Steam and THQ Nordic Issue Statements on Metro Exodus Exclusivity on Epic Games Store

[VSG]

We reported yesterday how Metro Exodus unceremoniously left Steam for a year-long exclusivity deal on the Epic Game store, one of many steps that Epic and Tencent are taking to challenge the Goliath of PC gaming storefronts itself. Valve was quick in putting out a rare statement yesterday, which has been updated since to reflect the status of the game on Steam, and it can be seen below verbatim, with THQ Nordic's take on this matter past the break.

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 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.

THQ Nordic, likely sensing the tide against them, put out a statement on Twitter shifting all responsibility to Koch Media GmbH, saying the latter entity owns the Metro IP, even though THQ Nordic acquired Koch Media in February last year. Take the statement below for what you will, but it does nothing to assuage those wanting the game accessible on Steam anytime soon:

The decision to publish Metro Exodus as a timed Epic Store exclusive 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. We do 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.

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[the54thvoid]

Hey Steam, get Valve to make Half Life 3 and Left 4 Dead 3. If you hadn't sat on your arse for so long, you'd still have some of your own 'epic' IP to sell.

 

[Deleted member 158293]

WTF?! Blaming your own subsidiary?!

THQ... that's not how this works...

 

[erixx]

Oh crybabies, who cares. Metro is a fantastic saga and will do great on Epic.

 

[neatfeatguy]

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.......

There's an epic game store? How long as that being around?

Oh crybabies, who cares. Metro is a fantastic saga and will do great on Epic.

To each their own. I thought the Metro games were okay. They weren't overly simply and you just walked through them with ease, they just felt too linear and a bit too scripted for my liking. It doesn't hurt my feelings where the company decides to sell the next addition to the saga, I wasn't looking to pick up a copy and if I do, it wouldn't be anytime soon. However, there will be people that won't buy it because of where it's being offered for the first year. By the time it does hit other digital stores, folks that didn't buy it probably won't be swooping in to pick up a copy because they'll be busy playing other games.

 

[moproblems99]

which is the reason why we can and will not comment on this matter

I'm confused....

 

[AsRock]

Oh crybabies, who cares. Metro is a fantastic saga and will do great on Epic.

Always thought it was kinda meh, find it way to linear too keep interest. Linear games make me fall alseep.

Anyways will not bother me the slightest...

Lets face it they it costs a lot to have your game on Steam.

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

So Koch Media are not to concerned about the effect on customers who may wish to keep games under one password security risk, they just want more money.

THQ, Koch just cost you a customer.

ill buy it when GOG or humble sell it Perhaps , since with humble i might get to donate their bit to charity.

no , no , i just say no.

 

[Vayra86]

Not exactly a kind way to do this, but I still fancy this movement away from Steam. Its about damn time other platforms matured a bit, and mostly, publisher-independent platforms.

So Koch Media are not to concerned about the effect on customers who may wish to keep games under one password security risk, they just want more money.

THQ, Koch just cost you a customer.

ill buy it when GOG or humble sell it Perhaps , since with humble i might get to donate their bit to charity.

no , no , i just say no.

Wow, that is a new one One password security risk... so if that one password gets cracked, you lost everything. How is that better than spreading your stuff around a bit? How is it even relevant to begin with?

I think that argument is not even about security in the slightest, but about being lazy. In the end we all benefit from a bit of pressure on the pricing these middle-men present to devs.

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

Not exactly a kind way to do this, but I still fancy this movement away from Steam. Its about damn time other platforms matured a bit, and mostly, publisher-independent platforms.

Epic are'nt a publisher , you know if cheaper games was the end result of any of this i would be ok with it but i dont think anyone believes games are getting cheaper.

 

[Vayra86]

Epic are'nt a publisher , you know if cheaper games was the end result of any of this i would be ok with it but i dont think anyone believes games are getting cheaper.

