A quantity of Metro Exodus Steam keys were reportedly stolen from a factory where physical Metro Exodus packages were being produced. As you may know, Metro Exodus was originally planned to launch on Steam before a last-minute change had the game moved over to the Epic Games Store instead. The publisher was honoring pre-orders, but they had also already begun production in physical packaging which included Steam keys prior to the Epic Games Store deal being made.
Unfortunately, the publisher says in a Steam Community discussion post that a number of keys from these defunct physical packages were stolen by some unscrupulous worker at the production facility. These stolen keys found their way onto third-party grey market sites and were subsequently purchased by some people. As a consequence, these stolen keys have been deactivated and any illicit copies gained from stolen Metro Exodus Steam keys are being removed from players libraries.
One user in the discussion post inquired as to why Deep Silver had not headed off this problem at that pass. Their response was, in short, that they were simply unaware that these Metro Exodus Steam keys had gotten into the wrong hands. The binaries on this series of keys were disabled from the get-go as a precaution, and it was only when players contacted them about their games not updating correctly that Deep Silver became aware of the problem.
Deep Silver recommends that anyone who finds their Steam copy of Metro Exodus deactivated contact the seller and demand a refund. Some users in the thread are already reporting success, although they are unfortunately finding that the seller can only offer them an Epic Games Store key as a replacement. If you want to get Metro Exodus on Steam, it's probably best to wait until the 1-year period of exclusivity is up. In the meantime, check out our review of the game!
What do you think of stolen Metro Exodus Steam keys being deactivated? Do you think Deep Silver is making the right move here? Let us know in the comments below!
