Steam wins?
The PC release of Metro Exodus has been rife with controversy ever since Deep Silver decided to pull it from Steam. Despite confirmations that the series wouldn’t be leaving the PC space anytime soon, fans have been review bombing the past games on Steam in some futile effort to change things. In an odd win for Steam and Valve, Metro Exodus will soon be available for pre-load to players that secured a copy before Deep Silver changed platforms. The same can’t be said for Epic, though.
Since the Epic Games Store is quite lacking in features (a thing we mentioned on Impulse a few weeks ago), pre-loading games isn’t available for any titles on the service. Steam has had the option for years now, so fans are able to download the game ahead of its launch and skip waiting. Most people will probably not utilize this (Exodus won’t return to Steam until 2020), but it’s funny how Steam has a leg up when it comes to this particular game.
Just to confirm – Metro Exodus pre-load for existing Steam pre-order customers WILL HAPPEN, and we will announce expected start time in due course.
— Metro Exodus (@MetroVideoGame) February 12, 2019
We regret to inform that pre-load via the Epic Games Store is not planned.
— Metro Exodus (@MetroVideoGame) February 12, 2019
I wouldn’t call this particular lack of feature a reason to scream and cry, but it does show that Epic has a long way to go if it seriously wants to tackle Steam. Without basic functionality like friend list chatting, forums, download ETAs or filters for searching the storefront, Epic has almost set itself up for failure. This is a digital distribution platform that resembles Steam circa 2004 instead of something from the modern era.
I do believe the competition from Epic will mean good things for everyone, but I don’t want to see the company resorting to poaching titles to earn users instead of providing useful features for its customers. Maybe the lack of pre-loading is small fries in the grand scheme, but I do hope Epic can do better going forward.
Metro Exodus PC pre-load will be available on Steam, but not the Epic Store [VG 24/7]