You don't? I do. There is simply more wiggle room for developers on existing titles, and for new ones, they get to deal with a much lower cut on their budget, which leaves more money for actual development and/or marketing. And even if they don't, I'd much rather see my money paid to the actual creator of a product than to some worthless middle man. I don't benefit one second from Steam, it only feeds off everyone using it. Oh yeah, we get some extra functionality to go with it... stuff that developers and other third parties can do much better (Discord for friends & voice, Nexusmods for the workshop, and that's pretty much it).

With publisher -independent I mean platforms NOT like Uplay/Origin/Bnet.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Well... I guess this is gonna happen...

Dont worry THQ, I'll give you monies when you decide to come back to steam after sales of the game has tanked or sold less than predicted because you choose to chase an imaginary rabbit into the middle of nowhere.

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

You don't? I do. There is simply more wiggle room for developers on existing titles, and for new ones, they get to deal with a much lower cut on their budget, which leaves more money for actual development and/or marketing. And even if they don't, I'd much rather see my money paid to the actual creator of a product than to some worthless middle man. I don't benefit one second from Steam, it only feeds off everyone using it. Oh yeah, we get some extra functionality to go with it... stuff that developers and other third parties can do much better (Discord for friends & voice, Nexusmods for the workshop, and that's pretty much it).

With publisher -independent I mean platforms NOT like Uplay/Origin/Bnet.

then some random guy gets the middle money and hes probably a money man with no interest in games?, id rethink that wish we have Origin as the dev version of that.

I agree in part with some of your point ,i was surprised steam took such a high cut but ,issues aside they have proven themselfs capable landlords, hopefully they will realise their rents still too high.

And im ok with Epic , I dont like exclusivity deals for shops, you can affect the same thing by offering a massively reduced price exclusively from one outlet to get the same while allowing others the option to buy it their way.

I dont benifit form Tesco , but if i had to go to some new shop called terrys across town for beer because they took it as an exclusive off tesco i would be a very angry man lol

I dont benifit from steam ,origin or any of these shits but this is PC land ,only the tech you have should limit what you can do IMHO ,exclusives on pc wtaf that alone is some confusing shit to happen to a wall less ,system arch.

 

[moproblems99]

You don't? I do.

Let's be real. No one reduces prices any more. If they do, it is accompanied by a reduction in quality. EDIT: In an effort to make the previous content easier to understand: is it really a reduction in price if a reduction in quality comes with it?

I'd much rather see my money paid to the actual creator of a product than to some worthless middle man.

I do agree with you here though.

 

[Vayra86]

I dont benifit form Tesco , but if i had to go to some new shop called terrys across town for beer because they took it as an exclusive off tesco i would be a very angry man lol

I dont benifit from steam ,origin or any of these shits but this is PC land ,only the tech you have should limit what you can do IMHO ,exclusives on pc wtaf that alone is some confusing shit to happen to a wall less ,system arch.

This is a very good point actually. Both the exclusive part and that of the beer getting moved. Not a fan of either. BUT. Maybe this is the kind of heavy weaponry we need to dethrone Steam. As good a landlord as they are (to a degree, IMO), I think its good to realize that the very thing they have established (ready-to-eat gaming and added services from a single point of entry) is also their business model, and by saying you won't buy anywhere else, you play into that, weakening your own position as a customer. Its very similar to other on-demand services like Netflix or Spotify. They get an awfully strong position to determine what you eat and what you pay for it. There are also similarities to a Google Search Bubble here. Its never good to limit yourself like that.

Let's be real. No one reduces prices any more. If they do, it is accompanied by a reduction in quality.

I'm not saying reduce the price, that would be ludicrous. But consider the smaller developers that work on tight budgets not forced by shareholders but by real limitations - they have 20% more wiggle room now. All of a sudden their 20 dollar indie title gets a whole lot more perspective.

Besides, do you really think EA or Blizzard or Ubisoft will be eager to push games around on any store but their own? The fat guys take care of their own business anyway, they want control.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

WTF?! Blaming your own subsidiary?!

THQ... that's not how this works...

As THQ Nordic says, Koch Media is a separate entity:
https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/0...saints-row-metro-dead-island-owner-koch-media

The assets and liabilities are THQ Nordic's but Koch Media is independently operated.

