Epic’s war with Steam means gamers in China can’t play Metro Exodus

Just weeks before launching the hugely-awaited Metro Exodus, a surprise announcement sparked the anger of gamers around the world.

The developers announced that the PC game would become exclusive to the Epic Games Store, a new challenger to the dominance of Steam. Gamers were furious about having to access a separate platform to access their games.

But in China, the move from Steam to Epic means more than just inconvenience. It means the game isn’t available at all -- in the world’s biggest gaming market.

Getting a game officially released in China is tough. There are plenty of regulatory hoops to jump through. And plenty of content needs to be cut to suit the censors: Everything from blood to even skeletons.

That’s why gamers in China love Steam; or, to be more precise, the international version of Steam. Officially speaking, Chinese gamers aren’t supposed to have to access to the international version of Steam. But they do — allowing people to play a huge range of uncensored games not available in China. That’s why there are almost 30 million people in China using Steam.