I love all things XCOM, and this hurt me so damn much.
Your analysis is spot on: this was my fear when Metro Exodus went under the Epic banner. They’re not helping create a game, like Sony with Uncharted or Ubisoft with The Division 2. They’re poaching games, simple as that. They take games that are almost completed and buy them out.
Competition is good. Unfair competition is not. Valve wins this fight easily because simply put, they’re sticking to morals on this and won’t stoop to that level. They won’t keep games from GOG, Discord, or Epic because they don’t care. Darksiders 3, Super Meat Boy, and such are allowed on the Epic Store without any issue from Valve.
I’ll link my other two posts because I feel I’ve said everything I need to say on this matter, but the TL;DR is this: Epic’s current strategy is appalling and unacceptable. They’re trying to win over consumers by stabbing them in the back.
https://206.81.1.216/t/division-2-metro-exodus-on-epic-games-not-steam-store/14935/88?u=cptmold