Metro Exodus, true to its name, is exiting Steam. The post-apocalyptic shooter will only appear on the Epic Games Store when it launches on February 15, and will stay there exclusively until 2020. Valve is not remaining silent about it. Advertisement Metro is far from the first exclusive the Epic Games Store has locked down since its launch last December, with other big-name games like Hades, Ashen, and Super Meat Boy Forever also confined to Epic’s freshly lacquered shelves for now. But this deal appears to have been a last-minute move, since Exodus was already available for pre-orders on Steam. Today, Valve posted a notice to the Metro Exodus Steam page. “We think the decision to remove the game is unfair to Steam customers, especially after a long pre-sale period,” the company wrote. “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.” On the upside, both Valve and Metro publisher Deep Silver have said that Steam pre-orders will be honored on the Epic Games Store, as will previously-purchased pre-order bonuses, expansion passes, and DLC. Epic’s standard exclusivity period so far has been one year, and Metro is following suit: Deep Silver says it’ll be on sale on Steam and “other storefronts” after February 14, 2020. An emailed statement from Deep Silver noted that “all future DLC for Metro Exodus will be released sim ultaneously on all platforms,” suggesting a situation could potentially arise in which Metro Exodus is not on Steam, but its DLC is.<doc-sep>Steam pre-orders will still be honoured for the game and its DLC. Deep Silver has announced that Metro Exodus will be a timed Epic Store exclusive and will no longer launch on Steam next month, in a move that Valve has called “unfair.” “Metro Exodus is amazing and is deservedly one of the most anticipated PC titles of 2019,” said Tim Sweeney, founder and CEO of Epic. “We are partnering with Deep Silver to launch Metro Exodus, underpinned by Epic’s marketing support and commitment to offering an 88% revenue split, enabling game creators to further reinvest in building great games and improving the economics of game stores for everybody.” Epic revealed its storefront last month, which gives developers a larger revenue split that Steam, taking only 12% as opposed to Valve’s 30%. “We are delighted to partner with Epic to bring the digital PC version of Metro Exodus to market,” said Dr. Klemens Kundratitz, CEO at Deep Silver. “Epic’s generous revenue terms are a game changer that will allow publishers to invest more into content creation, or pass on savings to the players. By teaming up with Epic we will be able to invest more into the future of Metro and our ongoing partnership with series developer 4A Games, to the benefit of our Metro fans.” Deep Silver has assured Steam customers who pre-ordered that their order will be fulfilled, along with pre-order bonuses, and any DLC included in the expansion pass through the Gold Edition of the game. Players who pre-ordered the Standard Edition of the game will still be able to purchase the expansion pass post-launch. It’s not all bad news for Steam users. The publisher has confirmed that the release on the Epic Games Store is a timed exclusive. “Metro Exodus will return to Steam and on other store fronts after 14 February 2020,” reads a press release via PC Gamer. Valve has responded to the news on the game’s Steam page, that reiterates the content availability for pre-order customers before adding, “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.” You can pre-order the Standard and Gold Editions on the Epic Store now.<doc-sep>UPDATE 29/1/19: THQ Nordic, which owns Metro Exodus publisher Deep Silver, has shared its own statement regarding yesterday's controversial announcement that 4A Games' forthcoming first-person shooter is now a one-year timed exclusive on the Epic Store. In a post to Twitter, THQ Nordic, which acquired Deep Silver and distributor Koch Media last year, sought to distance itself from the news, telling fans that the exclusivity deal was "made entirely on Koch Media's side as Metro is their intellectual property. They are a sister company of THQ Nordic (Vienna), which is the reason why we can and will not comment on this matter." not want to categorically exclude the possibility of timed exclusives for any of our games in the future, but speaking in the here and now, we definitely want to have the players choose the platform of their liking and make our portfolio available to as many outlets as possible. pic.twitter.com/oOI52rLDAi — THQ Nordic (@THQNordic) January 29, 2019 This content is hosted on an external platform, which will only display it if you accept targeting cookies. Please enable cookies to view. Manage cookie settings The publisher did offer assurances, however, that while it was unprepared "to categorically exclude the possibility of timed exclusives for any of our games in the future... speaking in the here and now, we definitely want to have the players choose the platform of their liking and make our portfolio available to as many outlets as possible." In other related news, Deep Silver has clarified via the Metro Exodus Twitter page that PC retail copies of the game will now activate on the Epic Store. Early word on its social media channels yesterday erroneously suggested that retail copies would, despite the exclusivity announcement, still be redeemable on Steam. Your physical copy of Metro Exodus will now ship with an Epic key — Metro Exodus (@MetroVideoGame) January 29, 2019 This content is hosted on an external platform, which will only display it if you accept targeting cookies. Please enable cookies to view. Manage cookie settings UPDATE 29/1/19: Epic's move to snatch up Metro