Warhammer 40,000: House Marine 2 is off to a roaring begin, however some gamers are sad about one explicit level: The sport’s use of Epic On-line Companies, which permits cross-play and pals listing synchronization between Epic and Steam. House Marine 2 writer Focus Leisure clarified final week that gamers do not should hyperlink their accounts to play the sport, however extra lately Epic informed Eurogamer that crossplay assist is a requirement for any multiplayer video games being offered on its retailer.
“Cross-play throughout all PC storefronts is a requirement of the Epic Video games Retailer for all multiplayer video games, making certain that gamers and pals can play collectively wherever they buy their video games,” an Epic rep stated. “Builders are free to decide on any options that meet this requirement, together with Epic On-line Companies, which can require a secondary set up to allow the Social Overlay (pals lists, cross-platform invitations, and so forth) on PC.”
In different phrases, you do not essentially have to make use of Epic On-line Companies on your multiplayer sport, however you do should do what Epic On-line Companies does if you wish to be on Epic’s retailer.
So whereas builders are free to provide you with their very own options, an terrible lot of them go for Epic’s companies as a result of it permits them to keep away from reinventing the wheel: EOS meets all the necessities out of the field, and it is free to make use of. SteamDB lists 944 video games at the moment making use of the consumer, together with Passable, Palworld, Elden Ring, Disco Elysium, Soccer Supervisor 2021, Jusant, Armored Core 4, Hogwarts Legacy, and Payday 2.
Epic’s rule about PC storefront crossplay is not really new: It established the coverage in 2023, when it launched self-publishing instruments for the Epic Video games Retailer. It additionally bears noting that Epic On-line Companies are fully totally different, and separate, from Epic’s decidedly not nice launcher. (If that is what you are having points with, enable me to suggest Heroic, which is basically fairly good.)
All that stated, should you actually wish to play House Marine 2 with out Epic On-line Companies, you’ll be able to: Responding to at least one detrimental overview on Steam, a House Marine 2 developer stated EOS “will not be a compulsory set up.” It may be uninstalled by way of the Home windows add/take away software program menu, though bear in mind that ditching it is going to stop you from enjoying with individuals outdoors of Steam, and will presumably trigger different unexpected complications in different video games.