 

[moproblems99]

I'm not saying reduce the price, that would be ludicrous. But consider the smaller developers that work on tight budgets not forced by shareholders but by real limitations - they have 20% more wiggle room now.

Perhaps I misunderstood what you said. You quoted this:

Epic are'nt a publisher , you know if cheaper games was the end result of any of this i would be ok with it but i dont think anyone believes games are getting cheaper.

If you meant, production costs, then I still don't agree with you. That extra money is going straight to the developers pockets in many cases. They have watched what 'gamers' are willing to buy and know exactly where they need to place their products.

Want proof? Look at the GPU industry. And to some extent, DRAM.

 

[Andromos]

I love buying games from alternatives like GOG. It's DRM Free, I can play games without any launchers, and I can customize/edit the game files as I please.

Since they are fully supporting and offering all future DLC to people who already bought it on Steam it does not seem like a big deal to me.

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

This is a very good point actually. Both the exclusive part and that of the beer getting moved. Not a fan of either. BUT. Maybe this is the kind of heavy weaponry we need to dethrone Steam. As good a landlord as they are (to a degree, IMO), I think its good to realize that the very thing they have established (ready-to-eat gaming and added services from a single point of entry) is also their business model, and by saying you won't buy anywhere else, you play into that, weakening your own position as a customer.



I'm not saying reduce the price, that would be ludicrous. But consider the smaller developers that work on tight budgets not forced by shareholders but by real limitations - they have 20% more wiggle room now. All of a sudden their 20 dollar indie title gets a whole lot more perspective.

Yeah i agree , perhaps , steam could improve ,but im not shop racist dude , i have a origin , gog ,uplay, epic, ps4 and xbox and blizzard account despite hateing each ones creation.

It really is this exclusive shopping shit, but also and more so pulling it, make the choice when you should, when you have chosen dont f**k over consumer land with this shit , if i were going to buy it on steam and preordered their assurances id be served would not be reassuring since i know They dont KNOW their own Mind, clearly.

@moproblems99 i couldnt care less about devs costs, not my concern, i care about what im paying for games, and hardware isnt in this thread bro just shops and games

 

[Vayra86]

Perhaps I misunderstood what you said. You quoted this:



If you meant, production costs, then I still don't agree with you. That extra money is going straight to the developers pockets in many cases. They have watched what 'gamers' are willing to buy and know exactly where they need to place their products.

Want proof? Look at the GPU industry. And to some extent, DRAM.

I misunderstood myself, or should have put it differently, what am I smoking ATM- AHEM. Anyway. NO, I don't think games will get cheaper right away when published on Epic Store. But I dó think we won't be depending on 'The Steam Sales' to get us cheap content anymore. There are going to be multiple storefronts with price cuts. As for 'developers' pockets - yes. But no single developer can eat from a single game release. They will start a new project, and there will be more potential cash to draw from.

 

[Tsukiyomi91]

not gonna give my wallet to Epic... simple. Also, I too using multiple clients; BNet, Steam etc. Sometimes having all on Steam is better but not always a good thing when game studio investors want >50% profit going into their company (e.g Origin for EA) & not to Valve... hence the "storefront exclusive" bs. I think seeing Metro doing "last minute change" is not gonna bode well as angry mobs are gonna rant on every social media platform.

 

[Vya Domus]

The biggest gripe I have with this game is by far the fact that they have taken the "Metro" out of the Metro series. I have just seen the last gameplay footage. Deserts ? Really ?

 

[moproblems99]

@moproblems99 i couldnt care less about devs costs, not my concern, i care about what im paying for games, and hardware isnt in this thread bro just shops and games

I didn't intend that for you. Moreso showing Vayra what Vayra quoted. I didn't even think about it giving you the alert that I quoted you. My mistake.

 

[Vayra86]

I didn't intend that for you. Moreso showing Vayra what Vayra quoted. I didn't even think about it giving you the alert that I quoted you. My mistake.

You can simply put a sentence in between QUOTE markers, removing the member name from it

 

[jabbadap]

How about hose who buy that physical PC DVD...