Publisher THQ Nordic has spoken out about the recent Metro Exodus marketing disaster. The game was removed from Steam earlier this week because of an exclusivity deal with Epic Games.

According to the publisher, the removal of the game from Steam was a decision made by THQ Nordic sister company Koch Media. The company was acquired by THQ Nordic last year.

Despite acquiring the company along with the Metro brand, THQ Nordic states Metro is still Koch Media's intellectual property. The decision to engage in a strategic partnership with Epic Games for an exclusivity deal was entirely made by Koch Media, and reportedly not by THQ Nordic. Publisher Deep Silver is also a Koch Media owned company.

The publisher further states that it "will not comment on this matter" because it does not want to "categorically exclude the possibility of timed exclusives for any of our games in the future". However, it also states that it wants players to choose the platform of their liking.

The pending removal sparked a run on the Steam edition of the game earlier this week. It quickly bumped to the #1 top selling on the digital store. The ability to purchase the game was removed not much later.

Metro Exodus releases on February 15, 2019, for PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.