It’s now safe to buy Earth Defense Force 6.
The quirky third-person shooter, Earth Defense Force 6, which has players defending Earth from an alien invasion with a campy, ’80s B-movie feel, has finally removed the controversial requirement that forced players to link an Epic Games account to play online, even if they purchased the game on Steam.
When the game first launched on PC in July, players were frustrated by the mandatory Epic account linkage to access multiplayer, despite Epic Games’ ongoing attempts to entice gamers and developers to their platform.
PC players, however, have been vocal about their rejection of forced third-party account requirements, especially from a company like Epic Games, which has courted controversy with its exclusivity deals. Gamers don’t want to be burdened with extra accounts or software, particularly when it’s forced upon them last minute.
Earth Defense Force 6 faced a massive review bombing campaign upon its release, with fewer than a third of its reviews on Steam being positive.
The backlash wasn’t solely due to the quality of the game itself, but because SANDLOT and D3 Publisher chose to require an Epic Games account for online play. This controversial decision, made at the last minute, was implemented specifically for the Steam version, leading many to accuse the developers of false advertising.
The backlash from the review bombing, along with the likelihood that many consumers abstained from purchasing the game due to the sudden requirement of an Epic Games account for online play, prompted a swift response from D3 Publisher.
Less than 24 hours after launch, they issued a statement acknowledging the concerns and announced plans to remove the mandatory Epic Games sign-in. This announcement led to many players revising their reviews from negative to positive, improving EDF6‘s rating from “Mostly Negative” to “Mixed.”
While updating a game’s net code infrastructure is no small task and was expected to take time, just over three months later, D3 Publisher and SANDLOT successfully completed the overhaul, apologizing to players for the last-minute bait-and-switch.
D3Publisher announced in a recent update: “This application has been modified so that you can play online missions without signing in to your Epic Games account. Signing in to your Epic Games account is no longer required. If you wish to unlink your Steam account from your Epic Games account, please visit the Epic Games website in a web browser.”
However, note that unlinking your Epic Games account, or choosing not to link it if you purchase EDF6 will result in losing certain features. Specifically, EDF6 supports online cross-play between Steam and Epic Games Store players, and unlinking your account will disable this functionality.
That said, since the majority of players purchased the game on Steam, this likely won’t affect many users. You’ll still be able to play both online and offline without any issues.
However, to use the ‘Invite’ and ‘Friend’ features for Epic Games Store players during online play, an Epic Games account and linking to your Steam account will be necessary.
The update has already prompted several positive reviews, with users noting that they either finally left a recommendation or changed their thumbs-down to a thumbs-up in response to the change.
Whether this marks the beginning of a sustained improvement in the game’s overall user score remains uncertain, as many of those who left negative reviews months ago have yet to update their stance. However, if you’ve been waiting for this very update to purchase EDF6 and cause some chaos, now is definitely the time to do so.
