Metro Exodus Publisher Deactivating Steam Keys Stolen from Factory

Metro Exodus just can’t keep out of the headlines lately, it would seem. First it was the target of righteous gamer wrath when the publisher decided to make the game exclusive to the Epic Games Store. Thanks to a strong boycott campaign, literally nobody in the universe bought it. Then it was the target of righteous gamer confusion (angry confusion, naturally), after it was revealed it actually sold quite well, 2.5 times better than the last one in fact. Now it’s doing the rounds again, after the publisher made it known they’re deactivating a bunch of retail Steam keys.

The keys were ill-gotten, of course. According to the statement, they were stolen from a factory in which they were printed with the idea of being included in the retail version. Since boxed copies came with an Epic Games key, none of them were actually supposed to make it out of the factory. As these things go, someone was peddling them on one of those scum-of-the-earth “third party marketplaces” like G2A, and users looking for a bargain lapped them up. If you find yourself without your unreasonably cheap copy of Metro Exodus on Steam, you should take it up with whoever sold it to you. If you’re looking to get the game, be wary of anyone selling Steam codes, obviously. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

I’m always amused by the lack of ambition of these kinds of small crooks. I like to think that, if I were to commit theft, I’d go for something with a value that could potentially justify the moral and legal burden – you know, cars, jewelry, votes. Things proper criminals steal. Definitely not a truck of special edition amiibos or a box of Steam codes.