how Steam customers will be able to access it in an FAQ also posted to Metro Exodus’ Steam store page. Steam customers will still be able to purchase stand-alone DLC for Metro Exodus on the platform, the publisher said, and no existing content or future DLC will be exclusive to Epic’s store. “All future title updates, patches, and free and premium DLC will be released simultaneously across both versions,” Deep Silver said.
We reached out to Valve for comment on what it considers “unfair” about the Metro Exodus exclusivity deal and will update when the company responds. In the meantime, many Steam customers are voicing their displeasure over Deep Silver’s arrangement with Epic Games via the Metro Exodus FAQ’s comments section.
