Deep Silver, the publisher of the Metro series of video games, says that the PC remains “at the heart” of the franchise’s future. This statement is a response to a 4A Games developer warning that the next Metro game would skip PC if fans boycotted Metro Exodus for its Epic Games Store exclusivity deal.
After Deep Silver announced their game would have a one-year exclusivity deal with the Epic Games Store, fans were very displeased. Games in the series were subject to review bombings on Steam, with a common review featuring two middle fingers in ASCII with the words “Deep Silver Epic Store” between them. In addition, there were grumblings about boycotting the upcoming release. In response, a 4A Games developer wrote a post on the Russian Gameinator forums. The post, roughly translated via Google Chrome, warned fans that if they boycotted Metro Exodus simply because it was an Epic Games Store exclusive, the next Metro game wouldn’t have a PC release.
Yesterday, Deep Silver, owned by Koch Media, gave their own response via TwitLonger, this time to the developer’s warning. The post clarified that the decision to move Metro Exodus to the Epic Games Store was made solely by Deep Silver/Koch Media. They also stated that the developer’s post does not reflect the publisher or developer’s views on the future of the franchise. It does, however, reflect the frustration and disappointment of someone who’s being blamed for a business decision they had no control over. Any valid feedback should be directed to Deep Silver/Koch Media. Deep Silver concluded by saying their 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.” They fully intend on continuing the franchise and the PC is a major part of their plans.
Metro Exodus releases on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and the Epic Games Store February 15, 2019. A Steam version will release one year later.