These are all Valve not selling their own games outside Steam, their own storefront. Does Epic sell Fortnite anywhere else?

Metro Exodus’ publisher is Deep Silver. Epic, a storefront, paid through the nose to get exclusivity on distributing someone else’s product. At the last minute.

They are not the same.

Maybe it’s just me but I can’t recall any occasion where Valve said “hey devs, here’s a pile of money but you’re not allowed to sell your game outside Steam”, have any examples in mind?

Ah Tim, here we go with the “look how brutally honest we are” schtick. Yeah gamers dislike the launcher, but it’s not even about that; it’s about your business practices. Did you forget the part where you took the worst pages from the Xbox/Playstation book and tried to build an exclusivity platform on PC? Trying to buy devs with massive handouts and buy users with free games? We remember, Tim. We remember the Metro Exodus launch and the rest. Personally I can’t do much more than to deny you every single cent I can, but please be assured I’ll be doing that, and I’m pretty sure I’m not alone. I don’t even have an account with you to pick up free games because that’d be one more account that legitimizes your shitty platform. Go bankrupt at your earliest convenience please.

What’s the point of “playing” then if you won’t make decisions? Watch a movie instead…

Hey fellow Linux gamer, does the game compile your shaders from scratch every time it starts, or it’s just me? Started it 3 times so far, 45 minute compilation each time… Absolute PITA.

Edit: forgot to mention I have the GOG version, you may play in Steam with its fancy shader cache updates…?

Ukrainian devs with 3 games so far that play entirely in Russia with Russian characters… They must feel they are in a pickle these days.

I have it too, and I was patiently waiting for Forbidden West to show up on GOG too, guess it’s not gonna happen now, yo ho ho?

they could extend and improve the main story

I don’t think they can.

I have a strong suspicion that truly talented writers who are able to build memorable stories in great worlds are few and far between, and those that are willing to work in the games industry of today are as rare as hen’s teeth. Most companies, including Bethesda, simply don’t have the talent at hand to fix their mess, or there wouldn’t be a mess in the first place. The truth is probably somewhere between this, and the ol’ “eh, good enough”.

A third game? When I’m not even sure I’ll live to see the official release of the first one?

They do plan to stretch this game out until what it depicts will be possible IRL.

Aha, so voice acting and mocap don’t count, got it!

It probably means you’ll get fucked by pay-to-win mechanics