Steam Users Can't Play Long-Awaited PC Game For at Least a Year

Steam users will need to make an Epic Games Store account to play this game anytime soon.

By Tyler Fischer

A long-awaited PC game is set to release via early access this month, and when it does, Steam users won't be able to play it as it will be exclusive to the Epic Games Store. While Epic Games has slowed down on gobbling up exclusive releases in an attempt to get Steam users to migrate to its platform, it's not stopped completely. And to this end, it has picked up on of its biggest exclusives yet. When Witchfire releases later this month via early access, it will be an Epic Games Store exclusive. We've known this since June though. What we haven't known is how long the game will be an Epic Games Store exclusive, but we do now.

The dark fantasy first-person shooter was announced all the way back on December 7, 2017, during The Game Awards 2017. Almost six years later, on September 20, it will release, but only via Epic Games Store. The PC exclusive doesn't have a final release date, and there's no word of when it will precisely come to Steam and other PC digital storefronts. It's noted the game is an Epic Games Store exclusive for "a year or so," but that's all. Obviously, the latter part leaves the door open for the exclusivity to be longer than just 12 months.  And of course, by this time the game could very well be out of early access. In other words, it's not clear if Steam users will ever be able to play the game in early access form. 

What we do know is that if you want to play the game when it releases in early access on September 20, you will need to do so via Epic Games Store. How much it will cost on Epic Games Store in this form is unclear though. The game's Epic Games Store listing mentions the September 20 date but no price. 

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"Witchfire is a first-person shooter set in a grimdark fantasy world in which a deadly war rages between powerful witches and the Church," reads an official blurb about the game on the Epic Games Store. "In this alternate reality, witches are very real and very dangerous- but so is the witch hunter, also known as a preyer. Armed by Vatican sorcerers, players wield an ungodly array of guns and forbidden magic as they combat dark terrors on behalf of their shadowy benefactors."

As always, feel free to leave a comment letting us know what you think. Will you be checking this out on Epic Game Store or will you wait for it to come to Steam? Meanwhile, for more coverage on Steam, Epic Games Store, and everything else PC gaming, click here.

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