Metro Exodus: Steam out - what does that mean?

A new outcry went through the gaming scene in January 2019, when it was announced that Metro Exodus will not appear on Steam. Our guide explains the background, what this means for potential buyers and whether there is a chance that the game will be available on Steam in the future after all.

The "scandal" surrounding Metro Exodus is seen as a game changer by many gamers.

Steam is king among clients for PC games, but competition is heating up. The upcoming release of Metro Exodus is the latest example.

Metro Exodus: Steam users will have to switch to Epic Games

Metro Exodus is released on February 15, 2019. Unlike its predecessor Metro 2033, the post-apocalyptic shooter was initially not available on Steam, which caused shocked and angry reactions.

• Metro Exodus was instead available exclusively on the Epic Games Store for 1 year. This was an exclusive partnership with which Epic Games wanted to draw players to its side.
• Steam fans can breathe a sigh of relief in the meantime, however, as Metro Exodus has also been available for purchase on Steam since February 15, 2020.
• The background: as is well known, Epic Games belongs to Tencent, the Chinese giant that is conquering ever larger shares of the gaming market. Thus, the global hits Fortnite and PUBG also belong to Tencent via shareholdings.
• The criticism of many gamers stems from the fact that they have been using Steam as a central platform for years and the compulsion to require additional clients is perceived as annoying.

The Metro Exodus case is making particularly high waves, as the Epic Games Store wants to take off with a lot of capital and take the lead in the long run. The exclusivity of the title also militates against the perceived freedom that PC gamers see as a strength of the PC as a platform. Given the rather meager features of the Epic Games Store so far, practical arguments are also made.