couple of minutes to install the launcher."

He warned that "if all PC players announce a boycott of Metro, then the next Metro, if it does happen, is definitely not on PC."

Koch Media/Deep Silver has stressed that this is not the stance of the publisher in a Twitter response via the official Metro account, reiterating that the decision to move Exodus to the Epic Games Store was "made by [us] alone".

"The recent comments made by a member of the 4A Games development team do not reflect Deep Silver's or 4A Games' view on the future of the franchise," the firm wrote. "They do reflect the hurt and disappointment of a passionate individual who has seen what was previously nothing but positive goodwill towards his work turn to controversy duethe move to Epic.

The news was first announced last week, and has prompted a remarkably strong reaction. Following the initial wave of negativity, THQ Nordic (which owns Koch Media and Deep Silver) emphasised that it was a Koch decision, seemingly distancing itself by suggesting it prefers to let players choose the platform for as many of its releases as possible.

It later distanced itself from this distancing by saying that it "fully supports" Koch Media's decision in this case.

Our own Rob Fahey offered his thoughts on the backlash, arguing that console-style exclusivity deals are a fair tactic in the battle to shake up Steam's monopoly on the PC market.