Outer Wilds Becomes the Latest Epic Games Store Exclusive

The announcement comes in an update from Mobius, where the studio lists a pretty important reason for the exclusivity deal.
The announcement comes in an update from Mobius, where the studio lists a pretty important reason for the exclusivity deal.

Indie studio Mobius Digital recently released a new update regarding its long-awaited Outer Wilds, but not everything is sitting well with fans.

Recommended Videos

Despite Outer Wilds being promised as a Steam game during its crowdfunding campaign, Mobius says it will now be an Epic Games Store exclusive on PC. It will also launch on Xbox One at the same time, but no update yet as to when that release date will be.

Presumably, the game will be a timed exclusive. The team said its goal is still to “… bring the game to your preferred platform as quickly as possible,” and it is well aware of the many concerns over Outer Wilds suddenly switching from Steam to EGS.

However, it seems there were issues behind the scenes backers weren’t privy to. The update mentions the team wasn’t always able to share everything that was going on during development, and there’s one particularly telling piece of information that sheds some light on funding possibly being an issue:

Throughout the development of the game, we’ve welcomed helpful partnerships with Annapurna Interactive, XBox [sic], and Epic to support us and keep our small studio running long enough to ship the game at the level of quality that it is today. Each of these partnerships has enabled us to make the game better and more accessible for everyone who will play it.

In other words, it appears Mobius struggled during development and needed some additional outside help to make Outer Wilds come to life. It’s not too surprising either, given how Epic positions itself as the developer’s helper.

Still, many backers, and PC gamers in general, are less than pleased with the move. A portion of gamers isn’t happy with the EGS at the moment, mostly due to its lack of features such as cloud saves, though also from concerns over its security.

Another issue is how it doesn’t support Linux and isn’t available in all countries.

Still, the EGS is less than a year old, and if recent history is anything to go by, more games are going to be making their way to it soon.

It’s already snagged all of Ubisoft’s upcoming games, not to mention hosting Borderlands 3 for a limited time, and a number of other big games from 2019.


GameSkinny is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more
related content
Read Article Predator: Hunting Grounds Will Get New Content With IllFonic Takeover
Predator watching prey from the treetops.
Read Article Overwatch 2 Introduces Its First Free Hero in Season 10
Venture holding her drill and Baptise, Zarya, Pharah, and Lifeweaver standing behind her
Read Article Horror Becomes Educational by Teaching Morse Code in SOS: Forgotten Planet
A monster behind a door marked M
Read Article Pocketpair Announced the 10 Most Popular Pals in Palworld
Player looks up to Quivern in Palworld
Read Article Elder Scrolls 6 Gets an Update on the Series’ 30th Anniversary
Eleder Scrolls wizard casting green magic
Related Content
Read Article Predator: Hunting Grounds Will Get New Content With IllFonic Takeover
Predator watching prey from the treetops.
Read Article Overwatch 2 Introduces Its First Free Hero in Season 10
Venture holding her drill and Baptise, Zarya, Pharah, and Lifeweaver standing behind her
Read Article Horror Becomes Educational by Teaching Morse Code in SOS: Forgotten Planet
A monster behind a door marked M
Read Article Pocketpair Announced the 10 Most Popular Pals in Palworld
Player looks up to Quivern in Palworld
Read Article Elder Scrolls 6 Gets an Update on the Series’ 30th Anniversary
Eleder Scrolls wizard casting green magic
Author
Josh Broadwell
Josh Broadwell started gaming in the early '90s. But it wasn't until 2017 he started writing about them, after finishing two history degrees and deciding a career in academia just wasn't the best way forward. You'll usually find him playing RPGs, strategy games, or platformers, but he's up for almost anything that seems interesting.