It was just two days ago when Deep Silver announced that Metro Exodus was switching over to being a timed exclusive from Steam to the Epic Games Store. And within these two short days, the game is facing massive user backlash in the form of review bombs for previous games in the series.
PC Gamer reports that both Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light Redux have had their pages on Steam heavily review-bombed since the Metro Exodus timed exclusive announcement. They both now show “mostly negative” recent reviews, but their overall review ratings are still “very positive.”
They are also very straightforward about it. At the very top, the review bombs state that the respective games are good games, but that the review bomb was a response to the Epic Games Store timed exclusivity of Metro Exodus.
Incidentally, these review bombs have also become a library of obscene ASCII art.
There have also been claims that the move has backfired so badly, that instead of getting more people to buy Metro Exodus on the Epic Games Store, the game went on to be the fastest-selling pre-order on Steam.
We’re working on a review system for the Epic Games store based on the existing one in the Unreal Engine marketplace. It will be opt-in by developers. We think this is best because review bombing and other gaming-the-system is a real problem.
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) December 26, 2018
Because Metro Exodus never went as far as being released on Steam, its predecessors ended up being the victims. The Epic Games Store also doesn’t allow for user reviews, unless the developers opt in for them. Near the very end of last year, Epic founder Tim Sweeney tweeted that this is to avoid review bombs like this episode, which he says “is a real problem.”
(Source: PC Gamer)
