Saturday, February 2nd 2019
Metro Exodus Developer Discusses Boycott of the PC Platform for Sequels over Steam Review Bombing
Update 2: February 5th, 2019: A post on TwitLonger from the official @MetroVideoGame handle has looked to bring a more positive outlook to this whole scenario, in an attempt to bridge the gap between a lone developer's sentiment and the entire 4A Games studio. The post follows:
The entire handling of this issue has seen wrong turns of hand on all parts involved, the way this particular editor sees it (my, Ravenlord's, sole opinion and not TPU's, so as to avoid a Metro-style situation here), whether it be Valve, 4A Games, the lone developer who made the initial comments, and yes, the particular users in the Metro community that reacted too passionately, inflamming what was already a sticky situation. I, for one, will never see the justice in extrapolating one "wrong" move as a reason for bringing down either the trust or confidence in a whole team of people working hard to bring their creative vision to life. But I suppose gaming is like a relationship, in a way. You can read the original story below.
The whole Metro Exodus saga has been getting uglier as we get closer to launch date. We had reported earlier this very week how Metro Exodus had jumped over to the Epic Games Store for a timed exclusive through February 2020, with Valve and THQ Nordic putting out statements on this move. The move was clearly an unpopular one, and arguably for valid reasons too, but this then led to the mob turning against Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light by leaving an extreme number of negative reviews on the respective Steam store pages.
We do not agree with this behavior, but neither do we condone what happened next. A user by the handle scynet on the Russian Gameinator forums claimed to be one of the developers on the Metro game franchise, and expressed disappointment, and even anger at the review bombing ongoing. Perhaps emotions took over, when he then effectively threatened that the Metro series would not come to the PC platform again, and be a console exclusive, should this behavior continue and also if PC gamers in turn decide to not buy Metro Exodus as a result of the move from Steam to the Epic Games Store. We will note here that (a) the identity of said person has not been confirmed to be an actual developer for the game, and (b) such decisions are usually in the publisher hands. Regardless, both parties are not showing their best here, and hopefully cooler heads will prevail soon.
[Update: Feb 3, 2019: TechPowerUp user birdie has provided what appears to be the most accurate translation at this time, which can be seen past the break.]
An English translation by a native Russian (TechPowerUp user birdie) is seen below.
Sources:
User 'scynet' on Gameinator Forums, TwitLonger
The recent decision to move Metro Exodus from Steam to the Epic Game Store was made by Koch Media / Deep Silver 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. 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 due to a business decision he had no control over. We respectfully ask that any and all valid feedback over this decision is directed at Koch Media / Deep Silver, and not the developers at 4A Games.
The future release strategy of the Metro series lies with Koch Media / Deep Silver. Our decision to partner with Epic Games was based on the goal of investing in the future of the series and our development partner at 4A Games. We have every intention of continuing this franchise, and a PC version will always be at the heart of our plans.
The entire handling of this issue has seen wrong turns of hand on all parts involved, the way this particular editor sees it (my, Ravenlord's, sole opinion and not TPU's, so as to avoid a Metro-style situation here), whether it be Valve, 4A Games, the lone developer who made the initial comments, and yes, the particular users in the Metro community that reacted too passionately, inflamming what was already a sticky situation. I, for one, will never see the justice in extrapolating one "wrong" move as a reason for bringing down either the trust or confidence in a whole team of people working hard to bring their creative vision to life. But I suppose gaming is like a relationship, in a way. You can read the original story below.
The whole Metro Exodus saga has been getting uglier as we get closer to launch date. We had reported earlier this very week how Metro Exodus had jumped over to the Epic Games Store for a timed exclusive through February 2020, with Valve and THQ Nordic putting out statements on this move. The move was clearly an unpopular one, and arguably for valid reasons too, but this then led to the mob turning against Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light by leaving an extreme number of negative reviews on the respective Steam store pages.
[Update: Feb 3, 2019: TechPowerUp user birdie has provided what appears to be the most accurate translation at this time, which can be seen past the break.]
An English translation by a native Russian (TechPowerUp user birdie) is seen below.
I've watched the shit storm that gave me contradicting impressions. On the one hand, Steam withdrawal was dubious, no one before us has done this so abruptly (as far as I know). This is new and and it could have caused resentment. And also this move makes it necessary to install the Epic launcher, so it could have inconvenienced certain gamers, and caused resentment.This does not seem as feverous as initial translations make it out to be, however the underlying tones are still applicable to the same bottom line. We also are more confident now that the original poster is a verified employee of 4A Games, and likely a developer on Metro Exodus as well. He/she is no doubt passionate about the work put in to the game, and ideally recognizes that the deeds (however undeserving the review bombing of past games may be) of some members of the PC gaming community does not speak for everyone. At the same time, this does not mean that 4A Games/Koch Media/THQ Nordic/Epic Games Store are all blameless in this debacle either, just that here too the work of few is affecting the rest adversely.
