Deep Silver’s choice to pull Metro Exodus from Steam in favour of the Epic Games Store has caused quite the backlash from fans, particularly considering the lack of features in the latter. Those that managed to grab the game on Valve’s platform will be able to start pre-loading ahead of tomorrow’s release, but sadly the Epic Store lacks this ability entirely.

Although the official Metro Exodus Twitter account still has yet to clarify the start time, it did adamantly confirm that “pre-load for existing Stream pre-order customers WILL HAPPEN.” It didn’t take long for fans to ask whether the same feature would be available on the Epic Games Store, to which the developer regretfully informed the user that the feature is “not planned” with this 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

While the pre-load feature allows players to skip the waiting and play the game once it finally unlocks, its lack of presence on the Epic Games Store is just the tip of the iceberg. Alongside facing scrutiny for security issues, the platform also has incredibly limited social features without direct messaging, no cloud saves, no controller support, no offline play, no forums, no ability to take screenshots, no download time indicator and many more.

This would be somewhat understandable given that the Epic Games Store is in its infancy at just two months old, but customers are rightly concerned that the platform is far from ready to provide true competition to Steam.

It’s hardly any consolation with a full year to wait for those that wish to boycott, but Epic’s limited exclusivity of Metro Exodus will see the game return to Steam in 2020. For those that want to play sooner rather than later, Metro Exodus launches tomorrow, 15 February for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and the Epic Games Store on PC.

KitGuru Says: I still truly believe that the Epic Games Store could mean good things if allowed to grow, but it should have been in a better place ahead of release. For those embracing Metro Exodus on any platform, I hope that the game doesn’t disappoint.

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