The Epic Games Store has snatched another title from Steam. Deep Silver's Metro Exodus has now been announced as the newest exclusive title to arrive Epic's newly minted and rapidly growing storefront, launching Feb. 15.
The post-apocalyptic shooter had originally appeared on Steam before publisher Deep Silver just recently decided to pull it out of Valve's digital store. Preorders made through Steam will still be honored.
In addition, Steam customers will still be able to purchase standalone DLC for Metro Exodus on the platform even during the exclusivity period, the publisher said, and that 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."
Metro Exodus Leaves Steam For Epic Games Store
While this is certainly another terrific achievement for Epic Games, it will eventually expire. Metro Exodus will remain an Epic Games Store exclusive only until 2020, at which point it re-enters Steam.
Valve did not like the initial announcement, calling the decision "unfair." In a statement posted to the Metro Exodus Steam page, the company expressed its disappointment.
Here's What Valve Has To Say
"We think the decision to remove the game is unfair to Steam customers, especially after a long pre-sale period," said Valve, adding that news of the game's transition to the Epic Games Store came as a short notice.
Epic has been on a poaching spree of late, that much is clear. Seeing as it promises to offer developers a larger cut of total sales, it's easy to see why studios are warming up to the Fortnite maker's storefront. Currently, Steam takes 30 percent of all total sales and leaves the rest to developers. However, it recently revamped this policy in a way that incentivizes titles that sell a lot of copies.
By contrast, Epic is luring the video game community with a much better offer — just a 12 percent cut, with the remaining 88 percent for developers to keep. Time will tell whether it'll manage to grow as big as Steam is now, but it's certainly becoming more and more of a formidable rival. As a way to entice players, the store offers premium games for free for a limited time. At the time of writing, it's The Jackbox Party Pack. Then, starting Feb. 7, it'll offer Axiom Verge until Feb. 21.
Thoughts on Epic Games poaching Metro Exodus? Do you think Epic's store will eventually be as big as Steam? As always, if you have anything to share, feel free to sound them off in the comments section below!
