MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Deep Silver has deactivated an unconfirmed number of Metro Exodus keys after it discovered Steam codes had been stolen from a factory.
The publisher had been unaware of the breach until players reached out to Deep Silver complaining that their game wouldn’t launch due to the fact the keys were missing executable files.
“We have been made aware of illegal stolen keys being sold by an unofficial key reseller,” the publisher said by way of a statement on the Steam forum (thanks, Eurogamer). “These keys have been obtained illegally from the factory where physical key printing had taken place prior to the announcement of exclusivity with Epic Games, due to the criminal nature of these keys, all unlicensed keys have been deactivated and activation / download of Metro Exodus without the executable file is no longer possible.
“In addition, the software will be removed from the Steam library of any players using an unauthorised code. The keys being sold on this platform are stolen goods, and are therefore illegal. If you have been affected we strongly recommend you contact the seller who sold you the unlicensed key and demand a refund. The only supported key sellers for Metro Exodus were Humblebundle and the Razer store.”
Deep Silver has deactivated all stolen keys and warned players that it will remove the game from the libraries of any Steam players trying to access the game with a stolen code.
“We were not aware that they had gotten into the wrong hands,” Deep Silver added via a later comment. “The binaries were disabled on these keys from the beginning, the community brought it to our attention that the games they had from the reseller were not updating. After an investigation we have become aware that they were stolen.”
The publisher confirmed Metro Exodus will return to Steam after February 14th, 2020.
