It’s a timed-exclusive title on the PC (ARGH!)
Things aren’t looking too well for Valve and Steam. The giant when it comes to digital distribution of games has had its share of bad luck, losing several huge games to Epic’s game store. Mostly recently Ubisoft’s The Division 2 and now as of today, Deep Silver has announced that Metro Exodus is also skipping Steam. Yikes is the only word that comes to mind after hearing this.
Doing today’s announcement, Deep Silver has stated that they’ve entered into a partnership with Epic. But what’s really eye-opening is that this apparently will be a long-lasting endeavor between the two companies. One that will likely bare even more Metro titles in the future.
Update: According to Deep Silver, this is a year timed-exclusive. Metro Exodus will be available on Steam after Feb. 14, 2020. This info was posted by Deep Silver on the Steam Forum, and has posted a FAQ that answers various questions.
Check out our hands-on preview of Metro Exodus
Important Announcement – we’re partnering with Epic to bring Metro Exodus to the Epic Store. This partnership will allow Deep Silver to invest in the future of the Metro series and the development team at 4A Games. Read the full story and FAQ.https://t.co/cYu0TqUplc
— Metro (@MetroVideoGame) January 28, 2019
Thankfully, if you’ve already pre-ordered the title on Steam, Deep Silver will honor that. So you’ll still be able to download it and play via Steam. Physical copies will also have a Steam code. For everyone, you’ll need to use the Epic Game Store. Still, why do this less than two weeks from the game’s release? I could see if this happened sooner, but it’s been available for pre-order on for months. I suppose the only saving grace here is that thanks to this move, the game will be $10 cheaper. That and all in-game content/DLC will arrive on both platforms at the same time.
As someone who already owns all four of the Metro titles on Steam, but hasn’t pre-ordered the title yet. This really stinks. Mainly because I’ll have to use yet another launcher to play Metro Exodus. Sure, it’s not the end of the world, but it’s definitely an inconvenience and one I’m not looking forward to. However, my biggest point of contention is the lack of cloud saves. As it stands, the Epic Game Store does not support cloud saves, or even achievements – not that I really care about the latter. Let’s not forget the lack of mod support, user profiles (don’t you dare save over my game!). No way to screenshot, no broadcasting ability, no friends lists, no account sharing, zero forums for support or conversation. The list goes on and on. I still don’t get how people see Epic’s store as a competitor for Steam when it’s completely devoid of features that gamers are used to. Especially cloud saves!
Maybe I’ve been spoiled by Steam’s cloud saves, but perhaps it’s due to enjoying the fact that if I play my titles on a different computer, my saves will follow me. As it stands now, that won’t be the case. Heaven forbid I happen to lose my hard drive, or catch a virus that requires me to reimage/reinstall my OS. Or worse, someone steals my PC – there goes all my hard work.
Sadly, I figured we’d see more games dropping Steam and going for possible greener pastures. Metro Exodus is just the next time in what we’re seeing is a long line of titles that will forgo Steam. While I don’t have any stock invested in this all, I’m not liking this trend in the least bit. I can even see more than a few gamers changing their minds on picking up the title on the PC altogether.
What about you? Does this move affect you? Let us know in the comments.
