A few days ago, Space Marine 2, a new action game for Warhammer 40k, was launched and the debut was quite successful. Only one small annoyance dampens the joy of high player numbers and good ratings.
What kind of nuisance is this? Anyone who buys and installs Space Marines 2 on Steam automatically gets the online services of its major competitor Epic Games on their hard drive. This is not well received by parts of the community for a number of reasons:
In addition, initial attempts at explanation by publisher Focus and Epic Games have caused confusion rather than clarity.
Space Marine 2 is a crisp, bloody action-fest – here is the trailer:
The launch trailer for Space Marine 2, the new co-op shooter in Warhammer 40k
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Crossplay is to blame
What does Publisher Focus say? In the forum, those responsible explain that they have heard the concerned feedback about the installation of Epic Online Services. This was implemented to support crossplay between the two platforms Steam and Epic and to be able to synchronize the friends lists of the two stores.
It continues (via community.focus-entmt.com): “Please note, however, that linking your Steam and Epic accounts is not required to enjoy the game. These features are completely optional and will not affect your gaming experience in any way.”
What does Epic say about this? An Epic Games official told eurogamer.net:
Cross-play across all PC stores is a requirement of the Epic Games Store for all multiplayer games to ensure that players and friends can play together no matter where they buy their games. Developers are free to choose solutions that meet this requirement, including Epic Online Services, which may require a second installation to enable the social overlay (friends lists, cross-platform invites, etc.) on PC.
According to pcgamer.com, this requirement has been in place since 2023, and according to steamdb.info, almost 1,000 Steam games are currently using Epic Online Services – including games like Elden Ring, Palworld, Hogwarts Legacy, and Hades.
If you’re wondering why pure single-player experiences like Hogwarts Legacy and Hades appear here: Epic Online Services also handle features like cross-save, anti-cheat, analytics, and more. The services can also be used when a game uses Epic’s Unreal Engine.
Are Epic Online Services now mandatory or not? In response to angry criticism on Steam, a developer of Space Marines 2 finally gives the crucial hint: If you don’t want Epic’s services on your computer, you can uninstall them quite easily under Control Panel / Programs and Features.
Please note, however, that in this case crossplay with players who do not play on Steam will no longer be possible, and this applies not only to Space Marines 2, but also to all other games that rely on Epic Online Services. If you want to delve deeper, check out dev.epicgames.com.
How well is Space Marines 2 actually received? On metacritic.com, the action title currently has a score of 81 to 83 across all platforms and a user score of 8.0. Steam users have given it a “very positive” rating in over 41,000 reviews, with 80 percent of reviews being positive. The peak on Steam is a strong 225,690 concurrent active players.
There are currently more than 160,000 Steam users playing Space Marines 2 at the same time. Of course, there are also the Epic and console players. Note that some buyers are complaining about technical problems and bugs. If you are looking for basic information about the action title from Saber Interactive, be sure to check it out here: Everything about the release, early access, crossplay and preload of Space Marine 2.