Exodus is "unfair to Steam customers", Valve has said, in response to last night's news of the game switching PC stores for its upcoming release. In an update posted to Metro Exodus' Steam page, Valve cited the game having long been available to pre-order via its own shopfront (even if all existing Steam pre-orders will still be honoured). It's the first time Valve has spoken out about a game being pinched from Steam at the last moment - even though Epic previously swooped in to sign up The Division 2 and The Walking Dead's final season. Will it be the last? Here's Valve's statement in full: "Notice: 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 apologise 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." ORIGINAL STORY 28/1/19: Epic's war on Steam continues: its latest high-profile PC exclusive is Metro Exodus. The deal to release Metro Exodus on 15th February 2019 solely through the Epic Games store follows a similar deal for Ubisoft's The Division 2. There's a Steam page for Metro Exodus, but we expect it to be pulled shortly, as The Division 2's Steam page was. All existing Steam pre-orders for Metro Exodus will be honoured. Epic recently launched the Epic Games store offering a bigger cut of sales to developers than Valve currently offers through Steam. It's also made a game free to download every fortnight since. In December, Epic signed a deal with Skybound to bring Telltale's The Walking Dead: The Final Season on PC to the Epic Games store, but the deal with Ubisoft for The Division 2 was a significant step-up, and this latest deal for the promising Metro Exodus bolsters Epic's effort. Epic offers developers / publishers 88 per cent of revenue, which is significantly higher than the 70 per cent Steam offers. Epic said in order to pass the savings on to gamers, Metro Exodus will now sell for $49.99 in North America when purchased from the Epic Games store and €59.99 in most European countries. On Steam, Metro Exodus was priced £49.99. Now, on the Epic Games store, it's priced £41.99. (UPDATE CORRECTION: This UK pricing is incorrect. Metro Exodus costs £49.99 on the Epic Games store. The price saving does not extend to the UK. Sorry for the confusion.) "We are delighted to partner with Epic to bring the digital PC version of Metro Exodus to market," said Dr. Klemens Kundratitz, CEO at Metro publisher Deep Silver. "Epic's generous revenue terms are a game changer that will allow publishers to invest more into content creation, or pass on savings to the players. By teaming up with Epic we will be able to invest more into the future of Metro and our ongoing partnership with series developer 4A Games, to the benefit of our Metro fans." Meanwhile, Deep Silver said it will release Metro 2033 Redux and Metro: Last Light Redux on the Epic Games store later this year.<doc-sep>
Update 2: An FAQ on the move from Steam to Epic says that people who ordered a physical edition of Metro Exodus will not be affected, stating, "You will receive your packaged game with a key allowing you to play." It does not specify whether the key will be for Steam or the Epic Games Store, but Deep Silver clarified on Twitter today that it will be an Epic key: Your physical copy of Metro Exodus will now ship with an Epic keyJanuary 29, 2019 See more It seems a little odd that with just a couple of weeks remaining before Metro Exodus is out, the boxed editions with Steam codes haven't already been put into production—unless Epic is scrambling to replace all of those printed codes with Epic keys. I've reached out to Deep Silver for more information and will update if I receive a reply. Update: A later press release we received from Deep Silver explained that the game will return to Steam a year after release. "Metro Exodus will return to Steam and on other store fronts after 14 February 2020." Original story: Metro Exodus will release "solely" on the Epic Games Store when it launches on February 15, Epic and publisher Deep Silver have revealed today. This follows news from earlier this month where it was revealed The Division 2 was coming to Epic's store as part of a multi-game agreement with Ubisoft. If you have already preordered the game on Steam, you'll get to play it on there. Epic's exact words on that subject are that "any customer with an outstanding preorder for Metro Exodus on PC through any digital retailer will receive their game as expected." You can currently preorder on Steam, but not for long it seems. You'll find this notice now: "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." Intriguingly, the game will cost $50 on Epic's store in the US, when it was originally listed on Steam for the usual $59.99. Epic's competitive revenue split of 88/12 is hinted to be the reason behind the leaner price. "We are delighted to partner with Epic to bring the digital PC version of Metro Exodus to market," comments Deep Silver CEO Klemens Kundratitz. "Epic's generous revenue terms are a game changer that will allow publishers to invest more into content creation, or pass on savings to the players. By teaming up with Epic we will be able to invest more into the future of Metro and our ongoing partnership with series developer 4A Games, to the benefit of our Metro fans." The price in the UK remains unchanged at £50, though. Both the regular and gold editions will be available for purchase on the Epic Games Store, if you enjoy soundtracks and digital art books. The previous Metro games will also be added to the retailer later in 2019. As for Metro itself, I recently played the majority of its summer level and liked it a lot, a few pacing issues aside. What do you think of this news? Does the change in retailer make a different to you?