On the other hand a reaction of the certain category of players ("torrents" only and likewise [he meant those who pirate games]) is hardly adequate. I've got the impression that people didn't really want to play and they have been waiting for a reason to pour out bile. It turns out that we (the developers) have toiled over for years trying to create something extraordinary but a certain category of players believes that our work isn't worth two minutes of installing a new game launcher. Naturally, it's their life and right, but why do they care about Metro at all? Obviously, they are not interested. I can only say that they've never been our players, they are not interested in our work, and as a result, for example, I'm not interested in their opinion. What's the point of me (and not only me) listening to their opinion?
But! Let's take a deeper look at the situation. Someone says that having shit on Metro Exodus and other games of the series has made the world a better place and put the greedy developers in their place. For that, I can only say that, at the worst scenario if all [PC] players boycott the game, then future games, if they get released at all, certainly won't be for PC. Will it be for the better or worse, is up to you. Personally, I will be sorry for devoted fans. But it won't change my appreciation of the work done by me, my friends and co-workers. I'm absolutely certain that almost everyone who is smearing us on the internet is not capable of the tiniest part of the work already done, and I hope, is yet to be done. Which means they are totally unaware of what they are talking about.
One extra thing. Despite the fact that during development I've finished every level of the game countless times, I still love playing Metro. I've completely finished previous games of the series several times and right now when we are putting the finishing touches to the game I'm going to finish it once more. For me it's already a tradition when I finish the game right before its release. It allows to evaluate the work we've done. What am I talking about? I remember the words of Prof [some nickname presumably - no idea who this person is] which I've heard straight from him several times and also on the Internet: you must create a game for yourself, so that first and most you like it yourself. And only now I'm starting to fully understand that - no smartass will make me doubt the work we've done. And there always will be the dissatisfied.
288 Comments on Metro Exodus Developer Discusses Boycott of the PC Platform for Sequels over Steam Review Bombing
Its an advertising gimmick gone sour.
Because a few fanbois refuse to change underwear or move out of mom's basement while refusing to install another launcher, its lame excuse for a die hard gamer.
As a Gamer, I think at this point at this stage of game distribution, its a dumb move for the game devs but yet a smart move for the Epic launcher. I remember games that are only this console or that one, all it does is hurt the developers and benefit the console its playable on.
In the end is about profitability.
these negative review posts could be seen as gamers hurting themselves, that action could prevent further development of this and other games currently in the works.
"Fans of the Metro series, as you may know, Valve takes a larger cut of our profit, we strive to make the best games possible, we understand that there are fans that for varies reasons might not be able to support us on another platform but we would truly appreciate your support by using and buying our game on the Epic Games store, this is so that we will be able to continue making great games for you now and in the future."
Instead Deep Silver, you removed the choice completely, making it exclusive to one store instead of selling it on multiple stores, like GoG and Steam. As soon as you make something exclusive to one platform there is no competition and your remove a choice from the fans. Now you cry "foul" for the push-back, how damn childish. Deep Silver; your logic is flawed, if you make it exclusive to consoles only, YOU ARE STILL BEING EXCLUSIVE and you will lose a whole market, thus you lose more PROFIT, isn't that what you are complaining about like a little tantrum throwing child not getting his ice-cream?
I tell you what Deep Silver; if you buy me a new PC with at least 32GB-64GB of RAM, with a nice 12-16 Core Processor and a nice big monitor and resolution to fit more crap in, oh dear, new monitor, bigger resolution, need a new graphics card now too to keep the framerate above 100, a nice RTX2080 will do too, only then would I be happy to load as many game clients on my machine as you want. Deal? No? Then kindly hold your tongue.
Deep Silver, you weren't thinking of your fans when you made this decision, this is what you don't seem to get.
www.gameru.net/forum/index.php?s=5cc284c8ca978cdd0330d51623d258cb&showtopic=71769&view=findpost&p=1648737
Epic also features account breaches and selling your information through tencent...
Also, reading 15 pages on that forum with handy translate english... Very much a verified account and 4a Dev.
