Earth Defense Force 6 devs apologize for surprise Epic Games account requirement, clarify that it’s only needed for the first time
The PC version of Earth Defense Force 6 just launched across Steam and the Epic Games Store on July 25. However, despite being a long-anticipated release, the game has become subject to negative review bombing on Steam due to it requiring players to log in with an Epic Games account, which was not communicated beforehand. The publisher has since issued a statement on the situation.
Earth Defense Force 6, the EDF series’ most ambitious mainline entry to date, has a “Mostly Negative” overall rating at the time of writing, which is not due to issues with the game itself. Rather, a quick glance at the reviews reveals that Steam users are unhappy about having to log in with a third-party account, i.e. Epic Games, in order to play online multiplayer.
Users’ negative reactions towards the Epic account requirement were exacerbated by the fact that it was not announced beforehand nor explicitly stated on the Steam store page. In response to the situation, D3PUBLISHER has added a note explaining the requirement on Steam and has issued a statement. The company apologized for not notifying users in advance and explained that the requirement has to do with enhancing crossplay and online functionality. In addition, they clarify that the Epic Game account login is a one-time thing, and that players will not be pestered to log in after the first time.
Earth Defense Force 6 is available for PC (Steam, Epic Games Store) and PS4/PS5.
Needing an Epic account to login to a Steam Game is just really annoying. It feels like a very bad tactic that Sony used, but way worse. I feel bad for the userbase and hope they can have their refunds.
It’s not a “one time thing” or “only needed the first time”. If the Epic Online Services can’t connect to the net (e.g. you play offline), you can’t play EDF6 on PC at all currently.