Valve regrets saying Epic Monopoly Metro Exodus ‘unfair’

When 4A Games announced Metro Exodus would be a one-time exclusive on the Epic Games Store, a lot of gamers were furious. Up until that point, Valve, which had been the party to pre-ordering the game, was also disgruntled: In a message to customers who purchased the game on Steam, Valve called the move “unfair to Steam customers.”

“We think the decision to remove the game is unfair to Steam customers, especially after an extended pre-order period,” Valve said at the time. “We have just been informed of this decision and must make it available to everyone.”

But Steam design and business development expert Nathaniel Blue shared with Kotaku that he just wanted to emphasize the timing of the announcement of the game’s removal, not imposing Epic’s idea of ​​​​selling the game.

“I don’t think the message was intended to upset people,” Blue said. “It’s just about timing. The game is about to come out, and then it’s exclusive to the Epic Games Store… What happened was not what we expected. It is not for war.”

Either way, the war happened. In addition to the Metro series being bombed with reviews, any exclusive announcements on the Epic Games Store are condemned by the online community.

Blue said that was not Valve’s intent.

“Our aim is not to upset the community or make war with anyone,” he said. “Our aim is for developers to reach customers, and to create an incredibly valuable place for people to play games, and to focus on that.”

As for what Epic is competing for, Blue said the word “unfair” here refers only to the timing of the announcement.

“It didn’t mean to start a war,” he said.