That said, he is a dev, not a representative... he is expressing his feelings being hurt as people attack his work over publisher actions.
He is also being stupid and not understanding the situation in entirety.... people boycotting epic is not the same as people hating your game... sucks that devs are caught in the crossfire, but 4a should have some sway with the publisher, if not, write better contracts.
Didn't hear much like this about that... The arguments being made since the announcement, about EPIC store are 50% FUD and the other half is overinflated nonsense. Like yours. There is zero reflection on what countless other franchises have done over the years. There is lots of content that doesn't appear on Steam.
People are way too emotional over this and I am getting the impression this whole news article is one big troll attempt - a successful one at that. All you adults have your panties in a bunch over a game release on a different storefront than you're used to, and now some other noname on the web with a 4A logo next to his name is mad because everyone else is mad.
Get a life. Please. And that goes for everyone involved, including the people here.
If you're not buying it, then don't. Sales will determine what people really think, not some noise on the web. Thank you for participating. I know I will, this is still one of the most highly anticipated titles of 2019, the store selling it won't change that and being self-imposed 'locked' to a Steam platform is retarded - about as retarded as a console exclusive ;) See what I did there?'Us'? If you think this is a community effort in any way, you're completely mistaken. Some fiery Reddit posts don't have that effect. There is no community here. Steam is no community. Its a storefront, and we're talking about a vocal minority here. The vast majority will just suck it up, or buy later, or wait for a sale. Again: its just a store. The reasons to care about this really aren't there. Games survive just fine without being on Steam (look at Uplay, Origin, Bnet, etc etc etc).
As for being cracked, that hasn't got anything to do with the choice of Store, and is the biggest hypocrisy of a countermeasure you can imagine.
Flinging nonsense around the web of which the better half isn't even true, is not such a message. That is just throwing a tantrum like a 10 year old. Case in point, this topic, with adults tossing about -1's like nobody's business. My oh my. It'd be funny if it wasn't so very sad.
People, the platform here... is the PC. Not Steam. It never really changed. Steam and/or Epic is just another layer that you need to click through.Hey, somebody gets it, at least.
You casually pass it off as “another layer” but it’s more than that and Steam is more than that. Only Bethesda can be compared to Epic for as you put it “another layer”
How come we never saw this kind of noise about Origin, or Battlenet, or Uplay? The biggest shitstorm we saw was 'I need to DRM twice' when going through Steam and Uplay. No game boycotting, no lists like the one above... yet Origin and Uplay have been considerably worse for quite a long time. Oh, and last I checked, those stores are doing just fine.
I'm sorry mate, but the level of this discussion is an all-new low for PC gamers worldwide. This is the reality: people are too lazy to install another launcher, and the 4A dev quote hits the nail on the head - if people can't be bothered to take that effort, they're not really waiting for a Metro game. He gets it, and he lays out the consequence of a boycot for the PC platform. Again: he gets it. If the game doesn't run a profit on the PC, it won't go there again. That argument has nothing to do with Epic or Steam. Its about the game. Not the store.
Seems like the most popular counter-argument "It's only another launcher, you need 2 minutes to install it" doesn't quite work. Maybe after this fiasco their publisher will understand that it's a lot more than installing a small piece of software but also: sharing your personal info with yet another company, trusting your financial data to an unproven storefront.
Another thing that this "scynet" dude cannot fit into his big head is that the biggest ranters in this mess are people like me: the ones who owns both 2033 and LL on Steam.
To put it plainly he just shat on the actual loyal fanbase to the point where people got offended are started to cancel their Steam pre-orders.More like inferior platform which before tencent's involvement was supposed to be only an additional revenue stream from UE-based games, if my memory serves me right.
A better "logical" example: CDPR still publishes games on Steam, even though their own GOG has gotten lots of traction and they could've gotten away with making Witcher 3 an exclusive. Even with their ideological fight against DRM they still think and care about the end-user and they still think about keeping the company's profits flowing.
In case of 4A - that's not the case. They thought Metro franchise was so good and had such a loyal fanbase that regardless of their actions fans would still buy the game. I'm sure that 99.9% of preorders (incl. 3rd party sites w/ so-called "physical copies") expected to get Steam keys. Now only direct Steam pre-orders are getting a game on steam, while everyone else is getting EA keys.I doubt you are getting it: this whole situation is about the power of the consumer. If we can't wrestle 4A into selling on steam, then it only shows that their priorities are not with their customers.
Even THQ are trying to distance themselves from Koch and 4A controversy, but 4A apparently will defend their publisher to their last breath.