There’s something about the PC port of Saber Interactive’s game that not everyone liked, and it’s supposed to be mandatory for full functionality, but it’s not sure if that’s enough to get the story done…

Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 has received some negative reviews on Steam because the game also uses the Epic Online Service. This allows cross-play and friends list synchronization between Steam and the Epic Games Store. Last week, publisher Focus Entertainment clarified that there is no need to link accounts to the game, but Epic Games told Eurogamer that the opposite seems to be true: cross-play support is mandatory for all multiplayer titles sold on the Tim Sweeney-owned platform…

“Cross-play across all PC storefronts is a requirement of the Epic Games Store for all multiplayer games, ensuring that players and friends can play together wherever they purchase their games. Developers are free to choose any solution that meets this requirement, including Epic Online Services, which may require a secondary installation to enable the social overlay (friends lists, cross-platform invites, etc.) on PC,” the Epic Games representative said.

So Epic Online Services seems to be mandatory, but it’s not, it’s just something that either Focus Entertainment or Saber Interactive could have chosen to do. It’s easy to integrate, and according to SteamDB, 944 games on Steam use it. Examples include Satisfactory, Palworld (which will be in the news later today), Elden Ring, Disco Elysium, Football Manager 2021, Jusant, Hogwarts Legacy and Payday 2.

Epic Games introduced its cross-play rule between PC stores in 2023 when it released self-published assets for the Epic Games Store. Epic Online Services is different from the Epic Games Launcher, and Saber Interactive also wrote on Steam that it’s not mandatory to install, so you can uninstall it…

Source: PCGamer, Eurogamer, SteamDB, Steam