Developers who release games exclusively on the Epic Games Store can face review bombs, aggressive messages and threats – which is why Valve has not commented directly on any Epic Store exclusives since Metro: Exodus.

When Metro Exodus released as an Epic Games Store exclusive, Valve responded, stating that “We think the decision to remove the game is unfair to Steam customers, especially after a long pre-sale period.” But Valve has not done this again, in the wake of the harrassment just about everyone involved in the project, including the author of the original novel, received.

Speaking to Kotaku, Steam business developer Nathaniel Blue said that Valve didn’t “intend to upset people”, but acknowledges that their words acted as a “lightning rod” for harassment.

“In the future we didn’t continue to do that because our goal is not to upset the community or light anyone’s hair on fire,” he says. “Our goal is to get developers close to customers, have a really valuable place for people to play games, and stay focused on that.”

Despite the outcry, the Epic Games Store has continued to attract high profile exclusives on PC, including Borderlands 3 and Shenmue 3. Most of these have been timed exclusives, though – a lot of these games will eventually make their way to Steam.