Stolen Steam keys for Metro Exodus were deactivated

Initially, Metro Exodus was expected to release on PC via Steam – the game was available for pre-order for quite some time, but then the rushed transfer toward Epic Store happened. By that time, there were a lot of Steam keys printed for use in retail copies that never reached the end-user. Well, they didn’t reach officially.

These keys were eventually stolen and afterwards sold on third-party websites so that the gamers could enjoy Metro Exodus in Steam. Unfortunately for those who decided to buy such keys, the publisher Deep Silver decided to end the overall experience by banning them. The company claimed that the keys were never intended to work anyway, although the players said completely the opposite. They were able to download and launch the game as if it was normally sold through Valve’s digital service. However, with the recent update, Deep Silver completely removed the game from the libraries of those who bought unauthorized keys. This change obviously doesn’t affect the players who pre-ordered the official Steam version beforehand.

Funnily, the retail copies of the game were the initial Steam ones, with the only difference that the Steam logos were sealed over by Epic Store stickers. It once again reminds us of the unbelievably frustrating situation of moving Metro Exodus between stores.